Generator (Substance Painter)
Procedural mask effect driven by mesh maps
Also known as: Substance Painter generators · Dirt generator · Metal Edge Wear · Mask Editor
Definition
A generator in Substance Painter is a procedural effect that creates a mask from the baked mesh maps of a model. Common generators include Dirt, which collects in crevices using ambient occlusion, Metal Edge Wear, which reveals bare metal on edges using curvature, and Mask Editor, which combines several mesh maps. You add a generator to a layer's mask, adjust its settings, and the result adapts to the shape of the model.
In production
Bake mesh maps first, add a black mask to the layer, then add the generator to that mask and tune size, contrast and grunge. Combine it with filters such as Levels, and paint over the mask by hand to place wear where it makes sense. A generator is the building block, a smart mask is a saved setup that often uses several of them, and a smart material is a whole layer stack.
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Tools that use Generator (Substance Painter)
See also
Smart Mask
Mask presets driven by baked mesh maps
Mesh Maps
Maps baked from the model that drive generators
Smart Material
Procedural multi-layer material
Curvature Map
Edge highlight + cavity shadow data
Ambient Occlusion
Soft contact shadows
Grunge Map
Dirt and scratch pattern used as a mask
World Space Normal Map
Normals baked in world coordinates
Position Map
Baked map of where each point sits on the model
Fill Layer
Layer that fills a texture set with channel values