Materials & ShadingSurface Detail
Dust Layer
The Dust Layer adds a colour to the surfaces of an object that face upwards, the way dust, snow or ash settles in the real world. Steep and downward-facing surfaces stay clear.
It's the fastest way to make an object look weathered or a scene look cold, without painting a texture or adding geometry.
Adding the layer
Select an object, then in the Material section of the inspector click + and choose Dust.
Controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Color | The colour of the settled dust — white for snow, grey for dust, dark for grime |
| Coverage | How far down the sides the effect reaches. Low values leave only the flattest faces covered; high values creep down steeper slopes |
| Softness | How sharply the covered area gives way to the bare surface. Low is a crisp snow line, high is a gradual fade |
| Noise | Breaks up the edge so it isn't a perfectly even band |
| Noise Scale | The size of that variation — small for fine grain, large for patchy drifts |
Tips
- Snow: white, high coverage, low softness, a little noise for a natural edge.
- Dust on a shelf or machine: light grey, low coverage, high softness.
- Grime in crevices: try the Cavity Layer instead — it targets recesses rather than upward faces, and the two stack well.
- The effect follows the object's orientation in the scene, so rotating the object moves the dust to whatever now faces up.