Tutorial: Blend Texture

This documentation is for update 2.0+, applied to 5.4+.

This guide provides a detailed walkthrough for using the Blend Texture job. This powerful utility allows you to combine two separate textures using a wide variety of professional blending modes, similar to layer blending in applications like Photoshop. It's perfect for adding grime to a wall, blending two different ground textures, or combining masks.

1. Setting Up the Blend Job

1. In the main Texture Tools window, click the Add Job button.

2. From the dropdown menu, select Job: Blend Texture.

3. A new "Blend Texture" job will be added to the job queue. Select it to see its properties in the Details panel.

2. Providing Input Textures

The Blend Texture job requires two inputs, which you can provide in the Input viewport on the left side of the tool.

• INPUT BASE TEXTURE: This is the primary, bottom-layer texture.

• INPUT BLEND TEXTURE: This is the secondary texture that will be blended on top of the base.

Drag and drop your textures from the Content Browser into these two slots.

Blending Diffuse with AO with Multiply

3. Configuring the Blend

All the settings for this job are located in the InputSettings category in the Details panel.

Blend Settings

This section controls the core blending operation.

• Blend Mode: This dropdown determines the mathematical formula used to combine the two textures. See the "All Blend Modes Explained" section below for a detailed list.

• Opacity Blend Mode: This controls how the alpha channels (transparency) of the two textures are combined in the final output.

  • None (Use Base Alpha): Ignores the blend texture's alpha and just uses the alpha from the base texture.

  • Add / Multiply: Adds or multiplies the alpha channels, similar to the color blend modes.

Base Texture & Blend Texture Settings

These two sections give you individual control over each texture before they are blended.

• Channel: Allows you to use the full RGB color or isolate a single channel (Red, Green, or Blue) from the texture for the blend operation. For example, you could blend only the red channel of a noise texture onto your base.

• Tiling: Sets a tiling factor for the texture. A value of 2.0 will make the texture tile twice within the same space.

• Weight: Controls the contribution or intensity of the texture in the final blend. A value of 1.0 is full strength, while 0.0 removes it completely.

4. All Blend Modes Explained

Here is a list of all available blend modes and a brief explanation of what they do.

Blend Mode	Explanation
Add	Adds the pixel values of both layers. Results in a brighter image.
Multiply	Multiplies the pixel values. The result is always a darker image.
Divide	Divides the base layer by the blend layer. Can create strong brightening effects.
Overlay	A mix of Multiply and Screen. Darkens dark areas and lightens light areas.
Color Burn	Darkens the base layer, increasing contrast between the two.
Color Dodge	Brightens the base layer, decreasing contrast between the two.
Darken	Compares the pixels in both layers and keeps the darker of the two.
Difference	Subtracts the blend color from the base color. Black shows no change.
Exclusion	Similar to Difference but with lower contrast.
Hard Light	A combination of Multiply and Screen. A harsh, high-contrast light effect.
Lighten	Compares the pixels in both layers and keeps the lighter of the two.
Linear Burn	Darkens the base layer by decreasing its brightness.
Linear Dodge	Brightens the base layer by increasing its brightness.
Linear Light	A combination of Linear Burn and Linear Dodge.
Pin Light	Replaces colors depending on the blend color. A very harsh effect.
Screen	Multiplies the inverse of the pixel values. Results in a brighter image.
Soft Light	A softer version of Hard Light. A more subtle, diffused light effect.
Blend Angle Corrected Normals	A special mode specifically for correctly blending two normal maps together.

5. Generating the Blended Texture

1. Once you have configured your inputs and settings, ensure the Blend Texture job is selected in the job queue.

2. Click the main Run Selected Job button.

3. The tool will process the blend, The new texture asset will be saved to the path specified in the GenerateSettings category.