What are Material Scans?

Material scans require a specific method of scanning, using specialized equipment. This scanning process outputs a series of different texture files dedicated to various material properties.

These are necessary in order to create photorealistic CG materials that look as close as possible to their real counterpart.

In the example below, this suit lining fabric scan is expressed in terms of the following set of texture maps: DIFFUSE ROUGHNESS METALNESS SPECULARITY NORMALS

Together, these maps help form the full lining material for this particular color. In the example below, you can see how these different maps come together by connecting them to the corresponding properties on the material template.

In addition to the texture maps, the scanning process should also output a text file that represents the tiling information for these maps. In the example below, the text file gives us the horizontal and vertical tiling expressed in terms of centimeters.

Once the materials have been scanned, they will need to be prepared for tiling. In the example above, the textures were properly prepared so that the end result does not show any visible seams in the tiling.

In the example below you can see how an improperly tiled version might look:

All of this information needs to be prepared properly, with a consistent naming convention, prior to upload on ThreeKit. The specific project requirements will dictate the various maps, texture resolutions and tiling information needed.

The ThreeKit Webgl and Vray materials can accommodate a variety of mapped properties, but the ones listed above should be considered as the baseline starting point.