# What happened with DecalMask Buffer Visualisation Mode?

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069>\
**Category:** Mobile\
**Tags:** unreal-engine, bug-report, editor, UE4, question\
**Created:** [February 29, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069 "2016-02-29T13:04:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mateusz.Wiech](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Mateusz.Wiech](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Mateusz.Wiech)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069/1 "2016-02-29T13:04:47Z")

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Hi,

It seems that DecalMask Mode was removed from Buffer Visualization Mode list. This is intentional or it’s a bug?

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**Author:** ![Tim\_Hobson](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Tim\_Hobson](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Tim_Hobson)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069/2 "2016-02-29T14:47:15Z")

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Hi Matuesz,

Thank you for reporting this. I have submitted ticket UE-27569 for this to be investigated.

-Tim

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**Author:** ![Tim\_Hobson](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Tim\_Hobson](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Tim_Hobson)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069/3 "2016-02-29T16:20:34Z")

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Actually, this was removed since it’s no longer part of the GBuffer and is not easily available for later passes. This may be added back in the future with a ShowFlag option, but there are no current plans to implement this with 4.11.

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**Author:** ![Mateusz.Wiech](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Mateusz.Wiech](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Mateusz.Wiech)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069/4 "2016-02-29T18:38:26Z")

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Thank you for the quick response. So it’s not a bug, it’s a feature 😉

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**Author:** ![Tim\_Hobson](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Tim\_Hobson](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Tim_Hobson)\
**Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069/5 "2016-02-29T19:39:48Z")

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Yeah, not a bug. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything directly mentioning its removal. After discussing with a dev this was a deliberate change. The showflag should eventually make it in though, but not sure when they’ll implement it.

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**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_4066850d](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_4066850d](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_4066850d)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069/6 "2016-08-01T14:39:29Z")

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Hi, Tim  
Is the ShowFlag option still not available for 4.12.5?  
We are trying to output some images with alpha, using the decal mask as a substitution.  
Please, let me know if there a way to get support to make the decal mask work.  
Thanks,  
-Alex

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**Author:** ![Tim\_Hobson](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Tim\_Hobson](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Tim_Hobson)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069/7 "2016-08-01T14:47:48Z")

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It hasn’t been added back that I can see.

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**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_4066850d](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_4066850d](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_4066850d)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069/8 "2016-08-01T16:10:11Z")

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I see. Thanks for the quick response!

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**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_b1f37fe3](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_b1f37fe3](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_b1f37fe3)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/what-happened-with-decalmask-buffer-visualisation-mode/349069/9 "2019-04-29T09:02:13Z")

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Ryan’s ImposterBaking tool used this viewmode for generating alpha masks, so this effectively stops it from outputting them.