michiel | a year ago | 14 comments | 14 likes | 862 views

Dani, vincent, Ilja and 11 others like this!

The metallic map tells the renderer which parts of the model are metallic. In this example the bow and arrow and the rucksack straps.

ORM map

To save precious video memory, the occlusion, roughness and metallic maps are stored in the same texture. This is the ORM map:
outerspace-software.com...

Effect

The AdvancedMaterials\ColourmapNormalmapCubemap effect uses the metallic map to set the visibility of the cube map. This effect is automatically selected when your model features an ORM map.

When you choose MEDIA > CHANGE EFFECT... you can see how this effect uses its textures:
1st texture slot: colour map
2nd texture slot: normal map
3rd texture slot: cube map
4th texture slot: ORM map

All textures are automatically loaded from the 3D model, except the cube map:
outerspace-software.com...

Cube map

The BluffTitler installer comes with an example:
BluffTitler\Media\Textures\Cubemap.dds

Here's more about cube maps:
outerspace-software.com...

Render 1

The 1st render does not use a cube map. This way nothing looks metallic.

Render 2

The 2nd render uses Cubemap.dds in its 3rd texture slot. But the FX IGNORE METALLIC MAP is set to 1. This ignores the metallic map so everything looks metallic.

I've cleared the normal map to make it super smooth.

Render 3

The 3rd render keeps the FX IGNORE METALLIC MAP prop to its default value of 0. This makes only the metallic parts look metallic. Clearly this looks best!

The FX REFLECTION FACTOR prop is set to 2 to boost the effect.

Other props

The FX NORMAL STRENGTH prop is set to 2 to boost the normal maps.
The SPECULARITY prop is set to 0.9 to add specular reflections.

Model

The model used in the screenshot can be downloaded here:
sketchfab.com...

Here's another demonstration of the power of metallic maps.

michiel, a year ago

Here's another spectacular example.

I've set the FX REFLECTION FACTOR in the 3rd render to 1.3. This way the metallic parts take over the mustard green a bit.

michiel, a year ago

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