Materials and textures are where an Unreal project's naming discipline shows. A consistent texture naming convention means the right map lands in the right slot every time - and it is exactly the kind of thing that drifts under deadline.
Texture suffixes it checks
Unreal projects use predictable channel suffixes so artists and materials agree on what each map is:
| Suffix | Map |
|---|---|
_BC / _D | Base colour / diffuse. |
_N | Normal map. |
_ORM | Packed Occlusion (R), Roughness (G), Metallic (B) - one texture, three channels. |
_M / _R / _AO | Metallic / Roughness / Ambient Occlusion, when kept separate. |
_E / _MASK | Emissive / mask. |
Why ORM packing matters
Packing Occlusion, Roughness and Metallic into a single _ORM texture is a common Unreal optimisation - three grayscale maps in one RGB texture means fewer samples in the material. But it only works if the texture is named and authored to that convention, so a _ORM map is not accidentally plugged in as a base colour, and a normal map is not fed where roughness belongs. The validator checks that your texture names match the packing your materials expect.
Materials and instances
It also checks Material (M_) and Material Instance (MI_) names against your convention, so a material and its textures share a consistent, searchable base name. Run it as part of the full naming convention check, and export the results for your art lead.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ORM texture in Unreal?
A single texture that packs Occlusion into the red channel, Roughness into green and Metallic into blue. It saves texture samples in the material, but only if named and authored to that convention.
What texture suffixes does it check?
Common Unreal suffixes including _BC / _D, _N, _ORM, _M, _R, _AO, _E and _MASK, matched to your convention.