<function name="Material" parent="Global" type="libraryfunc"> <description> Either returns the material with the given name, or loads the material interpreting the first argument as the path. ⤶ <note>When using .png or .jpg textures, try to make their sizes Power Of 2 (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc). While images are no longer scaled to Power of 2 sizes since February 2019, it is a good practice for things like icons, etc.</note>⤶ <note>Server-side, the Material function can consistently return an invalid material (with '__error') depending on the file type loaded; however, .vtf and .vmt files appear unaffected.</note>⤶ <warning>This function is very expensive when used in rendering hooks or in operations requiring very frequent calls. It is better to store the Material in a variable (like in the examples).</warning>⤶ ⤶ ## .png, .jpg and other image formats⤶ ⤶ This function is capable to loading `.png` or `.jpg` images, generating a texture and material for them on the fly.⤶ ⤶ PNG, JPEG, GIF, and TGA files will work, but only if they have the `.png` or `.jpg` file extensions (even if the actual image format doesn't match the file extension)⤶ ⤶ Use <page>Global.AddonMaterial</page> for image files with the `.cache` file extension. (from <page>steamworks.Download</page>)⤶ ⤶ While images are no longer scaled to Power of 2 (sizes of 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc.) sizes since February 2019, it is still a good practice for things like icons, etc.⤶ ⤶ <warning>Server-side, this function can consistently return an invalid material (with '__error') depending on the file type loaded.</warning>⤶ ⤶ <warning>This function is very expensive when used in rendering hooks or in operations requiring very frequent calls. It is a good idea to cache the material in a variable (like in the examples).</warning>⤶ </description> <realm>Shared and Menu</realm> <file line="15-L31">lua/includes/util.lua</file> <args> <arg name="materialName" type="string">The material name or path. ⤶ To retrieve a Lua material created with <page>Global.CreateMaterial</page>, just prepend a `!` to the material name. ⤶ <note>You do not need to add `materials/` to your path if the material file is inside the `materials/` folder.⤶ ⤶ Paths outside the `materials/` folder like `data/MyImage.jpg` or `maps/thumb/gm_construct.png` will also work.</note>⤶ ⤶ <note>PNG, JPEG, GIF, and TGA files will work, but only if they have the `.png` or `.jpg` file extensions (even if the actual image format doesn't match the file extension)⤶ ⤶ Use <page>Global.AddonMaterial</page> for image files with the `.cache` file extension.</note></arg>⤶ <arg name="materialName" type="string">The material name or path relative to the `materials/` folder. Paths outside the `materials/` folder like `data/MyImage.jpg` or `maps/thumb/gm_construct.png` will also work for when generating materials. ⤶ To retrieve a Lua material created with <page>Global.CreateMaterial</page>, just prepend a `!` to the material name.</arg>⤶ <arg name="pngParameters" type="string" default="nil">A string containing space separated keywords which will be used to add material parameters. See <page>Material Parameters</page> for more information. <note>This feature only works when importing .png or .jpg image files.</note></arg> <note>This feature only works when importing `.png` or `.jpg` image files.</note></arg> </args> <rets> <ret name="" type="IMaterial">Generated material.</ret> <ret name="" type="number">How long it took for the function to run.</ret> </rets> </function> <example> <description> Creates a PNG material with noclamp and smooth parameters set and then draws on screen. In this example the .png file is located in `materials/vgui/wave.png`. </description> <code> local wave = Material( "vgui/wave.png", "noclamp smooth" ) hook.Add( "HUDPaint", "HUDPaint_DrawATexturedBox", function() surface.SetMaterial( wave ) surface.SetDrawColor( 255, 255, 255, 255 ) surface.DrawTexturedRect( 50, 50, 128, 128 ) end ) </code> </example> <example> <description>Acquires and uses one of the <page>Post-Processing Materials</page> to make the screen darker and more saturated.</description> <code> local mat_color = Material( "pp/colour" ) -- used outside of the hook for performance hook.Add("RenderScreenspaceEffects", "ColorExample", function() render.UpdateScreenEffectTexture() mat_color:SetTexture( "$fbtexture", render.GetScreenEffectTexture() ) mat_color:SetFloat( "$pp_colour_addr", 0 ) mat_color:SetFloat( "$pp_colour_addg", 0 ) mat_color:SetFloat( "$pp_colour_addb", 0 ) mat_color:SetFloat( "$pp_colour_mulr", 0 ) mat_color:SetFloat( "$pp_colour_mulg", 0 ) mat_color:SetFloat( "$pp_colour_mulb", 0 ) mat_color:SetFloat( "$pp_colour_brightness", 0 ) mat_color:SetFloat( "$pp_colour_contrast", 0.5 ) mat_color:SetFloat( "$pp_colour_colour", 5 ) render.SetMaterial( mat_color ) render.DrawScreenQuad() end ) </code> </example>