{"id":954,"date":"2026-09-14T13:46:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T13:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quickref.me\/blog\/?p=954"},"modified":"2026-09-14T13:46:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T13:46:45","slug":"pbr-texture-map-cheat-sheet-for-real-time-3d-assets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quickref.me\/blog\/pbr-texture-map-cheat-sheet-for-real-time-3d-assets\/","title":{"rendered":"PBR Texture Map Cheat Sheet for Real-Time 3D Assets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Physically based rendering, commonly shortened to PBR, helps 3D materials respond consistently to lighting. Instead of painting every highlight and shadow directly into a colour texture, artists use separate maps to describe properties such as colour, surface roughness, metallic behaviour and fine detail.<\/span><\/p>\n

This approach makes an asset easier to move between scenes and rendering environments. A metal tool, painted wall or fabric bag should retain its basic material identity whether it appears outdoors, inside a dark room or beneath coloured lighting.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, PBR terminology can be confusing. Different applications may use different channel names, and a texture that looks correct in one program may appear too shiny, too dark or incorrectly inverted after export.<\/span><\/p>\n

This cheat sheet explains the most common texture maps, how they should be configured and what to check before importing a textured model into a real-time engine.<\/span><\/p>\n

PBR Maps at a Glance<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Texture map<\/b><\/td>\nControls<\/b><\/td>\nTypical appearance<\/b><\/td>\nColour space<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Base Color or Albedo<\/span><\/td>\nVisible surface colour<\/span><\/td>\nFull-colour image without baked lighting<\/span><\/td>\nsRGB<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Roughness<\/span><\/td>\nSharpness of reflections<\/span><\/td>\nGreyscale<\/span><\/td>\nLinear or Non-Color<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Metallic<\/span><\/td>\nWhether the surface behaves like metal<\/span><\/td>\nUsually black or white<\/span><\/td>\nLinear or Non-Color<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Normal<\/span><\/td>\nSmall surface direction changes<\/span><\/td>\nBlue-purple image<\/span><\/td>\nLinear or Non-Color<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Height or Displacement<\/span><\/td>\nApparent or actual surface depth<\/span><\/td>\nGreyscale<\/span><\/td>\nLinear or Non-Color<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ambient Occlusion<\/span><\/td>\nContact and crevice shading<\/span><\/td>\nGreyscale<\/span><\/td>\nLinear or Non-Color<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Opacity<\/span><\/td>\nVisible and transparent areas<\/span><\/td>\nGreyscale or alpha channel<\/span><\/td>\nLinear or Non-Color<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Emissive<\/span><\/td>\nAreas that appear to produce light<\/span><\/td>\nColour or greyscale<\/span><\/td>\nUsually sRGB<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The exact setup varies between rendering systems. Always check the requirements of the destination engine instead of relying entirely on how the material appears in the texturing application.<\/span><\/p>\n

Base Color or Albedo Map<\/b><\/p>\n

The base colour map defines the visible colour of a surface. It may contain painted patterns, stains, labels and colour variation, but it should generally avoid directional lighting information.<\/span><\/p>\n

A base colour texture should not contain:<\/span><\/p>\n