Digital Material Library Architextures Introduces 3D PBR Textures

Architextures, a web-based texture editor and a digital material library mostly aimed at architects and designers, has added 3D PBR textures to the platform, making it even more useful for game designers and 3D artists as they can now create realistic materials that accurately simulate how light interacts with surfaces.

Architextures stands out for its intuitive user experience, eliminating the need for additional software or downloads. The app responds instantly to parameter changes, providing real-time visualization of texture modifications. This user-friendly approach has expanded its user base beyond architects and students to include 3D artists and game designers. It's an ongoing project, regularly adding new textures, materials, and patterns in response to user feedback. It adapts to evolving architectural and design practices while considering the physical properties of materials. Architextures aims to enhance users' workflow by introducing new elements and features, such as frogged brick and standing seam sheets. 

Architextures is also partnering with industry-leading platforms and manufacturers, which will provide users with more of options and combine the app's technology with the expertise of industry experts. Let's have a look at some texture maps presented at the Architextures site:

Roughness map

Roughness maps are grayscale images that indicate the level of roughness within a texture. Darker pixels represent smoother areas, while lighter pixels represent rougher areas. Rough surfaces scatter light, resulting in a diffuse appearance, whereas smoother surfaces reflect more light, creating a glossy appearance. 

Metalness map

A grayscale metalness map is used to distinguish between metallic and non-metallic areas within a texture. Lighter pixels represent metallic regions, while darker pixels indicate less metallic areas. When rendering a 3D scene, the metalness map guides the renderer in determining the balance between mirror-like specular reflections and diffused reflections, characteristic of rough or matte surfaces. 

Displacement map

Displacement maps are an effective way to add depth and create physically accurate geometry to a surface. They utilize grayscale images where the brightness level corresponds to the depth of the surface. Darker areas of the image represent lower regions, while lighter areas represent higher sections. When applied to a 3D model, the displacement map physically alters the geometry of the surface, producing a more realistic appearance. 

Bump map

Like displacement maps, bump maps also represent depth and are used to simulate the lighting and shadows across a surface. Bump maps don't alter the geometry of the 3D model and are normally used for small surface details that don't change the overall shape of the geometry, such as scratches and imperfections.

For bump maps on Architextures, tiles are white and joints are black by default. Options for bump and normal maps for tiles are controlled in a single menu accessed with the bump icon:

Normal map

Normal maps are utilized to create the illusion of depth within a surface by employing an RGB image. In this image, each pixel's value represents the angle of the surface normal. Similar to bump maps, normal maps are employed to simulate light and shadow, but they do not alter the physical geometry of the surface in a 3D model. Options pertaining to bump and normal maps for tiles are consolidated within a single menu, which can be accessed by clicking on the bump icon.

The website has a procedural online editor offering settings for dimensions, patterns, colors, randomization, orientation, and more. You can download low-res textures for free for personal use.

There is also a Pro subscription that costs €6,99/month and unlocks additional parameters and high-resolution textures. 

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