Recommended Parameter Values#

How to use these tables#

Each section names the shader and the values to enter. The neutral ksAmbient / ksDiffuse is 0.225. Sections with a clear layer on top (clear coat, varnish, tyre shine) list a lower ksAmbient / ksDiffuse, for a texture holding the bare colour; a texture taken from the finished, coated object takes 0.225.

• Using another neutral: multiply ksSpecular, sunSpecular and the clear-layer sections’ ksAmbient / ksDiffuse by your neutral ÷ 0.225.

Using a different shader#

• ksPerPixelReflection values on ksPerPixelNM or ksTyres: use them as they are.
• ksPerPixelMultiMap_NMDetail values on plain ksPerPixelMultiMap: use them as they are and set sunSpecular 0.
• ksPerPixelMultiMap_NMDetail values on ksPerPixelReflection, ksPerPixelNM or ksTyres: add 1 to ksSpecularEXP and divide fresnelEXP by (0.8 + 0.2 × fresnelMaxLevel). The other way round, subtract 1 and multiply.

1a. Coated Textured Surface (vinyl, leather, faux leather)#

Ungrained gloss vinyl: use Glossy Plastic (2). Varnished or lacquered wood: use Varnished Wood (1c).

1b. Matte Leather#

Unfinished nubuck: use Synthetic Fabric (15).

1c. Varnished Wood (gloss-lacquered wood trim)#

Texture: the bare wood’s colour. Painted wood: use the painted surfaces (3c, 17a, 17b).

2. Glossy Plastic#

2b. Satin Plastic#

3. Rough Plastic#

3c. Smooth Painted Surface (bumpers, signs, body panels, smooth painted metal/plastic)#

Paint over a rough substrate: use Rough Painted Surface with Clear Coat (17a).

Metallic paint#

Set ksSpecular to 1.0 and keep the rest.

4. Smooth Metal#

• Texture: near-black, sRGB ≈ 0.17 (linear 0.02), with dirt and oxide on top.
• Recessed chrome (grilles, wheel spokes, trim set into the body): MultiMap with AO in txMaps.b.

5. Rough Bare Metal (sanded, bead-blasted, cast)#

• Texture: near-black, sRGB ≈ 0.17 (linear 0.02), with dirt and oxide on top.
• Powder coat: use Powder Coat (17b).

6a. Grass#

6b. Grass Multilayer#

These rules apply to every multilayer section:

• magicMult other than 1: divide fresnelC, tarmacSpecularMultiplier and fresnelMaxLevel by it. The peak cannot rise above magicMult.
• Glare streak sparkling on the detail normal map: lower ksSpecularEXP.

7a. Gravel and Sand#

7b. Gravel and Sand Multilayer#

9a. Raw Wood#

Varnished wood: use Varnished Wood (1c). Painted wood: use the painted surfaces (3c, 17a, 17b).

10a. Rough Concrete#

10a-iv. Painted Concrete (kerbs, painted floors, painted walls)#

Heavily scuffed kerbs: use Smooth New Tarmac, Painted Rough Concrete (11a).

10b. Concrete Multilayer#

11a. Smooth New Tarmac, Painted Rough Concrete#

11b. Asphalt — Smooth New Tarmac Multilayer#

12a. Asphalt — Grainy Old Tarmac#

12b. Asphalt — Grainy Old Tarmac Multilayer#

13. Billboard Trees (Leaves) — ksTree shader#

14. Natural Fabric — cotton, wool, felt (headliner, pillars, cloth seats)#

15. Synthetic Fabric — polyester, nylon, Alcantara (seats, door cards, sport trim)#

Coarse synthetic cloth: use Natural Fabric (14).

16. Painted White Lines on Road, Smooth Concrete#

Tyre lettering#

• Separate ksTyres lettering material: these values.
• Lettering in the tyre texture: the higher ksSpecular goes on the material, the diffuse alpha masks the other part.
• Tyre shine: lettering alpha ≈0.65. Worn tyre: ksSpecular 0.015 on the material, rubber alpha ≈0.56.

17a. Rough Painted Surface with Clear Coat (textured body paint, rough painted trim)#

Smooth substrate: use Smooth Painted Surface (3c). No clear coat: use Powder Coat (17b).

Metallic paint#

Set ksSpecular to 1.0 and keep the rest.

17b. Powder Coat and Matte Finishes (powder coat, textured plastic, weathered paint)#

Clear-coated: use Rough Painted Surface with Clear Coat (17a).

18a. Window Glass (windscreen, side windows, rear glass)#

These values are for the outer mesh: normals facing out, seen only from outside the car.

Dust: white at alpha ≈0.01, about 1% coverage.

Inner mesh#

• Shader ksWindscreen, normals facing into the cabin: seen only from inside the car.
• It has no ksSpecular, ksSpecularEXP or fresnel settings, so nothing in the tables above applies to it.
• Texture alpha below 0.5: invisible, except toward the sun, where it shows as glare on dust and dirt.
• Texture alpha 0.5 or above: visible at all times as an opaque layer. Don’t use it on a window.
• Clean glass: RGB black, alpha 0. Dust: RGB white, alpha below 0.5.

Outer mesh with Material_Glass#

ksAmbient / ksDiffuse 0.56, fresnelC 0.24. It ignores ksSpecular, ksSpecularEXP, fresnelEXP, fresnelMaxLevel and isAdditive.

18b. Lamp Outer Glass (headlights, stop, tail, turn and fog lights)#

Every colour uses the Coloured values; only the texture changes.

Worn glass between the scratches: the clear texture, with as much haze as the wear calls for.

With Material_Glass#

ksAmbient / ksDiffuse 0.56, fresnelC 0.28 for clear and 0.20 for coloured glass. It reads only ksDiffuse, fresnelC and, for dynamic lights, ksAmbient.

18c. Projector Lens (round low-beam and fog lens that blurs the bowl behind it)#

Alpha: 0.75 where the bowl and bulb are only just made out through the lens, 0.50 where they show fairly clearly.

18d. Gauge / Instrument Glass (glass or plexiglass)#

With Material_Glass#

ksAmbient / ksDiffuse 0.56, fresnelC 0.31. It reads only ksDiffuse, fresnelC and, for dynamic lights, ksAmbient.

19. Refracted Glass (Tail Light Inner Patterned Glass)#

Alpha goes in the normal map’s alpha channel, RGB in the diffuse texture. Every colour uses the Coloured values, the same as 18b’s.

20. Frosted Glass (Modern Car Tail Lights)#

Frosting blur on what is seen through it: extRefractionBias.

21. Headlight / Tail Light / Indicator Reflector#

Texture: near-black, sRGB ≈ 0.17 (linear 0.02).

22. Blacked-Out Headlight Reflector (Glossy Black Painted)#

23. Tyre Rubber — ksTyres shader#

Wheel-arch glow: move fresnelMaxLevel toward the worn-tyre value, at the cost of a flatter sidewall.

23a. Fresh Tyre with Tyre Shine#

Same texture as the worn tyre.

23b. Worn Tyre without Tyre Shine#

24. Rubber Trim (weather strips, wipers, interior seals)#