---
title: "Reference"
url: "https://help.maxon.net/r3d/cinema/en-us/Content/html/Reference_Shader.html"
section_path: "Shaders > Utility Shaders > Reference"
description: "This node lets you reference an existing Redshift material and read out its Surface, Displacement, Environment, or Contour and to make this information …"
---

# Reference

You are here:

# Reference

## Overview

This node lets you reference an existing Redshift material and read out its *Surface*, *Displacement*, *Environment*, or *Contour* and to make this information available for any other Redshift material.

## Example

In the image below, on the right side we have two materials in the *Material Manager*, a Redshift *Car Material* and a basic Redshift *Material*.

We open up the basic material in the *Node Editor* and add the *Reference* node to the setup. By dragging the *Car Paint* material from the *Material Manager* to the *Material* slot of the *Reference* node, we gain access to that material and can reference it for use with the *Material Blender*.

The advantage of such a structure is that you can use one material and make other dependent materials from it.

![Image: Reference_Shader_1.png](https://help.maxon.net/r3d/cinema/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/Reference_Shader_1.png)

The Reference node can also be used to bring Redshift material networks created in the XPresso shader graph into the new Redshift node editor. This makes it possible to use both shading graph types in the same scene.\
![Image: C4D_Expresso_Reference.png](https://help.maxon.net/r3d/cinema/en-us/Content/Resources/Images/C4D_Expresso_Reference.png)

## Parameters

### Source

Choose which information you like to reference from the linked *Material*. You can choose between:

- **Surface**: Loads the *Surface* input connected to the linked material's *Output* node, this is the BSDF surface information.
- **Displacement**: Loads the *Displacement* input connected to the linked material's *Output* node.
- **Environment**: Loads the *Environment* input connected to the linked material's *Output* node.
- **Contour**: Loads the *Contour* input connected to the linked material's *Output* node.

### Material

Link a material here to be used for referencing.