The different PBR maps (overview)

VIEW:1120 DATA:2020-03-20

If you download a CC0 Textures file, you will see that it contains a variety of different PBR maps. This article lists all the maps (commonly) used by CC0 Textures,

Color

The color map of the material. Some programs also call it "Albedo", "Diffuse" or "Base Color".

We can see with the _c code, ex: mat0_c.jpg

Roughness

This map describes the roughness of the material. If this image is closer to black, it means that the material appears to be very bright. Consequently, an almost white image means that the material has a very diffuse appearance.

We can see with the code _r, ex: mat0_r.jpg

Displacement

It defines the height / displacement of the material. Using this in combination with the geometry of very high polygons allows for more detailed surfaces.

Normal

The normal map defines the normal vector of the surface at a given point.

A normal map works by telling the rendering engine to behave as if the surface has a certain normal vector at this point. Through this process, the amount of detail on a surface is no longer limited by the amount of geometry, but by the number of pixels in a texture that offers much better performance.

Note that normal maps in CC0 textures are in  DirectX format  . This may require manual changes, depending on your software. See Normal DirectX-style maps vs. OpenGL for more details.

We can see with the code _n, ex: mat0_n.jpg.

Environment occlusion

Ambient occlusion serves to simulate the tiny, soft shadows that the material is throwing at itself. This makes the cracks a little darker. The environment's occlusion map is simply multiplied with the color map. Therefore, the dark parts of the map also darken the final color map, while the white parts leave it untouched.

We can see with the code _o, ex: mat0_o.jpg.

Metallicity (found)

Defines whether a part of the surface is metallic or dielectric.

We can see with the code _m, ex: mat0_m.jpg.

Opacity / Mask

This is just a generic black and white image, usually used for opacity.

Note that some older textures use the _mask suffix for other purposes. In that case, you can ignore them.

Less common maps

Emission

This map defines the light that a material emits.

Variants (var1, var2, ...)

Some surface imperfection materials use these suffixes to indicate different versions of the map, which are often inverted versions or versions with increased contrast.