matcapUV
Calculates the specialized 2D UV coordinates for sampling a MatCap (Material Capture) texture, an efficient tool for stylized shading.
Core Advantages
Abstracts the complex view-space normal-to-UV conversion into a single, plug-and-play node, enabling high-performance, art-driven, and stylized shading effects.
Common Uses
Digital Sculpting and Model Previews
Stylized and Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR)
Faking Environment Reflections cheaply
Normal Visualization and Debugging
How to adjust
This node has no parameters. Its effect is changed by swapping the MatCap texture itself, or by influencing its implicit normal input with a normal map. For example, using a normal map will make the MatCap's lighting details distort and follow the model's bumpy surface. You can also manipulate its output UV coordinates in the node graph, such as multiplying them to create a "zoom" effect on the MatCap texture.
Code Examples
1// Use the output of matcapUV as the UV to sample a MatCap texture
2const matcapColor = texture( myMatcapTexture, matcapUV() );