Triplanar mapping projects a texture from the X, Y, and Z axes and blends the three samples by the surface normal. You get coverage without a manual unwrap, which is why terrain, rocks, and messy CAD love it. It is not magic: directional materials smear, and normals need extra care. This guide shows when to use it with Locker3d PBR sets and when to unwrap instead.
How the blend actually works
The shader samples the same image three times, using world or object position as UVs on each axis. Weights come from the absolute normal: a floor uses mostly the Z projection, a wall mostly X or Y, and a 45-degree slope mixes two. A sharpness or contrast value tightens the blend. If that value is too soft, you see a blurry band; too hard, you see a planar seam. Use the same scale and offset on albedo, roughness, and normal or the blend lines will not match. Map theory is in the complete PBR textures guide.
Blender: node group, not a one-off mess
Build or reuse a triplanar group: Object or Generated coordinates, three Mapping nodes (each swizzling a different pair of axes), three Image Texture nodes that share one image datablock per map, then a mix driven by the normal. Put the group on albedo, then duplicate it for roughness (Non-Color) and for a normal-aware path. Do not feed a tangent normal map straight into a color mix. After the group, continue with the usual Principled setup from how to apply PBR textures in Blender. Keep scale in meters: a 1.0 scale on object coords is not the same as UV scale 1.0.
Unreal and Unity
Unreal has material functions for triplanar (and world-aligned textures). Use them for landscape layers and large props; keep standard UVs for hero weapons and trim sheets. Unity URP/HDRP can do triplanar in Shader Graph with three samples and a normal blend. Real-time cost is real: three samples per map means nine samples for albedo + roughness + normal. For mobile, unwrap or use one sample. Packing extra maps (see PBR texture packing) helps after you accept the extra samples.
Normal maps and materials that fight triplanar
Tangent-space normals assume a UV tangent. Triplanar has no single tangent, so you must transform each sample or use a world-space normal workflow. If you skip that, lighting flips when the camera moves. Wood planks, roof tiles, brushed metal, and anything with a grain direction will show three orientations meeting on corners. Those assets want UVs; see UV unwrapping for PBR textures. Good triplanar candidates: stone, concrete, ground, and some asphalt.
CC0 maps and a sanity check
Download seamless sets from the Locker3d catalog. They are CC0, so you can keep the triplanar graph in a commercial file; read what you can and cannot do with CC0. Test on a cube and a subdivided sphere: if only the cube looks good, your blend is too sharp. If the sphere shows stretching, scale is wrong. Classic UV tiling is still documented in how to tile textures without seams. More shader notes are on the blog.
Choose object space when the mesh will move (a boulder on a truck, a prop on an elevator). World-space triplanar keeps the texture stuck to the world, so the rock will swim through the pattern. Animated characters almost never want triplanar on clothing. For instanced trees or rocks, object space plus a slight per-instance scale in the material breaks the clone look. If you bake a triplanar result to a unique UV later, freeze the scale first or the bake will not match the viewport.
Frequently asked questions
Does triplanar remove the need for UVs?
It removes the need for a careful unwrap on bulky meshes. You still need UVs for lightmaps, decals, and any texture that must follow a grain direction.
Why do triplanar normals look wrong?
You cannot treat a tangent normal like a color and blend three copies. Reorient each sample into world or object space, then blend, or use a node group built for normals.
Can I use Locker3d textures with triplanar?
Yes. Any seamless CC0 set from Locker3d works. Apply the same scale to albedo, roughness, and normal so the blend matches on every map.