Wood PBR textures sell interiors faster than almost any other material—if grain, finish, and scale agree. A 4K oak file still looks fake when planks are 80 cm wide or when roughness is a flat grey. This guide is about choosing and using wood maps, not collecting every species.

What makes a wood pack look real

Real wood is a dielectric. Metalness stays at 0. Albedo carries species color and grain, without a studio highlight streak. Roughness carries the finish: raw timber is brighter (rougher), lacquered furniture is darker (glossier), and worn traffic lanes sit in between. The normal map should follow the grain, not a generic noise. If albedo already contains a bright window reflection, it is a photo, not a PBR albedo. Prefer sets from Locker3d wood textures; they are authored for PBR and released as CC0.

Grain, roughness, and finish

  • Raw / barn — high roughness, strong normal, cooler or greyed albedo.
  • Oiled floor — mid roughness, visible grain, soft sheen in an HDRI.
  • Lacquered furniture — low roughness, calmer normal, richer albedo.
  • Plywood / veneer — repeating inner grain; keep scale tight on edges.

Do not fake “luxury” by dropping roughness to 0.05 on oak flooring. That reads as wet plastic. Let the HDRI do the gloss. Map roles: PBR textures guide.

Floors, furniture, and cladding

Floors need seamless tiles and honest plank width. Pair wood with floor when you want parquet or mixed planks already laid out. Furniture can use a smaller unique UV so knots do not tile across a tabletop. Exterior cladding wants more roughness variation and a slightly dirtier albedo; mix a hint of ground dust in cavities if you need age. Walls of stained timber belong with wall scale checks so boards match window heights.

Scale and plank width

Measure. A common European plank is roughly 12–19 cm wide and 1–2 m long. If your 2K tile shows three planks, the tile represents about 40–60 cm—set UVs from that, not from “looks nice in the node editor.” Apply object scale before unwrapping. For herringbone, use a texture that already contains the pattern or you will fight seams all day.

Mixing woods without a collage look

Limit a room to two wood hues: one floor, one furniture family. A third wood should be much darker or much lighter, not a near-duplicate oak. Share a similar roughness range so the room feels like one lighting setup. Break tiling with rugs, shadows, and furniture overlap rather than random UV rotation on every board.

Free CC0 wood on Locker3d

Download albedo, roughness, and normal from wood, then connect them in Blender with this apply guide. New users: PBR textures for beginners. Pair with concrete or metal for contrast. More interior notes: blog.

Frequently asked questions

What maps matter most in a wood PBR texture?

Albedo for species and stain, roughness for finish (oil, lacquer, raw), and a normal map for grain. Metalness stays at 0. Height helps only if you displace deep cracks.

How wide should wood planks look in a 3D floor?

Many interior planks read well around 10–20 cm wide. Parquet pieces are smaller. If the grain repeats like wallpaper, the UV scale is too large or the camera is too parallel to the floor.

Are Locker3d wood textures free for commercial 3D work?

Yes. They are CC0. Use them in client interiors, games, and product shots without attribution. Download from the wood category and connect them as a standard PBR set.