View source for Talk:Source VMT Editor

In the works of writing up information for the Material Editor--[[User:Kwp17pitts|Kwp17pitts]] 23:41, 1 January 2012 (PST)
If anyone has more information or a tutorial regarding this please add
:I'll be adding info when I can. Through use of the editor I've noticed that you can actually do things you can't manually editing vmt's, such as defining a 2nd bumpmap scale. I am not sure why manually editing vmts and editing them via the Editor saves the process differently, or rather the actual vmt.--[[User:MrFourVideoCards|MrFourVideoCards]] 02:32, 3 January 2012 (PST)


== Material Editor Issues in Alien Swarm ==

Currently the material editor for Alien Swarm is largely bugged and crash prone. Trying to figure out if there is a possible solution to correct this problem.--[[User:Kwp17pitts|Kwp17pitts]] 21:02, 17 January 2012 (PST)


== Old Info ==

{{Note|This information temporarly placed here until the rest of the appropriate pages are made, if you know more about this tool and want to help out let me know--[[User:Kwp17pitts|Kwp17pitts]] 19:09, 27 June 2012 (PDT)}}


'''What is a Material?'''

A material (or [[VMT]]) is a script that defines how a texture (or [[VTF]]) will render as well as sound properties. Some materials may not even load textures for certain effects depending on the types of shaders used. 
{{Note|This tool will not edit textures, just only scripts see [[VTFEdit]] for editing textures}}



== Interface ==


{{Note|The file menu is pretty self explanitory}}
<table class="wikitable">
  <tr>
      <th>'''File'''</th>
      <th>'''Edit'''</th>
      <th>'''Material'''</th>
      <th>'''View'''</th>
   </tr>
  <tr>
      <th>[[File:MaterialEditor FileMenu.jpg]]</th>
      <th>[[File:MaterialEditor EditMenu.jpg]]</th>
      <th>[[File:MaterialEditor MaterialMenu.jpg]]</th>
      <th>[[File:MaterialEditor ViewMenu.jpg]]</th>
   </tr>
<tr>
    <td>
*'''Open...'''     
*'''Save'''
*'''Save As...'''
*'''Close'''
*'''Recent'''
*'''Clear Recent'''
*'''Exit'''
   </td>
    <td>
*'''Undo'''

Shortcut keys {{key|Ctrl}} + {{key|Z}}

*'''Redo'''

Shortcut keys {{key|Shift}} + {{key|Ctrl}} + {{key|Z}}

*'''Describe Undo History'''
{{Confirm|What does this do??}}

*'''Clear Undo History'''

*'''Keyboard'''

Shortcut keys {{key|Shift}} + {{key|Ctrl}} + {{key|Alt}} + {{key|E}}

See setting key bindings
   </td>
    <td>
*'''Set Params To Default'''
Resets the material parameters
   </td>
    <td>
*'''Properties'''
Shows the Properties Window If Checked

*'''Preview'''
Shows the Preview Window If Checked

*'''Show Flags'''
Shows the parameter flags If Checked 

*'''Show Tool Parameters'''
Shows the tool parameters on the properties window If Checked

*'''Default Layout'''
Resets the layout to the defualt view
   </td>
</tr>
</table>

== To Create a new material ==

click file -> new , then begin editing

see [[Material]] for editing information



== Shader Parameters ==


see [[:Category:List of Shader Parameters|List of Shader Parameters]] for more details

'''Data types'''

{{todo|add more information, Explain Data types}}

*'''bool''' "short for boolean" in which 0 = false and 1 = true 
*'''color''' <color255 + int>                 (ex. 97 11 255 255)
*'''float''' "floating point"                 (ex. 5)
*'''int''' "short for integer"                (ex. 56)
*'''matrix''' "written in binary"             (ex. 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 )
*'''string''' "file path"                     (ex. brick\brickfloor001a.vtf) "name" (ex. VertexLitGeneric)
*'''vector2''' "two configureable values"     (ex. 23 45)
*'''vector3''' "three configureable values"   (ex. 23 45 37)
*'''vector4''' "four configureable values"    (ex. 23 45 37 89)


== Loading a material ==

{{note|Complex material designs can and may crash the editor when loading}}
{{warning|Do not load material vmts outside of the loaded mod or game directory, the associated vtf files may not load as a result}}  

click file -> Open..., open the file located only in the mod or game directory currently running




== Saving a material ==

{{note|Somtimes settings may not stick, this could be due to having invalid configurations}}
{{warning|Do not save material vmts outside of the loaded mod or game directory, the material '''will not''' load as a result}} 

click file -> save as..., give the material a name, and save only in the mod or game directory currently running