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 |
|---|---|---|
mode | String | "PBR" |
channels | OneOf([Color, FieldOf(Color), Field]) | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) |
metallic | Number | 0 |
roughness | Number | 0.500 |
ao | Number | 1 |
clearcoat | Number | 0 |
clearcoat_roughness | Number | 0 |
anisotropy | Number | 0 |
anisotropy_rotation | Number | 0 |
sheen_color | OneOf([Color, Field]) | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) |
sheen_roughness | Number | 0 |
iridescence | Number | 0 |
iridescence_ior | Number | 1.300 |
iridescence_thickness_min | Number | 0 |
iridescence_thickness_max | Number | 0 |
subsurface_color | OneOf([Color, Field]) | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) |
subsurface_weight | Number | 0 |
normal | OneOf([Color, Field]) | — |
emissive | OneOf([Color, Field]) | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) |
alpha | Number | 1 |
alpha_mode | String | "Opaque" |
emissive_intensity | Number | 0 |
transmission | Number | 0 |
ior | Number | 1.500 |
thickness | Number | 1 |
absorption_color | OneOf([Color]) | rgba(1.00, 1.00, 1.00, 1.00) |
absorption_density | Number | 0 |
bands | Number | 3 |
edge_softness | Number | 0.050 |
specular_intensity | Number | 0.500 |
specular_size | Number | 0.300 |
rim_intensity | Number | 0 |
rim_width | Number | 0.300 |
scattering | Number | 0.500 |
absorption | Number | 0.500 |
phase_g | Number | 0 |
ambient | Number | 0.300 |
fog_distance | Number | 50 |
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