How do I change the HDRP Lit Material opacity at runtime?

With standard materials, I was able to use a UI slider to change the material's alpha property. However, with the HDRP/Lit material, I can't do that using Color. I found that with an animation, I can change the material's opacity using the alpha channel on "Base Color" instead of "Color," but how do I access Base Color via a script? I can't find it in the documentation or anything. It feels like I'm missing something very simple.

Thanks in advance!

 

https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Material.SetColor.html
https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Material.SetVector.html

Use with _BaseColor

Right click material -> Edit to see the variable names, eg.

Code (CSharp):

1. Shader "HDRenderPipeline/Lit"
2. {
3.     Properties
4.     {
5.         // Versioning of material to help for upgrading
6.         [HideInInspector] _HdrpVersion("_HdrpVersion", Float) = 1
7.  
8.         // Following set of parameters represent the parameters node inside the MaterialGraph.
9.         // They are use to fill a SurfaceData. With a MaterialGraph this should not exist.
10.  
11.         // Reminder. Color here are in linear but the UI (color picker) do the conversion sRGB to linear
12.         _BaseColor("BaseColor", Color) = (1,1,1,1)
13.         _BaseColorMap("BaseColorMap", 2D) = "white" {}
14.  
15.         _Metallic("_Metallic", Range(0.0, 1.0)) = 0
16.         _Smoothness("Smoothness", Range(0.0, 1.0)) = 1.0
17.         _MaskMap("MaskMap", 2D) = "white" {}
18.         _SmoothnessRemapMin("SmoothnessRemapMin", Float) = 0.0
19.         _SmoothnessRemapMax("SmoothnessRemapMax", Float) = 1.0
20.         _AORemapMin("AORemapMin", Float) = 0.0
21.         _AORemapMax("AORemapMax", Float) = 1.0
22.  
23.         _NormalMap("NormalMap", 2D) = "bump" {}     // Tangent space normal map
24.         _NormalMapOS("NormalMapOS", 2D) = "white" {} // Object space normal map - no good default value
25.         _NormalScale("_NormalScale", Range(0.0, 2.0)) = 1
26.  
27.         _BentNormalMap("_BentNormalMap", 2D) = "bump" {}
28.         _BentNormalMapOS("_BentNormalMapOS", 2D) = "white" {}
29.  
30.         _HeightMap("HeightMap", 2D) = "black" {}
31.         // Caution: Default value of _HeightAmplitude must be (_HeightMax - _HeightMin) * 0.01
32.         // Those two properties are computed from the ones exposed in the UI and depends on the displaement mode so they are separate because we don't want to lose information upon displacement mode change.
33.         [HideInInspector] _HeightAmplitude("Height Amplitude", Float) = 0.02 // In world units. This will be computed in the UI.
34.         [HideInInspector] _HeightCenter("Height Center", Range(0.0, 1.0)) = 0.5 // In texture space
35.  
36.         [Enum(MinMax, 0, Amplitude, 1)] _HeightMapParametrization("Heightmap Parametrization", Int) = 0
37.         // These parameters are for vertex displacement/Tessellation
38.         _HeightOffset("Height Offset", Float) = 0
39.         // MinMax mode
40.         _HeightMin("Heightmap Min", Float) = -1
41.         _HeightMax("Heightmap Max", Float) = 1
42.         // Amplitude mode
43.         _HeightTessAmplitude("Amplitude", Float) = 2.0 // in Centimeters
44.         _HeightTessCenter("Height Center", Range(0.0, 1.0)) = 0.5 // In texture space
45.  
46.         // These parameters are for pixel displacement
47.         _HeightPoMAmplitude("Height Amplitude", Float) = 2.0 // In centimeters
48.  
49.         _DetailMap("DetailMap", 2D) = "black" {}
50.         _DetailAlbedoScale("_DetailAlbedoScale", Range(0.0, 2.0)) = 1
51.         _DetailNormalScale("_DetailNormalScale", Range(0.0, 2.0)) = 1
52.         _DetailSmoothnessScale("_DetailSmoothnessScale", Range(0.0, 2.0)) = 1
53.  
54.         _TangentMap("TangentMap", 2D) = "bump" {}
55.         _TangentMapOS("TangentMapOS", 2D) = "white" {}
56.         _Anisotropy("Anisotropy", Range(-1.0, 1.0)) = 0
57.         _AnisotropyMap("AnisotropyMap", 2D) = "white" {}
58.  
59.         _DiffusionProfile("Diffusion Profile", Int) = 0
60.         _SubsurfaceMask("Subsurface Radius", Range(0.0, 1.0)) = 1.0
61.         _SubsurfaceMaskMap("Subsurface Radius Map", 2D) = "white" {}
62.         _Thickness("Thickness", Range(0.0, 1.0)) = 1.0
63.         _ThicknessMap("Thickness Map", 2D) = "white" {}
64.         _ThicknessRemap("Thickness Remap", Vector) = (0, 1, 0, 0)
65.  
66.         _IridescenceThickness("Iridescence Thickness", Range(0.0, 1.0)) = 1.0
67.         _IridescenceThicknessMap("Iridescence Thickness Map", 2D) = "white" {}
68.         _IridescenceThicknessRemap("Iridescence Thickness Remap", Vector) = (0, 1, 0, 0)
69.         _IridescenceMask("Iridescence Mask", Range(0.0, 1.0)) = 1.0
70.         _IridescenceMaskMap("Iridescence Mask Map", 2D) = "white" {}
71.  
72.         _CoatMask("Coat Mask", Range(0.0, 1.0)) = 0.0
73.         _CoatMaskMap("CoatMaskMap", 2D) = "white" {}
74.  
75.         [ToggleUI] _EnergyConservingSpecularColor("_EnergyConservingSpecularColor", Float) = 1.0
76.         _SpecularColor("SpecularColor", Color) = (1, 1, 1, 1)
77.         _SpecularColorMap("SpecularColorMap", 2D) = "white" {}

Note: accessing .material at runtime will cause Unity to replace the given material with a copy for that runtime session. Use .sharedMaterial at runtime to change the original material on a temporary basis.

Don't modify them with script at editor time unless you want to make changes permanent.

 

Thanks! That was exactly what I needed.

 

Or add PerRendererData attribute in "com.unity.render-pipelines.high-definition/HDRP/Material/Lit/Lit.shader" and use MaterialPropertyBlock's for editing colors of many objects without creating new instances. But i'm not tested MPB in HDRP.

 

can you please explain how did you do it. I am trying to change the real time material using HDRP. However I dont know how you solved it. I am new in unity therefore please explain in detains or with picture if you can.

 

I solved it. this is how you change the material color in HDRP


//Set the main Color of the Material to green
rend.material.shader = Shader.Find("_BaseColor");
rend.material.SetColor("_BaseColor", Color.green);

 

@AviGarud Your code doesn't work for me, resulting in an ShaderError and pink material. Can you post a full / proper code, please?

 

Frankly, this code is confusing, even though the docs show this in their example.
https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Material.SetColor.html
@OfficialHermie , Shader.Find() is the same as GameObject .Find() in that you insert a string and it returns the specified shader. If it can't find one, it returns an Internal Shader Error (which, of course, turns your material pink, indicating the material cannot be rendered.) (Possibly incorrect wording of the error but you get the idea.)

Shader.Find("Specular") makes more since, since there is indeed a material called "Specular", but it changes your entire shader and, to my best knowledge, resets it to default.

So just remove the first line and keep it as "rend.material.SetColor("_BaseColor", Color.green);"



Oh, and uuuh; if you are not using HDRP, then use "_Color" instead. As the moderator said, Right click shader -> Edit shader to see the variable names and find the name of the variable you want to change there (my respects to that glorious trick, kind sir.)

 

Is there any way to get the HDRP/Lit's Surface Option by code? I want to find out the materials that "material type " is "SubsurfaceScattering" and "_DiffusionProfile" is null.

 

Did you figure this out? I'm looking for the same thing

 

Does anyone know how to really make this work? I have a technique that works in Unity Built-in pipeline, but when used in HDRP, the material's alpha property will not change under normal circumstances. For example, I am lerping the alpha value from 0 to 1 so that it will fade in. But what I get as a result is that it just shows the opaque object. However, if I pause the editor and click on the material component in the inspector then it instantly updates to the correct alpha value. Why won't it update on its own? And is there some way to force it to refresh when I set the alpha?

 

Did you ever find a fix for this ?

 

I believe it is working for me and has been for a while. However, I don't recall what I did to make it work.