Open PainterMaterial aging
Age material construction through environment history, use, maintenance and events while preserving manual edits.
On this page 4 sections
Material Aging builds a nondestructive folder from what an object is made of, its coating stack, age, environment and use. Material-specific processes produce editable fading, coating loss, rust, patina, wood greying, dirt and other effects. The simulated state is an artistic model estimate.
Age a material
- Open Material Aging in the Painter sidebar and check Applied to.
- Choose Material Construction: substrate, conversion coating, primer, paint color and top coat. Catalog materials initialize this construction and, for a set not already aged, a matching history.
- Choose an Environment and set Age in Years. Adjust use and maintenance if needed.
- Bake AO and Curvature, then click Age Material. Position and World Normal are optional but improve gravity, ground and orientation placement; after adding them, rebuild when prompted.
- Leave Follow Edits Live enabled to drive the folder as settings change, or use Re-age to apply changes manually.
Construction and material response
| Family | Examples and response |
|---|---|
| Metals | Steel, stainless steel, iron, aluminum, copper, brass, bronze, zinc and titanium; rust, tarnish, patina or white oxidation depend on the substrate. |
| Wood | Oak, pine, walnut, mahogany, plywood, MDF and treated wood; greying, bleaching, checking and biological growth. |
| Polymers | ABS, PVC, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, rubber and silicone; fading, yellowing and embrittlement. |
| Mineral surfaces | Concrete, brick, plaster, marble, granite and ceramic; staining, deposits and erosion. |
| Textiles and leather | Canvas, denim and wool fade, fray, pill and mildew; leather also burnishes and cracks. |
Optional conversion coatings include galvanization, anodizing and chrome plating. Primers, oil/acrylic/powder/polyurethane/epoxy/enamel paint, clearcoat, varnish and oil finishes change protection and failure. Coating Condition can start with an already worn film.
Environment, history, use and care
Environment presets include Indoor, Storage, Humid Interior, Outdoor Urban, Coastal, Arid, Industrial, Tropical, Alpine and Underground. Exposure sliders represent relative UV, humidity, rain, temperature, temperature cycling, salt, pollution, soil and wind; temperature is not degrees. Editing a preset marks it Custom. Reset Environment restores it.
Environment History composes periods with separate environment, usage and maintenance. Periods scale to the total age and their order matters. Usage distinguishes handling, abrasion, impact and cleaning. Maintenance controls cleaning frequency, protection, polishing, rust removal and wood treatment.
Add dated events for Repaint, Clean, Rust Removal, Polish, Protective Treatment or Wood Treatment. A repaint can renew a film while leaving older dents. Events beyond the current age have not happened yet. Randomize History changes the seed.
Keep manual edits and animate age
The Simulated State reports outcomes such as fade, gloss loss, coating loss, substrate exposure and corrosion. Art Direction applies Corrosion, Fading, Damage and Dirt multipliers after the simulation. The readout distinguishes the adjusted value from the underlying estimate.
Ordinary re-aging preserves recognized manual overrides and added layers. Rebuild Folder, or a construction change that triggers rebuilding, replaces the generated folder and its contents. Keep hand-authored finishing layers outside that folder before rebuilding. Reset Art Direction hands driven values back to the model; Reset Aging Setup is separate. Removing aging removes its folder.
Age in Years can be keyframed, so the material ages across a shot. Duplicated sets and portable materials retain settings, history and overrides. Geometry effects can follow aging outcomes, making flakes or moss change with the material.
Reference: material aging.