All Redshift material parameters are listed below and used for Redshift Polypaint Materials and Redshift Preset Color Materials.
All ZBrush Redshift Materials offer the same essential parameters as the Cinema4D Redshift Standard Material. Please find more information in the Redshift Cinema4D Standard Material section.
Control the overall intensity of diffuse lighting. A value of 0.0 results in no diffuse light, while 1 applies the maximum amount of diffuse illumination.
Determines how diffuse lighting interacts with the surface, affecting how brightness gradients appear.
Oren-Nayar (0): Simulates diffuse illumination for smooth and rough surfaces. The Diffuse Roughness parameter blends between soft and rough appearances.
d'Eon Lambertian Spheres (1): Enhances color saturation and works best for rough, small-pored, or dusty surfaces, especially under low-angle lighting.
Diffuse Roughness controls the roughness of diffuse lighting but applies only when you select Oren-Nayar in the Diffuse Model. A value of 0.0 creates a perfectly smooth surface, while higher than zero values produce a more matte or dirty appearance.
Metalness controls the material's metallic properties, ranging from 0 (non-metallic, using Reflection settings) to 1 (fully metallic and reflective). At a maximum metalness of 1, the Base color determines the primary metal color, while the Reflect color controls the tint at the edges. Metalness values between 0 and 1 blend dielectric and metallic surfaces.
Reflection Weight is a multiplier that controls the reflection tint. A value of 0 turns off reflections, while 1 retains full reflectivity. When working with physically based rendering, this should remain at 1.
Reflection Roughness controls the sharpness of surface reflections. Lower values create sharp, mirror-like reflections, while higher values cause light to scatter in multiple directions, resulting in blurred reflections. A value of 1.0 produces an almost diffuse appearance.
Reflection IOR (Index of Refraction) determines how light behaves when it reflects off or refracts through a material. Most dielectric materials have an IOR between 1.4 and 1.6.
Reflection Anisotropy stretches reflections along a specific axis, simulating materials like brushed metals, where surface roughness is directional. To see the effect, set Reflection Roughness above 0.0.
Reflection Rotation adjusts the orientation of anisotropic reflections. Values range from 0 to 1, corresponding to rotation angles between 0 and 360 degrees.
Determine the quality of blurred reflections when the Reflection Roughness parameter is higher than 0. Higher values reduce grain and noise but increase render times, while lower values introduce grain for faster rendering.
This parameter controls the balance between direct and indirect reflection intensity. A value of 0 applies equal scaling to both, while positive or negative values prioritize one over the other.
Direct Scale: Ranges from 0 to 1 and controls reflections from scene lights. Higher values increase specular reflections from direct light sources, while lower values reduce their intensity. Setting this to 0 removes direct light reflections while preserving reflections from surrounding objects.
Indirect Scale: Ranges from 0 to -1 and controls reflections from other objects in the scene. Higher values retain environmental and surface reflections, while lower values reduce them. Setting this to -1 removes indirect reflections while keeping direct light reflections visible.
Transmission Weight is a multiplier that controls the intensity of refraction. A value of 0.0 turns off refraction transparency, while higher values allow light to pass through the material.
Transmission Extra Roughness provides additional control over transmission roughness, allowing it to be higher or lower than Reflection Roughness. The range spans from -1 to 1. Setting to 0 keeps transmission roughness equal to Reflection Roughness.
Determine the quality of refractions. Higher roughness values require more samples to avoid noise. Increasing samples improves clarity but increases render times.
Controls the distance a light ray travels within the material before the Transmission Color reaches full saturation.
Controls the direction in which light scatters inside a transmissive material.
Zero value: Results in isotropic scattering, where light scatters evenly in all directions.
Positive values: cause light to scatter forward, allowing it to continue traveling in the same direction as the original light source, resulting in a more focused transmission.
Negative values: scatter light backward, redirecting more of it toward the light source, which increases internal reflection and creates a softer, more diffused appearance.
Control the quality of transmission scattering. Higher values reduce noise but increase render times, while lower values introduce grain for faster rendering.
Controls how the refractive index (IOR) changes across the light spectrum, creating a color shift in transparent materials. Lower values increase dispersion, while higher values reduce or eliminate it. A value of 0 turns off dispersion. Since dispersion behaves similarly to roughness, it can introduce noise into the scene.
Typical values start at 10 for glass and around 70 for diamond. Higher-quality materials generally have less dispersion.
Blend between diffuse surface shading and subsurface scattering. A Weight value of 1 turns off diffuse shading, making the full subsurface scattering effect visible.
Determine how far subsurface scattering (SSS) travels within a material, measured in scene units (centimeters).
SSS Anisotropy controls the direction of light scattering inside subsurface materials. The range spans from -1 to 1, allowing adjustments for more artistic control and increased realism.
SSS Mode selects the calculation method for subsurface scattering.
Point-Based Diffusion (0): Processes subsurface scattering quickly and efficiently but lacks accuracy, making it unsuitable for highly detailed geometry or animations.
Ray-Traced Diffusion (1): Provides more accuracy and stability than Point-Based Diffusion (0) but with increased render times.
Random Walk (2): Provides the most accurate subsurface scattering calculation, making it ideal for detailed and thin geometry with increased render times.
Controls noise in Ray-Traced Diffusion and Random Walk subsurface scattering modes. Higher values reduce grain but increase render times, while lower values introduce noise for faster rendering.
This setting determines whether subsurface scattering (SSS) affects only the selected Subtool or all visible Subtools in the scene.
Off (0): Only calculates SSS for the selected Subtool.
On (1): Calculates SSS between all visible Subtools.
Sheen Weight controls the intensity of the sheen reflection. A value of 0.0 turns off the effect, while higher values introduce soft highlights often seen in fabrics and organic materials.
Sheen Roughness determines how smooth or rough the sheen reflection appears. Higher values soften the reflection, creating a more diffused effect.
Sheen Samples control the quality of sheen reflections. Higher values reduce noise but increase render times, while lower values introduce grain for faster rendering.
This parameter controls the refractive index of the thin surface layer, affecting how light bends and interacts with the film. Higher values increase light distortion, influencing color shifts and iridescence.
A thin layer of water can be simulated with an IOR of 1.333, while a soap bubble typically falls around 1.4.
Thin Film Thickness adjusts the thickness of a refractive surface layer, influencing color shifts and iridescence. This effect is most noticeable in oil films, soap bubbles, and pearlescent surfaces. Using a noise texture to vary Thin Film Thickness creates dynamic color shifts.
Coat Weight determines the intensity of the coating reflection. A zero value turns off the Coat layer.
Coat Roughness controls how polished or diffuse the coating reflection appears. A value of 0.0 results in a highly glossy coat, while a value of 1.0 produces a diffuse, matte coating.
Coat IOR (Index of Refraction) determines the strength of the Fresnel effect on the coating. A value of 1.0 turns off the coat reflection.
Coat Anisotropy stretches coat reflections in a specific direction based on Coat Rotation. This effect helps simulate coated brushed metals. Reflection Roughness must be greater than 0.0 for this effect to be visible.
Coat Rotation controls the orientation of anisotropic coat reflections. The input range is 0 to 1, corresponding to a rotation angle of 0 to 360 degrees.
Coat Samples control the quality of blurred coat reflections. Higher values reduce noise but increase render times, while lower values introduce grain for faster rendering.
Emission Weight determines the intensity of the emissive color. Higher values produce stronger light emission and increased global illumination.
Enable a matte effect at the object level, allowing the material to act as a shadow catcher. ZBrush consolidates multiple parameters into a single switch, functioning similarly to enabling shadow catching.
Matte objects refer to subtools that are either selected while this material is active or subtools filled with material that has Shadow Catcher enabled.
Off (0): The Subtool does not receive cast shadows in the render and remains visible in the rendered scene.
On (1): The object acts as a shadow catcher, receiving and displaying cast shadows while remaining invisible in the final render.
Use shadow-catching materials to integrate CG objects seamlessly onto photographic backplates by capturing realistic shadows without rendering a visible ground plane.
ZBrush offers a dedicated Redshift Shadow Catcher material for customizing shadow capturing for various Subtools.
Determines whether the Redshift Material color channels or the ZBrush polypaint RGB channel is used to define the model's color.
Off (0): Define material color with the RGB color channel.
When the Use Material Color option is off; activate the RGB channel, select a color in the picker, and use Color >> Fill Object to change the model's color, or use the Paint brush to apply custom polypaint the model.
On (1): Define the model's color with material color channels (Base, Reflect, Trans, Scatter, Coat, Sheen, SSColor, SSRadius, and Emissive.)
Turning Use Material Color on overrides all RGB channel color information and replaces it with the Redshift Material Color channels.
These color channels define how light interacts with the material by controlling its color response across different surface properties, allowing for a wide range of material appearances. Whether creating realistic metals, translucent surfaces, or glowing emissive effects, these color channels provide essential control over the material's final look in a physically based rendering workflow.
Set the base color of the material.
Set the color of surface reflections. Reflect should usually remain white at default and adjusted to other colors for metals requiring colored reflections. Setting this to black turns off reflections.
Trans sets the refraction tint color. For physically accurate results, set it to white when using Subsurface Scattering (SSS) or Transmission Scatter. Transmission settings determine refractive transparency and accurate refraction calculations require double-sided geometry, which you can enable in Tool Palette > Display Properties > Double.
Controls the single-scattering component of subsurface materials, simulating microscopic particles suspended in a medium.
Set the color of the coating reflection. Different Coat and Reflect colors create a two-tone effect.
Defines the tint color of the sheen reflection.
Determines the Subsurface Scatter (SSS) color. Light scattered within the object takes on this color before returning to the surface.
Controls how far red, green, and blue wavelengths scatter beneath the surface before exiting. SSRadius works with the SSS Scale to determine the final scattering distance.
Lighter Colors: Increase scattering, creating a softer, more translucent effect.
Darker Colors: Reduce scattering, making the material appear more opaque.
Pure White: Scatters all wavelengths equally, producing a uniform subsurface effect.
Defines the emissive color, controlled by Emission Weight.
A preview of the current Redshift material properties.
Material Texture does not work the same for Redshift Materials as for ZBrush MatCaps. This image cannot be permanently changed or edited for Redshift Materials.