As discovered in my industry research post, most 3d environment artist roles demand their applicants show ‘An understanding of PBR materials.’ I believe that I do create PBR textures through my use of the substance software’s. But it would still be beneficial for me to understand what is meant by the term. If I am right in thinking I currently do use this method, it’s not through an understanding of the method rather it is simply a part of the workflow I have been taught.  

:: What is meant by PBR materials? ::

PBR or Physically Based Rendering refers to texture maps that manipulate the light on the object in question in a way that reflects how the light would behave on that object in real life. The standardised way of texturing assets, in the substance package software’s is set by default to use PBR materials. This is what results in the various texture maps (Base colour, roughness, metallic etc). By using substance to texture my assets I am in effect using PBR with my materials. However, I still feel like I could develop my understanding of PBR materials.

While I do happen to use PBR in my texturing due to being taught to texture in substance painter I could benefit from developing an understanding of what the various texture maps are responsible for. This is something that has become apparent since I started bringing my assets into unreal engine, as depending on what type of material you import into the engine you lose certain nodes. For instance, when setting a material of an asset to being transparent to make glass, I lose the roughness I had set in substance painter. By understanding how to manipulate each texture map separately and not just treating them as one whole perhaps I can avoid this.

The below video (GarageFarm.Net Academy, (2021)). Quickly sums up what is meant when studios refer to ‘PBR materials’. It shows that by creating our materials in substance using a 3D PBR software we are able to create textures that work on a 3D plane. As opposed to trying to texture an asset exclusively using a 2D software such as photoshop where you are simply guessing at how the light of a world would reflect off a certain surface.

I know that by using the substance software’s I am creating PBR materials. But I still don’t feel comfortable enough with the topic for me to be able to hold a conversation regarding the methodology with someone in a professional setting. Thankfully videos such as the one below (SimonSanchezArt (2019)) do a great job of breaking down what each texture map you export from substance is responsible for on a model.

With the knowledge of what each texture map is responsible for, I understand why certain maps can be compressed together when exporting into unreal engine. However the video is largely just developing the understanding behind each texture map, and doesn’t really show how I can use that knowledge to improve my texturing within substance.

Thankfully with the help of the below video (FlippedNormals, (2019)). I can see and understand what aspects of a texture apply to certain maps in real time with a substance painter example. For instance how much information is present on a roughness map when we create any kind of realistic asset.

This goes a long way to explaining why some maps can be compressed together while others cant be. A normal map is a coloured map and is packed with information regarding how the light reacts to the surface of an object. On the other hand things such as a metallic map are almost binary, with a object face being either metallic or not metallic. Which explains why a map such as a metallic map can be compressed into another while things such as normal maps cant be.

Again I wanted to make sure that the youtube videos I had been referring too were not outdated in their knowledge. So, I reached out to a senior artist in the industry. They seemed to find the term rather difficult to explain, largely I suspect because PBR materials are so widely practised in modern day 3D asset creation it becomes difficult to explain the theory behind it.

I have not experienced trying to texture a 3D asset using only a 2D software such as photoshop, and as such PBR materials is less like a skill that I had to seek out knowledge of and instead is just another part of the 3D asset creation pipeline. Requiring knowledge of PBR materials for a junior 3D artist job role is similar to demanding them to have knowledge of Maya or comparable software. Its simply a pre-requisite for the job role. I do now, after researching the topic feel much more comfortable discussing it within a professional setting which can only benefit me once I leave university.

:: Summary ::

With this post I have deep dived into what is meant by ‘Knowledge of PBR materials’. A job requirement you see almost everywhere in the game industry. I now understand what is meant by the term and also understand what the various texture maps created when exporting PBR textures are each responsible for. This should help me understanding what maps I need to use when I run into issues exporting those texture maps into game engines such as Unreal Engine.

:: References ::

GarageFarm.NET Academy (2021). ‘PBR Explained in 3 Minutes – Physically Based Rendering’  [YouTube Video]. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZbkOZNgwNk [Accessed 28/11/2022]

SimonSanchezArt (2019) ‘Explaining PBR Texture Maps’ [YouTube Video]. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZf2X2ftXnE [Accessed 28/11/2022]

FlippedNormals (2019) ‘PBR Explained for 3D Artists – Physically Based Rendering’ [YouTube Video] Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4dURVZEi3E [Accessed 28/11/2022]