PBR Rendering System
What is PBR?
PBR (Physically Based Rendering) simulates real-world lighting and material properties to produce realistic 3D visuals — metallic surfaces with true reflections, rough surfaces with soft diffuse lighting, and smooth surfaces with sharp highlights.
Visual Properties
Metalness & Roughness
Each material has two core adjustable parameters:
| Parameter | Effect | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Metalness | How metallic the surface looks | 0 (non-metal) ~ 1 (fully metal) |
| Roughness | How rough or smooth the surface is | 0 (mirror) ~ 1 (fully rough) |
- High metalness + low roughness = polished metal
- Low metalness + high roughness = matte plastic or fabric
Environment Reflections
Smooth surfaces reflect the surrounding environment. The system supports HDR and EXR high-dynamic-range environment maps.
Display Modes
| Mode | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Solid | Full PBR material rendering |
| Wireframe | Triangle mesh edges for geometry inspection |
| Solid+Wireframe | Both combined |
| Grid | Reference grid helper |
Environment Maps
Environment maps provide global illumination and reflections:
- Presets: 3 built-in lighting environments, switch instantly
- Custom: Load your own
.hdror.exrenvironment maps - Use case: Preview models under different lighting conditions
Tips
- Try different environment maps to see how metallic materials reflect differently
- Use wireframe mode for CAD models to inspect geometry structure
- Solid+wireframe mode balances visual quality and structural analysis