PBRworkflows

PBRworkflows, often written as PBR workflows, refer to methods used in physically based rendering to define how materials interact with light in a way that remains consistent under varying lighting. The aim is energy conservation and plausible appearances across surfaces and environments. The most widely used approach is the metallic-roughness workflow. In this workflow, a material is described by a base color (albedo), a metallic map, a roughness map, and optional maps such as normal, ambient occlusion, height, and emissive. The metallic map indicates which parts are metal (1) and which are non-metals (0). Metals reflect their environment with colored reflections, while dielectrics rely more on diffuse reflection. The roughness map controls the microfacet distribution: low roughness yields sharp reflections, high roughness yields blurry reflections. Textures are usually stored in linear space for lighting, with base color often authored in sRGB and converted as needed.

The specular-glossiness workflow is an alternative that uses a specular color and a glossiness (inverse of roughness) map to describe reflectivity. It is older and less common in modern engines but is still used by some assets and formats, such as certain versions of glTF. Some pipelines support both workflows and allow conversions, though exact equivalence may require adjustments.

Common maps across both workflows include normal maps for detail, ambient occlusion for shading bias, height or displacement for geometry perturbation, and emissive maps for self-illumination. PBR workflows enable consistent, physically plausible visuals when combined with appropriate lighting, texture authoring practices, and engine-specific conventions.