Production shading with material reuse. PBR-accurate or intentionally stylized. Minimal unique materials.
When to Use
- Look development after UVs
- Procedural material creation
- Master material library setup
- Material variation from shared masters
- Engine export material preparation
Workflow
Master Materials → Instance Variations → Object Assignment
→ Vertex Color/Mask Setup → Validation → Export Prep
Master Material Library
Create reusable masters in MAT_ prefix:
| Master | Base Setup |
|---|---|
| MAT_Metal_Base | Principled: Metallic 1, adjustable Roughness |
| MAT_Plastic_Base | Principled: Metallic 0, Specular 0.5 |
| MAT_Fabric_Base | Principled + Sheen |
| MAT_Glass_Base | Principled: Transmission 1, IOR 1.45 |
| MAT_Emissive_Base | Principled: Emission strength variable |
| MAT_Organic_Base | Subsurface scattering enabled |
Instance variations: duplicate master, adjust parameters only.
PBR Value Ranges
| Material | Metallic | Roughness | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polished metal | 1.0 | 0.1–0.3 | |
| Brushed metal | 1.0 | 0.4–0.6 | Anisotropic if available |
| Painted metal | 0.0 | 0.3–0.5 | Base color = paint |
| Plastic | 0.0 | 0.3–0.6 | |
| Rubber | 0.0 | 0.7–0.9 | |
| Concrete | 0.0 | 0.8–0.95 | |
| Wood (raw) | 0.0 | 0.5–0.7 | |
| Glass | 0.0 | 0.0 | Transmission 1 |
| Skin | 0.0 | 0.4–0.6 | Subsurface 0.1–0.3 |
| Fabric | 0.0 | 0.7–0.9 | Sheen |
Procedural Material Patterns
Wear mask: Noise → ColorRamp → Lerp between clean/worn Edge wear: Bevel node → Pointiness or Ambient Occlusion Dirt accumulation: AO inverted → multiply with dirt color Rust: Noise mask on metal → orange/brown color override
Material Count Budget
| Asset Type | Max Materials |
|---|---|
| Hero prop | 3–5 |
| Standard prop | 1–2 |
| Modular piece | 1 (atlas) |
| Character | 3–8 (body, cloth, eyes, hair) |
| Environment module | 1–2 |
Vertex Color Usage
- RGB: variation masks (wear, moss, color variation)
- R: wear amount, G: dirt, B: wetness
- Document channel usage in material notes
Stylized Materials
See stylized-style skill. Key differences:
- Flatten roughness range
- Hand-painted base color priority
- Rim light via Fresnel mix
- NPR toon shaders if project requires
MCP Integration
- Create material slots via MCP
- Assign materials to objects via MCP
- Set principled BSDF parameters via MCP
- Query material count per scene
- Verify material names follow convention
Constraints
MUST DO
- Reuse master materials; instance variations
- Name materials
MAT_[Surface]_[Descriptor] - Match PBR values to style skill direction
- Limit material count per asset budget
- Test materials in target lighting setup
MUST NOT DO
- Unique material per object (unless hero)
- PBR values outside physically plausible range (realistic style)
- Skip vertex color masks for variation
- Leave default material names
- Finalize materials before UVs complete
Reference Guide
| Topic | Reference | Load When |
|---|---|---|
| Surface recipes | references/surface-recipes.md |
Specific materials |
| Procedural nodes | references/procedural-patterns.md |
Wear, dirt, variation |