Metallic Material
Updated: 4 Nov 2024
Add a metallic material.
Metallic Material
Method #
This node generates a basic metallic material, similar to the default material node but default metallic settings.
The output material can be applied to any node which accepts a material input, such as 3D Objects, Particle Trails, or a Procedural Raytracer.
Parameters
Parameter Details Preview in Viewport
Toggle a preview of the Material on a sphere in the Viewport
These properties control the core behaviours of the material using Physically Based Rendering (PBR) properties from a A Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution function. Changing the properties below can make a material appear more reflective, more dirty, or add more detail to the material surface. By using textures (either through the relevant inputs, or in the texture section), each of these properties can be modulated over a surface, for more complex material effects.
Parameter Details Specular Intensity
The intensity of the specular reflection.
Specular Colour
The colour of the specular reflection.
Colour Map -> Specular Colour
Use the input colour map as the specular reflection colour.
Specular Anisotropy
Controls the anisotropy of the specular reflection.
Roughness
Controls the roughness of the material.
Normal Map Mode
Changes the format of the input normal map.
- Tangent Space : The source normal map is in tangent space.
- Object Space : The source normal map is in object space.
Use Displacement
Enables the use of displacement mapping for the material. *Requires an input displacement map
Ambient Occlusion
Enables the input ambient occlusion map of the material.
Settings related to the textures used in the material.
Parameter Details Colour Texture
Defines the base color of the material’s surface. It represents the surface color under neutral, uniform lighting.
Specular Map
Controls the color and intensity of shiny reflections (specular highlights). Brighter areas on the map indicate a more reflective and shinier surface.
Roughness Map
A grayscale map that controls the roughness of the surface. Black represents a smooth, mirror-like surface with sharp reflections, while white represents a rough surface with blurry, diffuse reflections.
Normal Map
Adds surface detail like bumps and scratches without adding more polygons to the model. It simulates how light would interact with a more complex surface, creating the illusion of depth.
Displacement Map
Physically displaces the vertices of the model’s geometry based on the map’s values. Unlike a Normal Map, this creates real geometric detail that affects the model’s silhouette.
UV Texture Filter Mode
Determines the algorithm used for sampling texture pixels when viewed at different angles and distances.
- Point : Nearest-neighbor filtering; fast but results in a blocky, pixelated look.
- Bilinear : Averages the four nearest texture pixels for a smoother appearance than Point filtering.
- Anisotropic : High-quality filtering that improves texture clarity on surfaces viewed at steep angles.
- Bicubic : A more advanced filtering method that produces sharper results than bilinear filtering.
- Oversampling : An anti-aliasing technique that samples the texture at a higher resolution to produce a smoother final image.
Texture Mip Bias
An offset that adjusts which mipmap level is used for a texture. Negative values can sharpen distant textures, while positive values can blur them.
These properties control how the material applies to the mesh UVs.
Parameter Details Colour Texture UV
Select the UV for the Colour Texture.
Specular Map UV
Select the UV for the Specular Map Texture.
Roughness Map UV
Select the UV for the Roughness Map Texture.
Normal Map UV
Select the UV for the CoNormal Map Texture.
Displacement Map UV
Select the UV for the Displacement Map Texture.
UV Scale X
Scale the UV texture along the X axis.
UV Scale Y
Scale the UV texture along the Y axis.
UV Offset X
Offset the UV texture along the X axis.
UV Offset Y
Offset the UV texture along the Y axis.
Diffuse UV Scale X
Scale the Diffuse UV texture along the X axis.
Diffuse UV Scale Y
Scale the Diffuse UV texture along the Y axis.
Diffuse UV Offset X
Offset the Diffuse UV texture along the X axis.
Diffuse UV Offset Y
Offset the Diffuse UV texture along the Y axis.
Texture Wrap Mode U
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the U value range exceeds 0 to 1.
- Repeat : Texture will attempt to blend with the opposite side, to create a repeating effect.
- Clamp : Texture will complete at the edge, with no attempt to wrap.
- Border With Black : Texture will complete at the edge, then fill the remaining area with black.
- Mirror : Texture will complete at the edge, and then mirror the effect again.
Texture Wrap Mode V
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the V value range exceeds 0 to 1.
- Repeat : Texture will attempt to blend with the opposite side, to create a repeating effect.
- Clamp : Texture will complete at the edge, with no attempt to wrap.
- Border With Black : Texture will complete at the edge, then fill the remaining area with black.
- Mirror : Texture will complete at the edge, and then mirror the effect again.
Diffuse Texture Filter Mode
Controls how textures used by the material are filtered.
- Point : Nearest-neighbor filtering; fast but results in a blocky, pixelated look.
- Bilinear : Averages the four nearest texture pixels for a smoother appearance than Point filtering.
- Anisotropic : High-quality filtering that improves texture clarity on surfaces viewed at steep angles.
- Bicubic : A more advanced filtering method that produces sharper results than bilinear filtering.
- Oversampling : An anti-aliasing technique that samples the texture at a higher resolution to produce a smoother final image.
Diffuse Texture Wrap Mode U
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the U value range exceeds 0 to 1.
- Repeat : Texture will attempt to blend with the opposite side, to create a repeating effect.
- Clamp : Texture will complete at the edge, with no attempt to wrap.
- Border With Black : Texture will complete at the edge, then fill the remaining area with black.
- Mirror : Texture will complete at the edge, and then mirror the effect again.
Diffuse Texture Wrap Mode V
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the V value range exceeds 0 to 1.
- Repeat : Texture will attempt to blend with the opposite side, to create a repeating effect.
- Clamp : Texture will complete at the edge, with no attempt to wrap.
- Border With Black : Texture will complete at the edge, then fill the remaining area with black.
- Mirror : Texture will complete at the edge, and then mirror the effect again.
UV Remap Filtering
Enables filtering for remapping UV’s. Only functions with eligible textures.
These properties control the rendering settings for the material.
Parameter Details Lit
Determines if the material is affected by lights in the scene. When disabled, the material appears fully lit by its own colour and texture, regardless of scene lighting.
- Off : Disables lighting; the material displays its base colour only.
- On : Enables the material to be affected by scene lighting.
Reflections Mode
Controls how the material generates reflections from its surroundings.
- Full Reflections : Calculates physically accurate, raytraced reflections from other objects and the environment in the scene.
- Env Map : Uses a pre-rendered environment map for fast, approximate reflections instead of raytracing.
- Off : Disables all reflections for this material, making it appear matte.
Shadows
Defines how the object interacts with shadows in the scene.
- Cast + Receive : The object both casts its own shadow and has shadows cast upon it by other objects.
- Cast : The object only casts a shadow but will not receive shadows from other objects.
- Receive : The object only receives shadows but does not cast one itself.
- Off : The object neither casts nor receives shadows.
Render Visibility
Controls the object’s visibility to different types of rays in the renderer, which is useful for advanced effects.
- Full : The object is fully visible to the camera and appears normally in reflections and refractions.
- Unseen by Rays : The object is visible directly to the camera but is invisible in reflections and refractions.
- Unseen by Camera : The object is invisible to the camera but still appears in reflections and refractions.
Raytracing Settings
Determines whether the material uses the scene’s global raytracing depth settings or custom values.
- Use Global Settings : Inherits raytracing bounce limits from the global render settings.
- Override : Allows setting custom raytracing bounce limits for this specific material.
Max. Diffuse Depth
Limits the number of times a ray can bounce off diffuse surfaces, affecting indirect lighting quality.
Max. Glossy Depth
Limits the number of times a ray can reflect off glossy or specular surfaces.
Max. Refraction Depth
Limits the number of times a ray can pass through refractive (transparent) surfaces.
These properties control a rim lighting effect, a Light which sits just behind the subject and adds a wrapping of liht around the mesh edges.
Parameter Details Polygon Sidedness
The orientation of the polygon’s faces.
- Front : The front face of the polygon is visible.
- Back : The back face of the polygon is visible.
- Double Sided : Both sides of the polygon are visible.
Flip Polygons
Flips the orientation of the polygon’s faces.
Smoothing Angle
The angle at which shading transitions occur.
Wireframe
Displays the material’s geometry as a wireframe.
These properties control a rim lighting effect, a Light which sits just behind the subject and adds a wrapping of liht around the mesh edges.
Parameter Details Rim Lighting
Simulates Rim Lighting on the material with respect to the camera.
Glow
Controls the glow of the Rim Lighting.
These properties allow you to control how vertex colours are applied to meshes, and to other parts of the PBR pipeline.
Parameter Details Vertex Colours - Apply To Colour
Set how the vertex colours apply to the colour of the mesh.
Vertex Colours - Apply To Roughness
Set how the vertex colours apply to the roughness of the mesh.
Inputs
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Preview in Viewport | Toggle a preview of the Material on a sphere in the Viewport |
These properties control the core behaviours of the material using Physically Based Rendering (PBR) properties from a A Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution function. Changing the properties below can make a material appear more reflective, more dirty, or add more detail to the material surface. By using textures (either through the relevant inputs, or in the texture section), each of these properties can be modulated over a surface, for more complex material effects.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Specular Intensity | The intensity of the specular reflection. |
| Specular Colour | The colour of the specular reflection. |
| Colour Map -> Specular Colour | Use the input colour map as the specular reflection colour. |
| Specular Anisotropy | Controls the anisotropy of the specular reflection. |
| Roughness | Controls the roughness of the material. |
| Normal Map Mode |
Changes the format of the input normal map.
|
| Use Displacement | Enables the use of displacement mapping for the material. *Requires an input displacement map |
| Ambient Occlusion | Enables the input ambient occlusion map of the material. |
Settings related to the textures used in the material.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Colour Texture | Defines the base color of the material’s surface. It represents the surface color under neutral, uniform lighting. |
| Specular Map | Controls the color and intensity of shiny reflections (specular highlights). Brighter areas on the map indicate a more reflective and shinier surface. |
| Roughness Map | A grayscale map that controls the roughness of the surface. Black represents a smooth, mirror-like surface with sharp reflections, while white represents a rough surface with blurry, diffuse reflections. |
| Normal Map | Adds surface detail like bumps and scratches without adding more polygons to the model. It simulates how light would interact with a more complex surface, creating the illusion of depth. |
| Displacement Map | Physically displaces the vertices of the model’s geometry based on the map’s values. Unlike a Normal Map, this creates real geometric detail that affects the model’s silhouette. |
| UV Texture Filter Mode |
Determines the algorithm used for sampling texture pixels when viewed at different angles and distances.
|
| Texture Mip Bias | An offset that adjusts which mipmap level is used for a texture. Negative values can sharpen distant textures, while positive values can blur them. |
These properties control how the material applies to the mesh UVs.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Colour Texture UV | Select the UV for the Colour Texture. |
| Specular Map UV | Select the UV for the Specular Map Texture. |
| Roughness Map UV | Select the UV for the Roughness Map Texture. |
| Normal Map UV | Select the UV for the CoNormal Map Texture. |
| Displacement Map UV | Select the UV for the Displacement Map Texture. |
| UV Scale X | Scale the UV texture along the X axis. |
| UV Scale Y | Scale the UV texture along the Y axis. |
| UV Offset X | Offset the UV texture along the X axis. |
| UV Offset Y | Offset the UV texture along the Y axis. |
| Diffuse UV Scale X | Scale the Diffuse UV texture along the X axis. |
| Diffuse UV Scale Y | Scale the Diffuse UV texture along the Y axis. |
| Diffuse UV Offset X | Offset the Diffuse UV texture along the X axis. |
| Diffuse UV Offset Y | Offset the Diffuse UV texture along the Y axis. |
| Texture Wrap Mode U |
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the U value range exceeds 0 to 1.
|
| Texture Wrap Mode V |
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the V value range exceeds 0 to 1.
|
| Diffuse Texture Filter Mode |
Controls how textures used by the material are filtered.
|
| Diffuse Texture Wrap Mode U |
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the U value range exceeds 0 to 1.
|
| Diffuse Texture Wrap Mode V |
Controls how textures used by the material are wrapped when the V value range exceeds 0 to 1.
|
| UV Remap Filtering | Enables filtering for remapping UV’s. Only functions with eligible textures. |
These properties control the rendering settings for the material.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Lit |
Determines if the material is affected by lights in the scene. When disabled, the material appears fully lit by its own colour and texture, regardless of scene lighting.
|
| Reflections Mode |
Controls how the material generates reflections from its surroundings.
|
| Shadows |
Defines how the object interacts with shadows in the scene.
|
| Render Visibility |
Controls the object’s visibility to different types of rays in the renderer, which is useful for advanced effects.
|
| Raytracing Settings |
Determines whether the material uses the scene’s global raytracing depth settings or custom values.
|
| Max. Diffuse Depth | Limits the number of times a ray can bounce off diffuse surfaces, affecting indirect lighting quality. |
| Max. Glossy Depth | Limits the number of times a ray can reflect off glossy or specular surfaces. |
| Max. Refraction Depth | Limits the number of times a ray can pass through refractive (transparent) surfaces. |
These properties control a rim lighting effect, a Light which sits just behind the subject and adds a wrapping of liht around the mesh edges.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Polygon Sidedness |
The orientation of the polygon’s faces.
|
| Flip Polygons | Flips the orientation of the polygon’s faces. |
| Smoothing Angle | The angle at which shading transitions occur. |
| Wireframe | Displays the material’s geometry as a wireframe. |
These properties control a rim lighting effect, a Light which sits just behind the subject and adds a wrapping of liht around the mesh edges.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Rim Lighting | Simulates Rim Lighting on the material with respect to the camera. |
| Glow | Controls the glow of the Rim Lighting. |
These properties allow you to control how vertex colours are applied to meshes, and to other parts of the PBR pipeline.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Vertex Colours - Apply To Colour | Set how the vertex colours apply to the colour of the mesh. |
| Vertex Colours - Apply To Roughness | Set how the vertex colours apply to the roughness of the mesh. |
This node has no inputs.