Material Editor UI

The Material Editor UI consists of a menu bar, a toolbar, and, by default, four open panels.

• You can close any panel by clicking the small "X" in the upper-right corner of the tab. You can also hide any panel by right-clicking on the tab, and then clicking Hide Tab on the context menu that appears. To once again display a panel that you have closed, click that panel's name on the Window menu.
• Pressing F1 will display the Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) Material documentation.

Menu Bar

File

• Save - Saves the asset you are currently working on.
• Save As - Saves this asset under a different name.
• Open Asset - Opens the Global Asset Picker to quickly find an asset and open the appropriate editor.
• Save All - Saves all unsaved levels and assets for your project.
• Choose Files to Save - Brings up a dialog box that allows you to choose which levels and assets you want to save for your project.
• Submit To Source Control - Will check the current asset into Source Control.

Edit

• Undo - Undoes the most recent action.
• Redo - If it was the last action taken, this option redoes the most recent Undo.
• Undo History - Shows the history of the Undo actions.
• Editor Preferences - Gives you a list of options, any of which open that part of the Editor Preferences window, where you can modify your Unreal Editor preferences.
• Project Settings - Gives you a list of options, any of which open that part of the Project Settings window, where you can modify various settings for your Unreal Engine project.
• Plugins - Opens the Plugins Browser tab.

Asset

• Find in Content Browser - Locates and selects the current asset in the Content Browser.
• Reference Viewer - Launches the reference viewer showing the selected assets' references.
• Size Map - Displays an interactive map showing the approximate size of this asset and everything it references.
• Audit Assets - Opens the Asset Audio UI and displays information about the selected assets.

Window

• Toolbar - Toggles the Toolbar display.
• Viewport - Toggles the Viewport panel display.
• Graph - Toggles the Graph panel display.
• Details - Toggles the Details panel display.
• Palette - Toggles the Palette panel display.
• Find Results- Allows you to search for items in the Material Graph.
• Stats - Toggles the Stats panel display.
• Preview Scene Settings - Adjusts the Material preview viewport options.
• Parameter Defaults- Toggles displaying the Materials global parameters.
• Platform Stats - Toggles displaying the Material cost per platform.
• Stats - Toggles the Material cost.
• Shader Code - Toggles displaying the Material HLSL code for the selected platform.
  • HLSL Code - Toggles displaying the HLSL code.
    • Desktop - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for the various desktop renders.
      • DirectX SM5 - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for Windows SM5.
      • DirectX SM4 - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for Windows SM4.
      • Vulkan SM5 - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for Vulkan SM5.
      • Vulkan SM4 - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for Vulkan SM4.
      • OpenGL SM5 - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for OpenGL SM5.
      • OpenGL SM4 - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for OpenGL SM4.
    • Android - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for the various Android renders.
      • Android GLES 3.1 - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for Android GLES 3.1.
      • Android GLES 2.0 - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for Android GLES 2.0.
      • Android Vulkan - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for Android Vulkan.
    • iOS - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for the various iOS renders.
      • Metal SM5 - Toggles displaying the HLSL code for Metal SM5.
• Content Browser - Brings up the Content Browser in a separate window.
• Developer Tools - Brings up the selected Developer Tool in a separate window.
  • Blueprint Debugger - Brings up the Blueprint Debugger in a separate window.
  • Collision Analyzer - Brings up the Collision Analyzer in a separate window.
  • Debug Tools - Brings up the Debug Tools in a separate window.
  • Profiler Data Visualizer - Open the Profiler Data Visualizer tab in a separate window.
  • Message Log - Brings up the Message Log in a separate window.
  • Output Log - Brings up the Output Log in a separate window.
  • Visual Logger - Bring up the Visual Logger tool in a separate window.
  • Class Viewer - Brings up the Class Viewer in a separate window.
  • Device Manager - Brings up Device Manager in a separate window.
  • Device Profiles - Brings up the Device Profiles in a separate window.
  • Merge Actors - Brings up Merge Actors tool in a separate window.
  • Session Frontend - Brings up Unreal Frontend in a separate window.
  • Widget Reflector - Brings up Widget Reflector in a separate window.
• Find in Blueprints - Find references to functions, events and variables in all Blueprints.
• GameplayCue Editor - Opens the Gameplay Cue Editor tab in a separate window.
• Project Launcher - The Project Launcher provides advanced workflows for packaging, deploying and launching your projects.
• Localization Dashboard - Open the Localization Dashboard for this Project.
• Reset Layout - Resets your layout to a default arrangement. Requires the editor to restart after saving your changes and creating a backup of your settings.
• Save Layout - Saves the current layout of the panels as the new default layout.
• Enable Fullscreen - Enables fullscreen mode for the application, expanding across the entire monitor.

Help

• Browse Material Editor Documentation - Opens a browser window and navigates to the documentation about this tool.
• Support - Opens a browser window to the Unreal Developers Network (UDN) forum page where you can ask a question about the Unreal Engine.
• Forums - Go to the Unreal Engine forums to view announcements and engage in discussions with other developers.
• Answer HUB - Go to the AnswerHub to ask questions, search existing answers, and share your knowledge with other UE4 developers.
• Wiki - Go to the Unreal Engine Wiki page to view community-created resources, or to create your own.
• Visit UnrealEngine.com - Navigates to UnrealEngine.com where you can learn more about Unreal Technology.
• Credits - Displays application credits.
• About Unreal Editor - Displays application credits, copyright information, and build information.

Toolbar

The following table lists the options in the Toolbar and what they do.

Viewport Panel

The Viewport panel displays the Material that is currently being edited.

You can navigate in the Viewport panel by using the options in the following table.

The viewport mesh can be changed by using the associated toolbar controls (the shape buttons, Select Preview Mesh combo, and Use Selected StaticMesh button). The viewport mesh is saved with the Material so that the next time the Material is opened in a Material Editor, it will be previewed on the same mesh.

Several icons appear along the top of the Preview panel and the following table details their usage.

Details Panel

This panel contains a property window for all currently selected material expression and function nodes. If no nodes are selected, the properties of the Material being edited will be displayed.

See Material Properties for descriptions of all Material properties.

Graph Panel

This panel contains a graph of all material expressions that belong to this Material. By default, each Material contains a single base Material node. This node has a series of inputs, each associated with a different aspect of the Material that other material nodes can connect to.

See Material Inputs for descriptions of the various inputs of the base Material node.

Palette Panel

The Palette panel contains a list of material nodes that can be placed in a Material via "drag and drop". To place a new material node, drag it into the Graph panel.

You can filter the material nodes listed in the Palette panel by choosing either Expressions or Functions in the Category drop-down list.

For more information about material functions, see Material Functions.

Stats Panel

The number of shader instructions used in the Material as well as any Compiler Errors are displayed in this panel. The fewer the number of instructions, the less costly the Material. Material expression nodes that are not connected to the base material node do not contribute to the instruction count (cost) of the Material.

HLSL Code Panel

This panel shows the High Level Shader Language (HLSL) code that is generated by the current Material. Be aware that this is not an editor; you will not be able to change the HLSL code. Rather, this is merely a viewer to allow you to visualize the code defined by your Material network.

By default the Code View panel is not visible. To display the Code View panel, on the Window menu, and then click on the HLSL Code.

Platform Stats

You can view the cost of your Material on various platforms by clicking on the Platform Stats icon.

You can view stats for each rendering API UE4 supports by clicking on the Settings option and then selecting the render you want to see stats for.

In order to see the stat for Android you will need to first install Mali Offline Compiler by doing the following:

1. Download and install the Mali Offline Compiler.

2. After the Mali Offline Compiler has been installed, open up UE4 and from the Main Menu go Edit \> Editor Preferences \> Content Editors \> Material Editor.

   

3. Click the three dots to the right of the Mali Offline Compiler option and then locate the malisc.exe file that was installed when the Mali Offline Compiler was installed.

   

4. After the previous steps have been completed, you will be able to see stats for the various Android renders that UE4 supports.

   

You will not be able to see the Android Platform stats without the offline compiler.

Graph Controls

Controls in the Material Editor generally match the controls of other tools in the Unreal Editor. For example, the Material Expression graph can be navigated as with other linked object editors, the Material preview mesh can be oriented as per other mesh tools.

Mouse Controls

Keyboard Controls

Hotkeys

You can use hotkeys to place commonly used material expression types. Hold down the hotkey and left-click to drop in the node. The hotkeys are as follows: