Last updated on
Sep 6, 2023
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Compound Filters
This feature lets you create a new type of filters that are represented as a single layer in the interface and be composed of multiples filters.
Note:
Supported since Substance 3D Sampler 3.1.0
Description
A compound filter is a .ssafilter file that is a .7zip compressed folder of:
- a description file using JSON formatting: myfilter_name.json
- a resources folder containing:
- the filter thumbnail: icon.png
- external file dependencies
Description file content
- Name: Label of your compound filter displayed in the interface
- Id: Unique identifier of your compound filter
- Category: Category of your compound filter used in the Assets panel when you group your assets by category
- Version: Incremental number to define the version of your compound filter.
- Node: List of nodes to be used
- Link: List of connections between the different nodes
Example
{ "SamplerFilter":
{
"Name": "My filter",
"Category": "My filter category",
"Id": "my_unique_id",
"Version": 2,
"Node": [
{
"Id": "foo",
"InternalFilter": "Foo"
},
{
"Id": "bar",
"File": "bar.sbsar"
}
],
"Link": [
{
"From": { "Node": "FilterInput", "Usage": "baseColor" },
"To": { "Node": "foo", "Usage": "baseColor"}
},
{
"From": { "Node": "FilterInput", "Usage": "normal" },
"To": { "Node": "foo", "Usage": "normal"}
},
{
"From": { "Node": "foo", "Usage": "baseColor" },
"To": { "Node": "bar", "Usage": "baseColor"}
},
{
"From": { "Node": "bar", "Usage": "baseColor" },
"To": { "Node": "FilterOutput", "Usage": "baseColor"}
},
{
"From": { "Node": "foo", "Usage": "normal" },
"To": { "Node": "FilterOutput", "Usage": "normal"}
}
]
}}
Step-by-step creation
- Create a new file: my_new_filter.json
- Define its name, ID, category,...
- Define the list of nodes you need
- If you need external files, create resources folder next to your .json
- Add your file(s) in the resources folder
- Write the list of links between your nodes
- Verify that your JSON is valid (no typo, missing coma or missing bracket)
- If you want a thumbnail, add an image icon.png in the resources folder
- Select the .json file and the resources folder and 7zip them
Documentation
Version
Using a version number allows you to keep track of your different iterations. When opening a layer stack done with a previous version of your compound filter, a notification will be showed to suggest you to upgrade to the latest version.
Node
A node can refer to an internal filter of Substance 3D Sampler. Define a unique identifier Id to be used to define links between nodes and the label of the internal filter InternalFilter
{
"Id": "step1_identifier",
"InternalFilter": "Dirt"
}
A node can refer to a SBSAR file that's not in Substance 3D Sampler. Define a unique identifier Id to be used to define links between nodes and the filename File of the SBSAR file. The SBSAR file has to be in a resources folder next to the .alchfilter file.
{
"Id": "step1_identifier",
"File": "foo.sbsar"
}
Note:
filterImg and filterMat can't be used as node Id
Link
A link is a description of how two nodes are linked and are composed of two elements:
- From: Usage to be used by the node
- To: Usage output of the node
Each element has 3 attributes:
- Node: Declare the Id of the node you want to use
- set the input of the compound filter, the node Id is FilterInput
- set the output of your compound layer, the node Id is FilterOutput
- Usage: Declare the usage you want to use. There are 3 options:
- Single usage at a time and declare link by link (baseColor, normal, height, ambientOcclusion, roughness, metallic, diffuse, specular, glossiness, specularLevel, opacity, emissive, scan1, ...)
- You can also specify a list ["baseColor", "normal"]. The first item of the list of From will match the first item of the list of To. etc...
- Use * to let Substance 3D Sampler do the matching between identical usages of all usages of the From node and the To node (It's not possible to combine * with another link, while single links and list links are possible between same nodes)
- Group: In case of a node has several times the same usage, you can use the Group attribute to select a specific usage. ie: For Blend filters, to get the baseColor of the bottom material use Material1 and to get the baseColor of the top material use Material2
Link between two nodes
{
"From": { "Node": "node1","Usage": "baseColor", "Group": ""},
"To": { "Node": "node2", "Usage": "baseColor"}
}
Link between outputs of layers below of the compound filter and the compound filter:
{
"From": { "Node": "FilterInput", "Usage": "*" },
"To": { "Node": "node1", "Usage": "*"}
}
Link to declare outputs of the compound filter:
{
"From": { "Node": "node1", "Usage": "*" },
"To": { "Node": "FilterOutput", "Usage": "*"}
}