DocumentationSubstance 3DSubstance 3D Painter

Mask Builder

Last update: August 11, 2026
In: mask, generator
Description
The Mask Builder generator is a legacy version of the Mask Editor generator. It's a multi-purpose mask generator that allows you to combine Grunge, AO, Curvature, Gradient, World Space Normal, Scratches, Scatter, and Micro Details in a single mask.

The Mask Builder generator is very flexible, but due to its complexity, it can impact performance more than most generators.

The Mask Builder generator outputs a monochrome (black-and-white) texture. As a result, it’s useful for generating masks based on the various baked maps.

Baked position, curvature, ambient occlusion and world space normal maps are required as image inputs. Learn more about baking here.

Inputs

Input name
Description
World space normal Color
Use the baked World Space Normals map.
Custom grunge 1 Grayscale
Use a custom texture or an anchor point.
Custom grunge 2 Grayscale
Use a custom texture or an anchor point.
Scatter input Grayscale
Use a custom texture or an anchor point.
Position Color
Use the baked Position map.
Curvature Grayscale
Use the baked Curvature map.
Ambient Occlusion Grayscale
Use the baked Ambient Occlusion map.
Micro Normal Color
Use a custom normal texture or an anchor point.
Micro Height Color
Use a custom texture or an anchor point.

Parameters

Parameter name
Description
Seed

Set the seed value used to generate the dirt texture.

  • Click Random to switch to another random seed.
  • Click the pencil to see the current seed value, and enter a specific value if desired.
Level
Adjust the midpoint level of the final mask after all effects are combined between black or white, like a brightness adjustment.
Contrast
Adjust the contrast/falloff of the final mask.
Invert
Invert the final result of the combined mask.
Use Triplanar

When Use Triplanar is enabled, the texture is projected from three directions (X, Y, Z axes) instead of relying only on UVs.

  • Without triplanar enabled, the texture follows the UV layout.
  • With triplanar enabled, the texture is projected from multiple angles and blended.
Triplanar Blending Contrast
Adjust how smoothly a texture blends when projected using triplanar mapping. It adjusts the softness of the blending between the projections from each direction.
Grunge
Adjust how much the Grunge settings impact the final mask result.
AO
Adjust how much the AO (Ambient Occlusion) settings impact the final mask result.
Curvature
Adjust how much the Curvature settings impact the final mask result.
Top/Down Gradient
Adjust how much the Top/Down Gradient impact the final mask result.
World Space Normal
Adjust how much the World Space Normal settings affect the final mask result.
Scratches
Adjust how much the Scratches settings affect the final mask result. For the Scratches to be visible, Grunge, AO, or Curvature need to be above 0.
Scatter
Tweaks how much the Scatter affects the mask.

Grunge

Parameter name
Description
Scale
Adjust the size of the grunge texture.
Use Custom Grunge
Toggle usage of a custom Grunge map on or off. It’s just the visibility of the Custom Grunge 1. To control the visibility of the Custom Grunge 2, adjust the Secondary Custom Grunge slider.
Secondary Custom Grunge
Adjust the visibility of the Custom Grunge 2 texture.
Invert
Invert the grunge maps.

Ambient Occlusion

Parameter name
Description
Range
Adjust the range of the AO mask.
Contrast
Adjust the contrast/falloff of the AO mask.
Noisiness
Add noise to the AO result, effectively decreasing the brightness of the mask.
Invert
Invert the AO mask.

Curvature

Parameter name
Description
Convex Range
Adjust the minimum convex angle required to be highlighted by the mask.
Convex Contrast
Adjust the convex mask contrast.
Convex Invert
Inverts the convex mask.
Concave Range
Adjust the minimum concave angle to be highlighted by the mask.
Concave Contrast
Adjust the concave mask contrast.
Concave Invert
Invert the concave mask.
Smoothness
Adjust the blend between light and dark areas of the Curvature mask.
Level Boost
Use this to extend the range of the masked area. This acts like a multiplier for the Convex Range and Concave Range parameters.
Noisiness
Add noise to the Curvature result, effectively decreasing the brightness of the mask.

Gradient

Gradient position is based on the Position map which can either be baked with Full Scene or Per Material normalization scale. If your material only appears in a small area of your scene, but the position map is baked with a Full Scene Normalization scale, it may be difficult to adjust the Gradient Range to get the desired result.

Parameter name
Description
Range
Adjust the gradient range.
Contrast
Tweaks the gradient contrast.
Invert
Inverts the gradient.

World Space Normal

Front, back, left, and right values may not correspond with the front, back, left, and right side of your mesh. By default, Front corresponds to the positive X-axis, and Right corresponds to the positive Z-axis.

Parameter name
Description
Top Intensity
Adjust the range (intensity) of the top down gradient.
Bottom Intensity
Adjust the range (intensity) of the bottom up gradient.
Front Intensity
Adjust the range (intensity) of the front back gradient.
Back Intensity
Adjust the range (intensity) of the back front gradient.
Right Intensity
Adjust the range (intensity) of the right left gradient.
Left Intensity
Adjust the range (intensity) of the left right gradient.

Scratches

Parameter name
Description
Amount
Adjust the density of the scratches.
Scale
Adjust the size of the scratches.

Scatter

Parameter name
Description
Scale
Adjust the size of the scatter effect. A higher scale results in more, smaller stamps while a lower scale increases individual stamp size with fewer visible.
Density
Adjust the number of the scattered stamps.
Size
Adjust the size of the scattered stamps.
Size Variation
Adjust how much randomness there is in the size of each instance of the scattered stamp. A higher Size Variation randomly reduces stamp sizes, so increasing Size Variation may mean you also need to increase the Size value to maintain the same average size.
Opacity Variation
Adjust how much randomness there is in the opacity of each instance of the scattered stamp.

Micro Details

Parameter name
Description
Micro Height
Toggle usage of a custom Micro Height map on or off.
Micro Normal
Toggle usage of a custom Micro Normal map on or off.
Curvature Type

Set the Curvature type.

  • Standard: Produces a usually quite sharp result, but can lack wider details.
  • Sobel: Produces similar results compared to standard, but slightly blurrier because it evaluates the normal map using a Sobel filter.
  • Smooth: Produces different levels of blur (like mipmaps) to accumulate information. This usually provides smoother curves, but details can get lost.
Curvature Intensity
Adjust the intensity of the Curvature in Standard and Sobel Curvature mode.
Height Details Intensity
Adjust the strength of the Micro Height details.
AO Radius
Adjust the radius (range) of the Ambient Occlusion in micro details.
AO Depth
Adjust the depth (intensity) of the Ambient Occlusion in micro details.
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