Physically Based Rendering
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Overview:
The PBR MAT is used for Physically Based Rendering. This shading approach attempts to mimic the behavior of light as it’s scattered across surfaces, and uses additional maps in the shading process. The PBR MAT typically requires an Environment Light and another Light COMP. Unlike the Phong MAT, the PBR MAT uses the Environment Light COMP for environment and reflection textures. This both contributes to the color of a scene, as well as provides the reflective elements in surfaces.
The PBR MAT also typically requires that SOPs have tangents in addition to normals. You can add Tangents to a SOP with the Attribute Create SOP. The PRB MAT can also accept a Substance TOP to simplify the number of textures required to set-up the Material. Substance materials come from third party tools like Adobe Substance 3D Designer and there are many free and paid-for materials on the internet. See the TouchDesigner wiki for the PBR MAT to find where to obtain them.
References:
- SOPs – Derivative Wiki
- PBR MAT – Derivative Wiki
- Phong MAT – Derivative Wiki
- Substance TOP – Derivative Wiki
- Environment Light COMP – Derivative Wiki
- Attribute Create SOP – Derivative Wiki