Hello, I’ve just started downloading textures from Lightbeans, which appear to have good PBR settings able to be default configured to a Sketchup/Layout workflow. This is generally working nicely, like when I download a tile texture, I can see the reflectivity and the grout lines appearing accurately using the bump mapping. What doesn’t appear to be working, and I’m hoping somebody might be able to help me understand this, is that I’m not seeing the accurate edge/profile texture in the render. In the preview of the materials I’m downloading, say for instance some fiber cement siding, I can see the realistic profile along the edge, the stepped profile of each piece of siding. But when I apply the texture in SU and render it in Enscape, the material looks good except that the edge/profile just shows a perfectly straight line, not the actual displacement of the stepped siding. I’ve tried this with round and straight objects, I’ve tried adjusting the bump map and displacement types and intensities, but nothing seems to make it look like it does in the preview; screenshots attached. Any ideas of how to make this work correctly? I feel like this is one of the biggest things missing in my renders, and would add a huge upgrade to the sense of realism. TIA!
Enscape uses a different type of displacement map that is more optimized for real-time rendering.
For that type of detail, you’d need VRay or some other rendering engine.
This is a reason why I’ve asked time and again for Enscape to allow us a slot for AO maps - but it was declined… It would help fake the depth results and a decent work-around. I find in D5 render for example that when I add AO maps, the result looks much better than in Enscape. Encape support will tell you to blend in the AO map with the albedo in Photoshop on your own for the desired effect.
My technique for these types of materials, particularly with siding like this, is to use the “diffuse with shadows” for the albedo/color. That’s basically adding some fake AO to the material. Then I use the displacement map for actual depth. I find the Normal maps in Enscape can sometimes mostly show wood grain texture vs edge profile depths.
Mainly, the depth effect is REALLY dependent on the lighting scenario. More lighting angle on the material = the more the depth will show. Flat lighting will not work well. Same thing for an exterior board and batten. Something with that I’ll even go the extra mile and model in the battens. Same goes for metal standing seam roofs and wall cladding.