Extract text from Source 2 materials (VMAT)
To convert VMAT materials to another format, you need Source 2 Workshop Tools or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Source 2 Engine Asset" file type, you need software like Source 2 Workshop Tools or a similar tool.
.VMAT files are Material definition files used by the Valve Source 2 engine for video games like Dota 2, Half-Life: Alyx, and Counter-Strike 2. They define how 3D surfaces interact with light by linking shaders to specific texture maps, such as diffuse, normal, and roughness maps.
During development, Source 2 materials are stored in a proprietary KeyValues3 (KV3) text format. These can be opened using the official Source 2 Workshop Tools. However, for final game distribution, they are compiled into complex binaries.
Users typically need to convert .VMAT files when porting game assets to other software like Blender or Unreal Engine. The major disadvantage of the .VMAT format is its severe proprietary lock-in. It is completely useless outside of the Source 2 ecosystem. Furthermore, a .VMAT file does not contain actual image data; it only references external image files.
To achieve your goal, you must locate the referenced texture files and convert them to standard formats like PNG, TGA, or JPG. The material settings themselves can sometimes be parsed to JSON or plain text for reference in other engines.
This file format is exceptionally difficult to open or convert because it is a closed, proprietary structure. Standard online converters fail because they lack the specific logic to decompile Source 2 engine binaries. Often, only the original software or community tools like Valve Resource Format (VRF) can properly read or export the data.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VMAT file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted VRMAT, VMAT_C, VTEX_C, PNG and FBX files.
If you want to convert VMAT file to OBJ, FBX, DAE, 3DS, MAX, BLEND, MA, MB, C4D, STL, PLY or WRL, you can use Source 2 Workshop Tools or similar software from the "Game Material Property Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DWG, DAE, X3D, IGES, WRL, JT, SKP, 3DS, 3DM, OBJ, STEP or FBX files to VMAT, try Source 2 Workshop Tools or another comparable tool in the "Game Material Property Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our VMAT converter.