--- name: SurfaceAppearance last_updated: 2026-06-11T23:11:57Z inherits: - Instance - Object type: class memory_category: Instances summary: "An object that allows developers to override the appearance of a MeshPart with advanced graphics options." --- # Class: SurfaceAppearance > An object that allows developers to override the appearance of a MeshPart with > advanced graphics options. ## Description **SurfaceAppearance** objects let you override the appearance of a [MeshPart](/docs/reference/engine/classes/MeshPart.md) with advanced graphics options. Most notably, it can apply a set of **Physically‑Based Rendering** (PBR) texture images, or maps, on a single object. Combining multiple texture maps can more accurately simulate color, roughness, and reflectivity in any lighting environment and can enhance the visual elements of your assets and environment; see [PBR Textures](/docs/en-us/art/modeling/surface-appearance.md) for more details. ![A realistic leafy bush](/assets/modeling/surface-appearance/SurfaceAppearance-Example-1.jpg)![A realistic mossy rock](/assets/modeling/surface-appearance/SurfaceAppearance-Example-3.jpg) Appearance of this object on a [MeshPart](/docs/reference/engine/classes/MeshPart.md) depends on the user's device and graphics quality level. For best results, you may want to preview your content with different quality level settings. Note that most [SurfaceAppearance](/docs/reference/engine/classes/SurfaceAppearance.md) properties cannot be modified by scripts, as the necessary pre-processing is usually too expensive during runtime. ## Properties ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.AlphaMode ```json { "type": "AlphaMode", "access": "ReadWrite", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "None" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` This property determines how the alpha channel of the [SurfaceAppearance.ColorMap](/docs/reference/engine/classes/SurfaceAppearance.md) is used. When set to [Transparency](/docs/reference/engine/enums/AlphaMode.md) and the [MeshPart.Transparency](/docs/reference/engine/classes/MeshPart.md) is set to `0`, opaque pixels in the [ColorMap](/docs/reference/engine/classes/SurfaceAppearance.md) will render as completely opaque in the 3D scene. This combination works better with depth-based effects and occlusion. When set to [Transparency](/docs/reference/engine/enums/AlphaMode.md) and the [MeshPart.Transparency](/docs/reference/engine/classes/MeshPart.md) is set to at least `0.02`, a different blending method is used that can better represent smooth transparency gradients and soft edges. This combination does not support all effects and occlusion may not be perfect. See [here](/docs/en-us/art/modeling/surface-appearance.md#alpha-modes) for more information. ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.Color ```json { "type": "Color3", "access": "ReadWrite", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "None" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` Applies a tint to your existing colormap. Set directly with color picker or programmatically with [Color3](/docs/reference/engine/datatypes/Color3.md). ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.ColorMap ```json { "type": "ContentId", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "PluginSecurity", "write": "PluginSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` This property determines the color and opacity of the surface. This texture is sometimes called the **albedo** texture. The alpha channel of this texture controls its opacity, which behaves differently based on the [SurfaceAppearance.AlphaMode](/docs/reference/engine/classes/SurfaceAppearance.md) setting. See [here](/docs/en-us/art/modeling/surface-appearance.md#color-albedo) for more information. ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.EmissiveMaskContent ```json { "type": "Content", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "PluginSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` This property determines the apparent emissivity across the surface. An emissive mask is a grayscale image where black pixels correspond to no emissivity, and white pixels correspond to full emissivity. The emissive contribution gets added to total lighting contribution across the surface, and the sum gets multiplied by the albedo texture, which would be sampled from [ColorMap](/docs/reference/engine/classes/SurfaceAppearance.md) if provided. ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.EmissiveStrength ```json { "type": "float", "access": "ReadWrite", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "None" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` This value is a multiplier to control how strong the emissive contribution is across the surface. If the final contribution of emissives goes beyond supported dynamic range, it will get clamped; this could result in emissive contribution appearing all white when using large emissive strength values. Since this value is a multiplier, the maximum value to prevent clamping depends on all of the other contributing values, including [EmissiveTint](/docs/reference/engine/classes/SurfaceAppearance.md), [ColorMap](/docs/reference/engine/classes/SurfaceAppearance.md) and combined lighting contribution. ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.EmissiveTint ```json { "type": "Color3", "access": "ReadWrite", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "None" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` This value is an RGB color for tinting emissive contribution. ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.MetalnessMap ```json { "type": "ContentId", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "PluginSecurity", "write": "PluginSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` This property determines which parts of the surface are metal or non-metal. The metalness map is a grayscale image where black pixels correspond to non-metals and white pixels correspond to metals. Metals only reflect light the same color as the metal, and they reflect much more light than non-metals. Most pixels in a metalness map will be either pure black or pure white, while values in between can be used to simulate dirt or grunge on top of an underlying metal area. When [Lighting.EnvironmentSpecularScale](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Lighting.md) is 0, metalness has no effect. For the most realistic reflections, it's recommended to set [Lighting.EnvironmentSpecularScale](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Lighting.md) and [Lighting.EnvironmentDiffuseScale](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Lighting.md) to 1, as well as [Lighting.Ambient](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Lighting.md) and [Lighting.OutdoorAmbient](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Lighting.md) to `(0, 0, 0)`. See [here](/docs/en-us/art/modeling/surface-appearance.md#metalness) for more information. ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.NormalMap ```json { "type": "ContentId", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "PluginSecurity", "write": "PluginSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` This property modifies the lighting of the surface by adding bumps, dents, cracks, and curves, without adding more polygons. The normal map is an RGB image that modifies the surface's normal vector used for lighting calculations. Its **R**, **G**, and **B** channels correspond to the **X**, **Y**, and **Z** components of the local surface vector respectively, and byte values of 0 and 255 for each channel correspond linearly to normal vector components of -1 and 1.016 respectively. This range is stretched slightly from -1 to 1 so that a byte value of 127 maps to exactly 0. The normal vector's **Z** axis is always defined as the direction of the underlying mesh's normal. A uniform `(127, 127, 255)` image translates to a completely flat normal map where the normal is everywhere perpendicular to the mesh surface; this format is referred to as a "tangent space" normal map. Note that Roblox does not support world space or object space normal maps. Incorrectly flipped normal components can make bumps appear like indents. If you import a normal map and notice the lighting looks off, you may need to invert the **G** channel of the image. The **X** and **Y** axes of the tangent space frame correspond to the **X** and **Y** directions in the image after it's transformed by the mesh UVs. If you view your normal map in an image editor as if it were displayed on a surface, normals pointing towards the right side of the screen should appear more red, and normals pointing towards the top side of your screen should appear more green. The terms "DirectX format" and "OpenGL format" are sometimes used to describe whether the **G** channel of the normal map is inverted or not (Roblox expects the OpenGL format). Roblox also expects imported meshes to include tangents. Modeling software may also refer to this as "tangent space" information. If you apply a normal map and it does not seem to make any visual difference, you may need to re-export your mesh along with its tangent information from the modeling software. See [here](/docs/en-us/art/modeling/surface-appearance.md#normal) for more information. ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.ResampleMode ```json { "type": "ResamplerMode", "access": "ReadWrite", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "None" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.RoughnessMap ```json { "type": "ContentId", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "PluginSecurity", "write": "PluginSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` This property determines the apparent roughness across the surface. The roughness map is a grayscale image where black pixels correspond to a maximally smooth surface, and white pixels correspond to a maximally rough surface. Note that surface roughness works on a very small scale. Reflections on smooth surfaces are sharp and concentrated, while reflections on rough surfaces are more blurry and dispersed. See [here](/docs/en-us/art/modeling/surface-appearance.md#roughness) for more information. ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.TexturePack ```json { "type": "ContentId", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "RobloxScriptSecurity", "write": "RobloxEngineSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.ColorMapContent *(hidden)* ```json { "type": "Content", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "PluginSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.MetalnessMapContent *(hidden)* ```json { "type": "Content", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "PluginSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.NormalMapContent *(hidden)* ```json { "type": "Content", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "PluginSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` ### Property: SurfaceAppearance.RoughnessMapContent *(hidden)* ```json { "type": "Content", "access": "ReadOnly", "security": { "read": "None", "write": "PluginSecurity" }, "serialization": { "can_load": true, "can_save": true }, "thread_safety": "ReadSafe", "category": "Appearance", "capabilities": [ "Basic" ] } ``` ## Inherited Members ### From [Instance](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Instance.md) - **Property `Archivable`** (`boolean`): Determines if an Instance and its descendants can be cloned using - **Property `archivable`** (`boolean`): *(deprecated, hidden)* - **Property `Capabilities`** (`SecurityCapabilities`): The set of capabilities allowed to be used for scripts inside this - **Property `Name`** (`string`): A non-unique identifier of the Instance. - **Property `Parent`** (`Instance`): Determines the hierarchical parent of the Instance. - **Property `PredictionMode`** (`PredictionMode`): - **Property `RobloxLocked`** (`boolean`): A deprecated property that used to protect CoreGui objects. *(hidden)* - **Property `Sandboxed`** (`boolean`): When enabled, the instance can only access abilities in its `Capabilities` - **Property `UniqueId`** (`UniqueId`): A unique identifier for the instance. - **Method `AddTag(tag: string): ()`**: Applies a tag to the instance. - **Method `children(): Instances`**: Returns an array of the object's children. *(deprecated)* - **Method `ClearAllChildren(): ()`**: This method destroys all of an instance's children. - **Method `Clone(): Instance`**: Create a copy of an instance and all its descendants, ignoring instances - **Method `clone(): Instance`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `Destroy(): ()`**: Sets the Instance.Parent property to `nil`, locks the - **Method `destroy(): ()`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `FindFirstAncestor(name: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first ancestor of the Instance whose - **Method `FindFirstAncestorOfClass(className: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first ancestor of the Instance whose - **Method `FindFirstAncestorWhichIsA(className: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first ancestor of the Instance for whom - **Method `FindFirstChild(name: string, recursive?: boolean): Instance?`**: Returns the first child of the Instance found with the given name. - **Method `findFirstChild(name: string, recursive?: boolean): Instance`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `FindFirstChildOfClass(className: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first child of the Instance whose - **Method `FindFirstChildWhichIsA(className: string, recursive?: boolean): Instance?`**: Returns the first child of the Instance for whom - **Method `FindFirstDescendant(name: string): Instance?`**: Returns the first descendant found with the given Instance.Name. - **Method `GetActor(): Actor?`**: Returns the Actor associated with the Instance, if any. - **Method `GetAttribute(attribute: string): Variant`**: Returns the value which has been assigned to the given attribute name. - **Method `GetAttributeChangedSignal(attribute: string): RBXScriptSignal`**: Returns an event that fires when the given attribute changes. - **Method `GetAttributes(): Dictionary`**: Returns a dictionary of the instance's attributes. - **Method `GetChildren(): Instances`**: Returns an array containing all of the instance's children. - **Method `getChildren(): Instances`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `GetDebugId(scopeLength?: int): string`**: Returns a coded string of the debug ID used internally by Roblox. - **Method `GetDescendants(): Instances`**: Returns an array containing all of the descendants of the instance. - **Method `GetFullName(): string`**: Returns a string describing the instance's ancestry. - **Method `GetStyled(name: string, selector: string?): Variant`**: Returns the styled or explicitly modified value of the specified property, - **Method `GetStyledPropertyChangedSignal(property: string): RBXScriptSignal`**: - **Method `GetTags(): Array`**: Gets an array of all tags applied to the instance. - **Method `HasTag(tag: string): boolean`**: Check whether the instance has a given tag. - **Method `IsAncestorOf(descendant: Instance): boolean`**: Returns true if an Instance is an ancestor of the given - **Method `IsDescendantOf(ancestor: Instance): boolean`**: Returns `true` if an Instance is a descendant of the given - **Method `isDescendantOf(ancestor: Instance): boolean`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `IsPropertyModified(property: string): boolean`**: Returns `true` if the value stored in the specified property is not equal - **Method `QueryDescendants(selector: string): Instances`**: Returns an array containing all descendants of the instance that match the - **Method `Remove(): ()`**: Sets the object's `Parent` to `nil`, and does the same for all its *(deprecated)* - **Method `remove(): ()`**: *(deprecated)* - **Method `RemoveTag(tag: string): ()`**: Removes a tag from the instance. - **Method `ResetPropertyToDefault(property: string): ()`**: Resets a property to its default value. - **Method `SetAttribute(attribute: string, value: Variant): ()`**: Sets the attribute with the given name to the given value. - **Method `WaitForChild(childName: string, timeOut: double): Instance`**: Returns the child of the Instance with the given name. If the - **Event `AncestryChanged`**: Fires when the Instance.Parent property of this object or one of - **Event `AttributeChanged`**: Fires whenever an attribute is changed on the Instance. - **Event `ChildAdded`**: Fires after an object is parented to this Instance. - **Event `childAdded`**: *(deprecated)* - **Event `ChildRemoved`**: Fires after a child is removed from this Instance. - **Event `DescendantAdded`**: Fires after a descendant is added to the Instance. - **Event `DescendantRemoving`**: Fires immediately before a descendant of the Instance is removed. - **Event `Destroying`**: Fires immediately before (or is deferred until after) the instance is - **Event `StyledPropertiesChanged`**: Fires whenever any style property is changed on the instance, including ### From [Object](/docs/reference/engine/classes/Object.md) - **Property `ClassName`** (`string`): A read-only string representing the class this Object belongs to. - **Property `className`** (`string`): *(deprecated)* - **Method `GetPropertyChangedSignal(property: string): RBXScriptSignal`**: Get an event that fires when a given property of the object changes. - **Method `IsA(className: string): boolean`**: Returns true if an object's class matches or inherits from a given class. - **Method `isA(className: string): boolean`**: *(deprecated)* - **Event `Changed`**: Fires immediately after a property of the object changes, with some