How To Use Normal Maps In Blender Cycles

How to use PBR Textures in Blender

Basic Materials

Base Colour
Roughness
Peak
Normal
Metal
Ambient Occlusion

Leaves

Basic Setup
Utilise Opacity
Add together Translucency
Double-sided Leaves

Surface Imperfections

Smudges and Fingerprints
Water Aerosol

Basic Materials

Usage of near materials using the Principled Shader. Apart from the Deportation section, this setup works for both Cycles and Eevee.

Base Color

The Base of operations Color map defines the color of a surface. Information technology should be plugged into the Base Color input of the Principled BSDF. Make sure the image file'south colour space is set up to Color.

Roughness

The Roughness map defines how crude a surface is. It should be plugged into the Roughness input of the Principled BSDF. Make sure the paradigm file's color space is prepare to Not-Color Data. Optionally, you can add together a Gamma Node to hands the roughness of the material. Lower gamma means rougher surface and vice versa.

Height

The Pinnacle map tin be used to create detailed shadows and highlights on a material or to actually readapt the geometry of an object.

If you want to utilize it for create detailed shadows and highlights, it should exist plugged into the Tiptop input of a Bump node, which and then should be plugged into the Normal input of the Principled BSDF. Make sure the image file's color space is ready to Non-Color Data. Using the Force slider of the Crash-land node, yous can command the strength of the effect.

If you want to apply it for really displacing the geometry of your object, it should be plugged into the Height input of a Displacement node, which then should be plugged into the Displacement input of the Material Output node. Make sure the image file's color infinite is prepare to Non-Colour Data here as well. Using the Scale slider of the Bump node, you tin can command how much the geometry should be displaced.

Also, make certain that the Displacement method in the Material Settings is fix to either 'Displacement' merely or to 'Displacement and Bump'.

Normal

The Normal map defines in which direction a part of a surface is faced, which is used to create detailed shadows and highlights.

Normally, information technology should exist plugged into the Color input of a Normal Map node, which then should be plugged into the Normal input of the Principled BSDF. Notwithstanding, all normal maps on cgbookcase.com are 'DirectX' normal maps, but Blender uses 'OpenGL', which means we accept to capsize the Light-green aqueduct of the normal map. You can practise that by calculation an RGB Curves node between the Epitome node and the Normal node and so changing the bend in the 'G' channel to lucifer the curve in the screenshot beneath. Brand sure the image file's color space is ready to Non-Color Data.

Theoretically, you can utilize a normal map in combination with a elevation map. I recommend only using i of them, since in most cases, the effect they create is very similar.

Metallic

The Metal map defines which parts of a cloth are metallic, and which are not. It should be plugged into the Metallic input of the Principled BSDF. Make certain the paradigm file's color space is prepare to Non-Colour Data. Only materials that are both metallic and non-metallic have this map available. If a metallic cloth doesn't have this map, change the metallic value in the Principled BSDF to one.

Ambience Occlusion

The Ambient Occlusion (AO) map can be used to imitation soft shadowing in the bumps of a surface. It isn't really needed to create realistic materials in Blender (especially with Cycles), only you can however utilise it to darken the tiny shadows in the surface.

If you want to use this map, it should be multiplied from the Base of operations Color map using a MixRGB node, with the Ambient Apoplexy map existence the second colour input, and so you can easily control the forcefulness of it with the slider of the MixRGB node.

Leaves

I'm just using a plane as the 3D model for the foliage, but you lot tin can too create a more complex one that follows the grade of the leaf. Brand sure your object is UV unwrapped before following the instructions below.

Basic Setup

Import the Base Color, Roughness and Normal map from the front end of the foliage the way you learned it in the previous guide.

Employ Opacity

Mix the Principled BSDF with a Transparent BSDF and use the Opacity map equally the factor of the Mix Shader. Make sure the Principled BSDF is plugged into the bottom Shader input of the Mix Shader, and the Transparent BSDF into the pinnacle.

Add Translucency

Translucency is when light passes through a leaf. Information technology creates this glowing effect that you see when leaves are lit from behind:

In Blender, we can attain this event using the Translucent BSDF. Combine it with the Principled BSDF using the Add together Shader node, and connect the Base Color map to the color of the Translucent BSDF. Add a Hue/Saturation node between the Base Colour map and the Translucent BSDF. By lowering the value of the Hue/Saturation node, yous tin lower the strength of the translucency. (A value between 0.010 and 0.200 normally works best for me.)

Translucency helps make the leafage look thinner.

Double-sided Leaves

Nigh foliage textures on cgbookcase.com come with the dorsum side of the leaf equally well. If you want to make a double sided leaf, duplicate your entire node setup, change the image files of your re-create to the '_back' files and mix them together using the Backfacing output of a Geometry node. This style, the leaf will use different textures when viewing information technology from to front or back.

Surface Imperfections

Surface imperfections are slap-up to add particular to a material, which tin can make a render look much more realistic. Make certain your object is UV unwrapped earlier following the instructions below.

Smudges and Fingerprints

Smudges and fingerprint textures work all-time on glossy surfaces. In this example, I'k using a shiny, reddish cloth, but y'all can use whatsoever material y'all want.

Import the texture and make sure it's color space is ready to Non-Color Data. Mix it with the roughness of the material (this can either exist a single value or a roughness map). Gear up the alloy way to screen. If y'all've plugged the surface imperfection texture into the lesser color slot, you lot tin control the strength of the effect by using the cistron (Fac.) slider of the MixRGB node.

Water Droplets

Past using the h2o droplets textures you can make a material expect like it got wet in the rain (i. e. windshields). I'm using a shiny, blueish textile for sit-in purposes.

Import the texture and make sure information technology'southward colour infinite is set to Non-Colour Data. To make the h2o droplets look 3D, connect the texture to a Bump node, which then should exist plugged into the Normal input of the Principled BSDF. And so, connect the texture to the Clearcoat of the Principled BSDF. The Clearcoat adds a white specular layer on top of the fabric, which makes it wait similar the aerosol were on superlative of the blueish fabric. Gear up the Clearcoat Roughness (= the water droplets' roughness) to 0.