Materials & Looks

Materials and Looks define how surfaces interact with light. Sillence combines physically based rendering with an approachable workflow for applying and customizing surface appearance.

Applying Looks

Looks provide a fast way to assign surface appearance to objects. They can be used as a starting point for look development or as final materials for rendering.

Apply a Look to quickly explore different visual directions without building complex materials from scratch.

Physically Based Materials

Sillence uses a physically based material system designed to produce realistic and predictable results under different lighting conditions.

Physically based materials respond consistently to HDR environments, area lights, emissive materials, and path traced rendering.

  • Base Color
  • Metallic
  • Roughness
  • Normal Maps
  • Emission
  • Opacity

Emissive Materials

Materials can emit light and contribute to scene illumination when rendered using Path Tracing mode.

Emissive materials are useful for creating practical light sources and self-illuminated surfaces.

  • Neon signs
  • Display screens
  • Light panels
  • Decorative lighting

Subsurface Scattering

Sillence includes random-walk subsurface scattering for realistic rendering of translucent materials.

Instead of reflecting entirely from the surface, light can enter, scatter internally, and exit at nearby locations.

  • Skin
  • Wax
  • Marble
  • Milk

Transmission

Transmission allows the creation of transparent and translucent materials such as glass.

Refraction, absorption, and tinted transmission can be used to create a wide variety of realistic materials.

  • Glass
  • Colored glass
  • Liquids
  • Transparent plastics

Volumetric Materials

Volumetric scattering and absorption can be used to create materials that interact with light throughout their volume.

These effects are useful for atmospheric rendering and translucent media.

  • Fog
  • Mist
  • Cloudy glass
  • Colored liquids

Material Presets

Sillence includes a growing collection of material presets that can be used as starting points for look development.

Presets can be customized and combined with lighting and camera adjustments to achieve a wide variety of visual styles.

Best Practices

  • Start with realistic values.
  • Avoid extreme settings when possible.
  • Use references from real-world materials.
  • Evaluate materials in Path Tracing mode.
  • Consider lighting and camera settings together with materials.