FUSION · NODE REFERENCE
MaterialMerge
Two inputs, one material and a controlled Blend
MaterialMerge mixes two required inputs, Background Material and Foreground Material. Each accepts an image or a material, but the output always remains a 3D material.
MaterialMerge
Overview
What MaterialMerge does
MaterialMerge operates at the material stage. The orange Background Material and green Foreground Material are required; both accept a 2D image or a 3D material. An image is interpreted as a diffuse texture in the basic shading model. The output is always material data assigned to geometry, not directly to MediaOut.
Blend determines the two contributions in a Dissolve-like manner. For a clear A/B, use different colors and highlight characteristics while keeping camera and lighting fixed. A Blend of 0 or 1 does not remove the requirement to connect both sources.
MaterialMerge has two documented inputs. The earlier article assumed an Effect Mask / Control input, but the primary source does not establish it. Prepare local texture in an appropriate material branch; do not rely on an invented blue input on this node.
Material ID replaces the identifier of the merged result. To obtain it, enable MaterialID in Renderer3D Output Channels and inspect MatID separately. Beauty/RGBA alone does not display the numeric tag; ID neither replaces alpha nor controls Blend.
MaterialID section and Keyframe diamonds are retained as reference explanations of the section and UI elements. The unique fields visible in the original capture are Blend and Material ID. Practice graphs use the existing Text+ model and do not claim to be native .comp files or verified renders.
When to use it
Comparing two materials on one geometry under fixed lighting.
A smooth transition between two surface-shading variants.
Mixing an image used as a diffuse texture with a separate material.
Assigning one Material ID to the merged result.
Preparing a material before Shape3D or ReplaceMaterial3D.
MaterialMerge in context
Screenshots referenced by this article. Open an image to inspect it at full size.
Example for MaterialMerge.
Original image