Material
Define a PBR, Toon (cel), or Volume (participating media) material.
What it does
Material builds the surface a mesh renders with. Mode selects PBR for a physically based surface, Glass for transmissive dielectrics, Toon for cel-shaded cartoon lighting, or Volume for participating media such as smoke, fog and clouds. The parameter list below reshapes to match, showing only the rows that apply to the chosen mode.
Base Color takes a plain colour, an image, or a Channel Field: a record of named channels including albedo, metallic, roughness, normal, ao and emissive. Each channel is read by name, and any channel the record does not carry falls back to a default. Every row below the base (Metallic, Roughness, Clearcoat, Anisotropy, Sheen, Iridescence, Subsurface, Normal, Emissive) takes its own image or Field to override that one channel, or stays on its inline value.
When to use it
A physically based look for a mesh: metal, plastic, stone, skin. PBR mode, driven by Metallic and Roughness.
Glass, water or gemstones: Glass mode, where the look comes from Index of Refraction and Absorption Color/Density rather than a transmission slider.
A flat, cel-shaded surface with hard light bands and a rim glow: Toon mode.
Smoke, fog or clouds: Volume mode, wired into a Volume Render setup.
Driving many channels from one texture set: a Channel Field into Base Color rather than each row filled in by hand.
| Parameter | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
mode | String | "PBR" | Shading model: PBR (physically based), Glass (transmissive dielectric — IOR + absorption govern the look), Toon (cel-shaded), or Volume (participating media). One of: PBR, Glass, Toon, Volume. |
channels | Color or Color Field or Field | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) | Base Color / channels: a color or texture (treated as albedo), or a record of named channels (Channel Field). Per-channel rows below override it. |
metallic | Number | 0 | Metallic (0 = dielectric, 1 = metal). Plug a Raster/Field for a metallic map. |
roughness | Number | 0.500 | Roughness (0 = sharp/mirror, 1 = fully rough / frosted glass). Plug a Raster/Field for a roughness map. |
ao | Number | 1 | Ambient occlusion (1 = unoccluded). Plug a Raster/Field for an AO map. |
clearcoat | Number | 0 | Clearcoat strength (0 = off). A second fixed-IOR glossy layer over the surface. |
clearcoat_roughness | Number | 0 | Clearcoat roughness (0 = sharp coat highlight, 1 = blurred). |
anisotropy | Number | 0 | Anisotropy strength (0 = isotropic). Stretches the specular highlight along the tangent. |
anisotropy_rotation | Number | 0 | Anisotropy rotation in turns (0..1 = 0..360°). |
sheen_color | Color or Field | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) | Sheen color (black = off). A soft grazing lobe for cloth/velvet. |
sheen_roughness | Number | 0 | Sheen roughness (0 = tight highlight, 1 = broad). |
iridescence | Number | 0 | Iridescence strength (0 = off). A thin-film interference layer shifting hue with view angle. |
iridescence_ior | Number | 1.300 | Thin-film index of refraction (~1.3). Shifts the interference colours. |
iridescence_thickness_min | Number | 0 | Thin-film thickness minimum (nm). |
iridescence_thickness_max | Number | 0 | Thin-film thickness maximum (nm). |
subsurface_color | Color or Field | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) | Subsurface scatter color (black = off). A soft translucent lift past the terminator. |
subsurface_weight | Number | 0 | Subsurface wrap weight (0 = off, 1 = full translucent wrap). |
normal | Color or Field | — | Normal map (tangent-space). Plug a Raster/Field; unwired = the geometry's own normal. |
emissive | Color or Field | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) | Emissive color (scaled by Emissive Intensity). Plug a Raster/Field for an emissive map. |
alpha | Number | 1 | Opacity (0 = transparent, 1 = opaque) |
alpha_mode | String | "Opaque" | Transparency mode: Opaque, Hashed (screen-door dither), or Blend (real alpha blending). One of: Opaque, Hashed, Blend. |
emissive_intensity | Number | 0 | Emission strength (0 = off, >1 = HDR bloom) |
transmission | Number | 0 | Transmission (0 = opaque, 1 = fully transmissive glass) |
ior | Number | 1.500 | Index of Refraction (1.0 = air, 1.33 = water, 1.5 = glass, 2.42 = diamond) |
thickness | Number | 1 | Refraction thickness (world units) — how far light travels through the glass body |
absorption_color | Color | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) | Absorption color for tinted glass. Higher values absorb more of that channel. |
absorption_density | Number | 0 | Absorption strength (0 = clear, higher = more tinted) |
bands | Number | 3 | Number of discrete lighting bands (2 = sharp two-tone, 8 = many bands) |
edge_softness | Number | 0.050 | Softness of transitions between bands (0 = hard steps, 1 = smooth) |
specular_intensity | Number | 0.500 | Brightness of the specular highlight band (0 = off) |
specular_size | Number | 0.300 | Size of the specular highlight (smaller = tighter highlight) |
rim_intensity | Number | 0 | Intensity of rim lighting (0 = off) |
rim_width | Number | 0.300 | Width of the rim lighting (0 = thin edge, 1 = wide) |
scattering | Number | 0.500 | Scattering: 0 = no scattering, 1 = dense fog |
absorption | Number | 0.500 | Absorption: 0 = transparent, 1 = opaque smoke |
phase_g | Number | 0 | Phase: -1 = back scatter, 0 = isotropic, 1 = forward scatter |
ambient | Number | 0.300 | Ambient light contribution |
fog_distance | Number | 50 | Depth into surface where fog is visible |
Gotchas
Clearcoat, Anisotropy, Sheen, Iridescence and Subsurface each default to off, 0 or black for colours. Raise them for a specific look: a lacquered second layer, brushed-metal streaks, cloth and velvet sheen, a soap-bubble hue shift, a soft skin or wax translucency.
In Glass mode, Index of Refraction and Absorption Color/Density control the result entirely. The Transmission row is forced fully on and has no effect while Glass is selected. Switch back to PBR mode to dial transmission down manually.
An image or Field wired into a per-channel row (Metallic, Roughness, Sheen Color, and so on) always overrides whatever Base Color supplies for that channel. An inline value on a row applies only while Base Color itself is unwired. Once a Channel Field is plugged into Base Color, untouched per-channel rows defer to the record instead of overwriting it with their leftover defaults.
Worked example
Add a Material node and leave Mode on PBR.
Set Base Color to a swatch, or wire in an image for a textured surface.
Raise Metallic toward 1 for a metal look, or lower Roughness for a glossier finish.
Wire the material output into a mesh's Fill, or a Viewport, to see it lit.
For glass, switch Mode to Glass and adjust Index of Refraction and Absorption Color. For a cartoon look, switch Mode to Toon and raise Rim Intensity.
See also
Render · Light · Environment · Colour fields