PBR texturing 101: real-world materials without a 3D artist

If you've ever opened a 3D model and seen it look like a chalky soap bar instead of a metal cyborg, the issue is materials. Specifically: PBR materials.

PBR (Physically-Based Rendering) is the standard for materials in modern engines — Unity, Unreal, Three.js, Blender Cycles, Spline. It models how real surfaces reflect light. The trick is encoding that information into a small set of texture maps.

The five maps

Base Color

The diffuse colour of the surface, with no lighting baked in. Brown for wood, red for plastic, etc. Polyx generates this at 2K by default, 4K on Pro and Studio plans.

Metallic

How metallic the surface is. 0 = pure dielectric (plastic, fabric, skin). 1 = pure metal (chrome, gold, brushed steel). The values in between are physically rare — you almost always pick 0 or 1.

Roughness

How rough the micro-surface is. 0 = mirror-smooth. 1 = chalky. Roughness is the single biggest visual lever in PBR — get it right and your asset looks expensive.

Normal

Surface bumps without geometry. Encodes detail like fabric weave, scratches, leather grain. Saves polycount.

Emission

What parts of the surface emit light. Neon strips, screens, lava cracks. Polyx 6 generates emissive maps automatically when you mention “glowing” or “LED” in a prompt.

Polyx's approach

When you generate a model with Polyx, our texturing model produces all five maps in one pass. The maps are aligned, UV-correct, and exportable as a single GLB or as separate PNGs.

If you bring an existing mesh, our AI Texturing endpoint can repaint it from a text prompt or a style image. We re-bake all five maps to fit the new geometry — no manual UV authoring needed.

Best practices

• Start with a description of material, not colour. “Aged copper with verdigris” reads better than “greenish”.
• Mention scale. “Coarse leather” vs. “polished leather” produces dramatically different roughness.
• Use HD texture mode (Pro+) for hero assets. Side characters and environment props are usually fine at 2K.

Try it

Spin up a generation in the workspace. Watch the maps roll in side-by-side as the model textures. It's the most useful 60 seconds you'll spend today.