$envmapmask

$envmapmask defines a specular mask which affects how strongly each pixel of a material reflects light from the $envmap. The mask should be a greyscale image in which entirely reflective areas are white and entirely matte areas are black. For diffuse type specularity which does not rely on $envmap, see $phong.

Warning:$envmapmask will not work in model materials using $bumpmap. See #Alternative_methods.

VMT syntax example

$envmapmask <texture>

VertexLitGeneric
{
	$envmap			env_cubemap
	$envmapmask		"props/tvscreen_test"
}

Additional parameters

npc_cscanner's mask.

$envmapmasktransform <matrix>

Adjusts UV mapping of the specular mask.

DirectX 8 and below use $envmapmaskscale instead.

The default position is center .5 .5 scale 1 1 rotate 0 translate 0 0.

1. center defines the point of rotation. Only useful if rotate is being used.
2. scale fits the texture into the material the given number of times. 2 1 is a 50% scale in the horizontal X axis while the vertical Y axis is still at original scale.
3. rotate rotates the texture counter-clockwise in degrees. Accepts any number, including negatives.
4. translate shifts the texture by the given numbers. .5 will shift it half-way. 1 will shift it once completely over, which is the same as not moving it at all.

Note:All values must be included!

Bug:Scaling the texture may cause odd issues where the Texture Lock tool in Hammer will not actually lock the texture in place.  [todo tested in ?]

Bug:Rotating textures applied on brushes will rotate around the map origin (confirm: Orangebox engine only?). A fix for this is to change the center position in the VMT to the brush's origin.  [todo tested in ?]

$envmapmaskscale <float>

Scales the specular mask by the given value.

See also $envmapmasktransform, above.

Requires DirectX 8.

$envmapmaskframe <integer>

The frame to start an animated specular mask on.

Alternative methods

Rather than creating a whole new texture for a specular mask, you can embed one into the alpha channel of the $basetexture or $bumpmap. Model materials with $bumpmap must do this. Unfortunately, it won't reduce memory usage.

If you do use these commands, transformations and other such parameters applied to $basetexture / $bumpmap will also apply to the specular mask.

$basealphaenvmapmask <bool>

Use the alpha channel of $basetexture as the specular mask.

Note:Alpha channels embedded in $basetexture work in reverse. Black areas are reflective, white areas are matte. This is because, say, a window texture's alpha mask would be mostly black to allow for transparency -- yet that black part of the mask would also be the most reflective part. To avoid having to duplicate a .VTF file simply to invert the alpha mask, you can use this VMT parameter instead.

Note:The alpha channel isn't inverted in the Source 2007 engine, at least for models.

Todo: Check if this is true for Source 2007 world materials not used on models.

$normalmapalphaenvmapmask <bool>

Use the alpha channel of $bumpmap as the specular mask.

$selfillum_envmapmask_alpha <bool>

Use alpha channel as the $selfillum mask instead of $basetexture's alpha. In this event this command replaces $selfillum - do not use both.

See Also

• $basetexture
• $envmap (environment map)
• $phong (diffuse reflection)
• $selfillum