Preview Surface

Parameter Types

Parameter description

Diffuse Color

The base display color of the surface. The color of an object under pure white light.

Roughness

The level of roughness of the surface. This value ranges between 0 and 1.0, with 0 outputting a perfectly specular surface and 1.0 indicating maximum roughness. The default is 0.5.

Metallic

The indicator if a surface is metallic or not. Set this value to 1 for metallic surfaces and 0 for nonmetallic surfaces. The default is 0.0.

Opacity

The level of opaqueness of the surface. If the value of this parameter is 1.0, the surface is fully opaque. If the value is less than 1.0, the surface appears translucent. If the value is 0, the surface is completely transparent. The default is 1.0.

Normal

The normal vector in tangent space; the default is (0,0,1).

Clearcoat

A second clear reflective layer on the surface. This property produces a glossy finish. The default is 0.0.

Clearcoat Roughness

The level of roughness of the surfaces clearcoat layer; the default is 0.01.

Emissive Color

The self-illumination color of the surface. The color the surface displays as if it is self-lit.

Index of Refraction

The index of refraction the node uses if the surface is translucent or specular. The Index of Refraction defines how light bends or refracts when it passes through a material. The default is 1.5.

Ambient Occlusion

The degree of ambient lighting that the surface receives. This value simulates soft shadows and subtle shading. A value of 0.0 indicates a fully occluded area, while a value of 1.0 indicates an unoccluded area. The default is 1.0.

Opacity Threshold

The threshold for whether the node renders a portion of the surface based on its opacity level. A value of 0.0 means that no additional masking occurs. If the value is greater than 0.0, the node renders only areas of the surface with an Opacity value greater than the value of this parameter. The default is 0.0.

Discussion

The Preview Surface node produces a custom surface based on its input parameters. Connect the output of the Preview Surface node to the Custom Surface output of your material. Below is an example material that uses only the Preview Surface node to produce a gold-like texture and apply it to a sphere: