DCC production guide
PBR Texture Maps Workflow Guide
Direct answer: A PBR material set is ready when every map has a clear job, the workflow convention is explicit, and the engine imports color maps and data maps differently on purpose. Most failures come from mismatched interpretation, not from painting skill alone.
Base Color MapEmissive MapMetallic MapMetallic/Roughness WorkflowOpacity MapPhysically Based Rendering
Choose the workflow first
Metallic/Roughness Workflow and specular-glossiness are not interchangeable labels. If the shader expects metallic and roughness but the texture artist is painting toward a different response model, later tweaks become guesswork.
Color versus data
Base Color Map and Emissive Map are usually color information and should be reviewed with the correct sRGB expectation. Roughness Map, Metallic Map, and many Opacity Map or mask cases are data. If a data map is imported as color, material response changes before the viewer even touches a slider.
Opacity and layered materials
Opacity behavior needs an explicit rule: clip, blend, dither, or additive treatment. A fabric decal, leaf card, glowing sign, and cracked glass do not use opacity the same way. Review the map alongside the shader mode, not as an isolated image file.
Resolution and repetition
Texture resolution should follow camera distance and texel density targets rather than an arbitrary “always 4K” habit. Repeating materials also need a decision on whether tiling is clean enough or whether breakup masks and decals are required.
Worked example
A painted metal door may use base color, roughness, metallic, optional emissive, and a masked warning decal. Review should show imported color-space flags, shader mode, close-up highlight response, and a scene preview where the roughness variation is visible under motion.
Multilingual production terms
Use this table when a material brief must make clear which exact map is under discussion and how the renderer or engine is expected to interpret it.
| 中文 | English | 日本語 | Workflow usage note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 基础颜色贴图 | Base Color Map | ベースカラーマップ | sRGB color information for diffuse albedo without baked shading. |
| 自发光贴图 | Emissive Map | エミッシブマップ | sRGB color for self-illuminated areas; review bloom and post-process response. |
| 金属度贴图 | Metallic Map | メタリックマップ | Linear data defining whether a surface is metal (1) or dielectric (0). |
| 金属粗糙度流程 | Metallic/Roughness Workflow | メタリック/ラフネスワークフロー | Convention using base color, metallic, and roughness as primary inputs. |
| 不透明度贴图 | Opacity Map | 不透明度マップ | Linear mask controlling cutout, blend, or dither behavior in the shader. |
| PBR | Physically Based Rendering | PBR | Lighting and material model that simulates real surface response. |
| 粗糙度贴图 | Roughness Map | ラフネスマップ | Linear data controlling specular blur and highlight spread. |
| sRGB | sRGB | sRGB | Color space encoding for images meant to be viewed; not for data maps. |
Related pages and next step
Open SEELE AI workspaceFAQ
Why can a good-looking map fail in engine?
Because the wrong shader workflow, color-space flag, or opacity mode can reinterpret it before lighting is even evaluated.
Should every roughness map be grayscale?
Usually yes as data, but the real approval point is whether the target shader reads it correctly and the result behaves as intended under lighting.
How do I review emissive safely?
Check both the texture and the bloom or post-process response. A correct emissive map can still overwhelm the scene if the material instance is mis-scaled.
When is base color too noisy?
When surface wear, lighting tricks, and baked shading cues are painted into the color map so strongly that the material no longer relies on physically based lighting.