Materials

A material consists of multiple graphics/textures to create the most accurate, true-to-life representation possible. Each graphic has its own specific task.

Material construction

  • Texture

    • A texture is an image file. This can be a floor, tile, stones, fabric, metal, etc.

  • Roughness

    • Roughness indicates how rough a surface is. This is done using a black and white image. The darker the area in the image, the smoother the surface. The lighter the areas, the less the surface shines.

  • Metallic

    • Indicates how metallic a surface is. This is also done using a black and white image.

  • Normal Map/Bump Map

    • The Normal Map simulates textures. The graphic for this has a blue tone and at edges where it refracts light, it is either green or pink. Based on these colors, the renderer recognizes where the light refracts, thus generating a more realistic representation of the surface.

    A very good source for textures is the website www.textures.com. Registration is free, and you get 15 credits per day, which you can use to download textures for free in a resolution of (1024 x 1024 pixels). For higher resolutions, you need premium access.

Create a Material

  1. Click on the Material Editor Top left on the green plus icon
  2. The new material now appears below
  3. You can also give this a name, e.g.: Checker plate
  4. Color / Texture, select the texture using the icon on the left
  5. Roughness, select the graphic for roughness for your material
  6. Metallic, if available, select the graphic for metal here
  7. Normal Map, here you choose your normal