PBR textures for product rendering have to survive a 4K still, a turntable, and a client zooming into a logo. Games can hide errors in motion; a bottle or headphone cannot. This guide covers map choice, color space, resolution, and when to use free CC0 materials from Locker3d versus a unique bake.

What the camera actually sees

Product shots are close. A 30 cm device filling a 4K frame needs high texel density on the visible shell and much less on the hidden interior. Plan UVs so the front, grip, and logo land on the 4K island. Undersides can share a 2K tileable. If the product is mostly painted plastic, you need a clean albedo and a tight roughness range — not a 8K concrete scan.

When the product includes real materials — walnut trim, brushed aluminum, stone inlay — pull those from a CC0 library and scale them in centimeters. Locker3d wood, metal, and stone are built for that. Read what PBR textures are if you are still mixing diffuse and specular the old way.

Maps, color space, and lookdev

Use the metalness set unless the studio standard is V-Ray specular:

  • Albedo — sRGB, measured or carefully neutralized. No studio shadows.
  • Roughness — linear. Brushed metal is mid-gray with an anisotropic tangent if you have one; do not fake the brush in albedo.
  • Normal / height — linear. 16-bit height for close displacement on leather or cast metal.
  • Metalness — 1 on bare metal, 0 on coatings, plastics, wood, and glass.

In Blender, Principled BSDF plus the setup in how to apply PBR textures in Blender is enough for most lookdev. Match white balance to a linear ACEScg or Filmic/AgX view; do not grade the albedo to “look finished.”

Resolution and bit depth for stills

Hero shell: 4K unique or 4K tileable with correct real-world scale. Extreme macro (watch, jewelry): 8K or a tiled 4K with a detail normal. Secondary parts: 2K. Albedo 8-bit PNG is fine; roughness and normal prefer 8-bit with care, height 16-bit. EXR is useful for 32-bit lookdev, not required for every map.

Tileable floor and concrete in the set dressing can stay 2K–4K. They sell the product by contrast; they should not steal texel budget from the hero.

Lighting versus material

If the metal looks dirty, check roughness and HDRI intensity before you repaint albedo. Product light is usually a softbox HDRI plus a rim. Coatings need a clearcoat lobe, not a brighter albedo. Fingerprints belong in a roughness overlay, not in base color. Keep a gray clay render to prove the forms, then enable textures.

CC0 for commercial catalogs

Locker3d textures are CC0: client catalogs, ads, and packaging stills are allowed without credit. You still need permission for the product CAD and any trademarked logos you model. Do not present library wood as a custom mill scan. License notes: CC0 textures: what you can and cannot do. Start from the texture catalog; more lookdev articles sit on the blog.

Frequently asked questions

What resolution do product renders need?

Hero products shot from 20–40 cm need 4K, sometimes 8K, on the visible shell. Undersides and inner parts can stay 2K. Tileable CC0 metal or wood at 4K is enough if UV scale matches real centimeters.

Should product materials use metalness or specular?

Metalness is enough for most Blender Principled, Unreal, and Unity lookdevs. V-Ray and Corona can use either; keep albedo sRGB and roughness linear. Do not put brushed-metal highlights into the albedo.

Can I use Locker3d CC0 textures in client product shots?

Yes. CC0 allows commercial advertising and packaging stills without attribution. Do not use a texture that depicts another brand’s pattern, and do not claim you scanned the Locker3d maps yourself.