Smart materials and effects

The bundled library of 50 smart materials, 16 effects and 18 smart masks, plus saving and importing .openpaintmaterial files.

On this page 7 sections

A smart material is a recipe, not a shader: applying one inserts a folder of ordinary fill layers and grayscale masks that you can open, retune, reorder or delete. The bundled library contains 50 smart materials, 16 stackable effects, 18 smart masks, 65 procedural sources and 52 filters, all free and all editable. Materials+ and team libraries add more materials in the same open format.

The Asset Shelf and categories

Library content lives in Blender's native Asset Shelf along the bottom of the editor. The type filter beside the Assets menu selects eight categories; All Types clears it. Catalog tabs offer those categories when enabled from the shelf menu. Use Blender's search and thumbnail-size controls. A first click selects an asset and shows its requirements and destination in Assets; Apply or a second click applies it.

Category	Contents and click behaviour
Materials	Single-fill PBR materials such as Copper, Brushed Steel and Porcelain.
Smart Materials	The 50 composed recipes and the original grouped presets (Painted Steel, Dirty Plastic, Rough Wood, Brushed Steel, Copper, Matte Rubber, Porcelain, Red Paint).
Smart Masks	Apply a mesh-aware preset to the selected layer's mask; required mesh maps are checked first.
Filters	Add the selected filter to the active channel, or to the mask stack when mask properties are selected.
Brushes	Activate a native texture-paint brush on the selected paint layer or painted mask.
Alphas	Select an image-backed brush alpha, or No Alpha. Import Alpha packs an image into the project.
Textures	Assign a procedural or imported image to a fill channel or mask. Import Texture packs a reusable image without changing existing sources.
Geometry Effects	Create material-driven geometry such as flakes, moss, bolts and displacement from the selected preset.

The refresh button discovers newly added local images and alphas, updates thumbnails and removes entries whose sources were deleted. Browsing categories never invalidates the material stack. Shelf thumbnails of the smart materials are Cycles renders of the actual recipes on a bevelled sample with a recess, not illustrative swatches.

Applying a smart material

Bake the maps the material needs (see the catalog below). The Assets panel reports map requirements. Missing or stale edge maps can queue an edge rebake; other missing requirements must be baked before applying.
Select the layer the material should sit above, select the thumbnail, check the named target and click Apply. Add Layer › Smart Material also searches recipes by name.
The material is inserted as an isolated folder, children ordered from substrate to topmost effect, and the folder is selected.

Coating-loss masks belong to coating layers, so hiding paint exposes the metal or timber below. A failed composition restores the previous layers, selection and display settings. Each catalog material is inserted as a module instance of its recipe: if a future release improves a recipe, the layer row shows an update badge and Update merges the change while keeping your edits.

Smart-material master controls

Select the material folder to see its authored master controls before the component layers. All 50 recipes provide four to eight controls for their relevant colors, amounts, relief, roughness and pattern scale. Their component layers and masks remain editable.

Bindings survive renaming, reordering, duplication and saving; duplicates target their own layers. A deleted component is reported as unavailable. Coverage-gated dirt, rust and drip amounts reach no effect at zero. Names such as Paint Loss, Paint Loss Contrast, Surface Roughness and Flake Scale describe their specific controls; increasing pattern scale makes features smaller.

See the complete master-control catalog for each recipe's controls and bindings.

Stackable effects

Sixteen effects each insert one independently masked fill layer: Rust, Dirt, Dust, Edge Wear, Chipping, Scratches, Grease, Water Stains, Edge Polish, Oil, Fingerprints, Copper Patina, Soot, Wet Surface, Rust Streaks and Moss. With a folder selected the effect goes above its children; otherwise above the selected layer in the same parent. Scratches changes Roughness and Height; Edge Polish, Fingerprints and Wet Surface change Roughness only, so the colour and metallic response below them is preserved. Rust, dirt, coatings and patina carry their own dielectric Metallic values instead of merely tinting bare metal.

Material Aging uses the substrate, coating construction, environment history, age, use and maintenance to drive a separate editable folder. It replaces the older Age / Environment State workflow. Geometry effects can follow these aging outcomes.

Damaged Bevel and Rounded Edges

Bake Bevel Mask and Bevel Normal, then choose Add Surface Effect for Damaged Bevel or Rounded Edges. The bake radius controls the band width. These effects work in EEVEE because the Cycles bevel and AO information is baked into maps. See mesh-map baking.

Catalog and required maps

Materials marked "None" use surface texture patterns and can be applied before any bake. Every mask amount, procedural scale, channel value and layer remains editable after insertion.

Material	Required maps	Authored surface and effects
Clean Brushed Steel	None	Fine parallel brushing with sparse cross scratches and adjustable roughness.
Worn Brushed Steel	AO, Curvature	Brushed grain, exposed polished edges, handling marks and recess grime.
Machined Aluminum	None	Bright aluminum with fine cutter passes and a configurable anisotropic response.
Scratched Aluminum	Curvature	Random intersecting scratches over machined aluminum, with impact pits and polished creases.
Cast Iron	AO, Curvature	Coarse casting grain and tiny pits under a dark oxide skin, with exposed metal on creases.
Raw Industrial Steel	AO	Rolling marks, patchy mill scale and slight brown manufacturing discoloration.
Polished Chrome	None	Near-mirror chromium with sparse fine scratches, soft wipe marks and fingerprints.
Old Brass	AO, Curvature	Warm brass with dull tarnish, scratches and deep dark deposits in recesses.
Antique Bronze	AO, Curvature	Aged bronze, brown tarnish and green patina restricted to sheltered cavities.
Oxidized Copper	AO, Position	Bare copper beneath granular green oxidation, darker oxide and rain-washed streaks.
Worn Painted Metal	AO, Curvature	Steel below orange-peel paint, edge chips, fine scratches and cavity dirt.
Heavy Chipped Paint	AO, Curvature	Broad paint loss reveals pitted steel and corrosion beneath ragged surviving flakes.
Factory Powder-Coated Metal	Curvature	Fine textured powder coating, restrained handling scratches and slight crease exposure.
Military Painted Steel	AO, Curvature, World Normal	Matte olive coating, rubbed metal creases, dry scratches, earth and corrosion.
Old Enamel Metal	AO, Curvature	Faded cream enamel with crazing, dark cracks, worn edges and thin surface scratches.
Rusting Painted Steel	AO, Curvature, Position	Layered red paint over corroding steel, exposed chips, rust blooms and downward leakage.
Automotive Painted Metal	None	Primer, saturated base coat, clearcoat response and subtle wash swirls with sparse scoring.
Burned Painted Metal	Curvature, World Normal	Blistered paint with charred zones, exposed heat-darkened steel and powdery soot.
Heavy Rust	AO	Thick black oxide below broken rust scales, orange corrosion and pitted cavity deposits.
Surface Rust	AO	Thin irregular orange oxidation on otherwise intact rolled steel.
Wet Rust	AO	Dark saturated rust with rough dry scales, low-roughness moisture and glossy crevices.
Galvanized Steel	None	Faceted zinc spangle texture, thin white oxidation and fine manufacturing scratches.
Welded Steel	AO	Industrial steel with local weld-like bands, heat tint, oxidized seams and soot.
Heat-Treated Metal	None	Authored gold, brown, violet and blue temper bands over brushed metal.
Greasy Machinery	AO, Position	Machined steel with dark cavity grease, thin oil, scratches and oil leakage.
Abandoned Machinery	AO, Curvature, Position, World Normal	Peeling industrial paint over rust, with oil leakage, dense cavity grime and top dust.
Injection-Molded Plastic	None	Fine satin plastic grain, broad mold variation and small molding imperfections.
Worn Hard Plastic	AO, Curvature	Hard plastic with fine grain, polished creases, pale scoring, oily handling marks and dirt.
Soft-Touch Plastic	None	Dark matte rubberized coating with velvety grain, rubbed areas and absorbed handling oils.
Sun-Damaged Plastic	World Normal	Patchy bleached plastic with dry cracking, chalky grain and exposure-driven fading.
Dirty Rubber	AO, Curvature	Matte rubber grain, shallow scoring, rubbed ridges and embedded earth in cavities.
Cracked Old Rubber	AO	Faded dry rubber with branching cracks, fine grain and dusty crevices.
Fresh Oak	None	Warm natural oak with long grain, darker vessel pores and restrained growth variation.
Old Worn Wood	AO, Curvature	Dark aged timber grain, deep pores, dents, scratches and rubbed edges.
Painted Wood	AO, Curvature	Blue paint following timber grain, with chips exposing warm wood and darker recess dirt.
Weathered Outdoor Wood	AO, Position, World Normal	Gray bleached timber, raised fibers, long cracks, moisture staining and crevice dirt.
Burnt Wood	World Normal	Warm timber through heat-darkened transitions into cracked charcoal and fine ash.
Oiled Dark Wood	None	Deep brown polished timber, dark pores, rubbed oil finish and sparse fine handling scratches.
Rough Concrete	None	Cement with multiscale aggregate, fine pores and isolated deep air pockets.
Old Dirty Concrete	AO, Position	Rough old concrete with aggregate, dry cracks, water runoff and dark accumulated grime.
Painted Concrete	AO, Curvature	Off-white wall paint over coarse concrete with hairline cracks, peeling and grime.
Polished Marble	None	Pale polished stone with warped dark veins, fine mineral variation and tiny polish scratches.
Granite	None	Interlocking mineral grains, pale feldspar, dark mica and isolated quartz with editable roughness.
Weathered Stone	AO, Position	Eroded mineral surface with pitting, dark cavities, runoff and an independently removable moss layer.
Worn Leather	AO, Curvature	Warm leather grain with creases, fine scoring, dark recesses and polished raised edges.
Cracked Old Leather	AO, Curvature	Dry fissured leather with faded grain, deep stains and severe pale edge abrasion.
Denim Fabric	AO, Curvature	Indigo directional weave, pale cross threads, worn raised areas and embedded dirt.
Canvas Fabric	AO, Curvature	Coarse neutral woven canvas with fiber roughness, stained folds and fraying exposed edges.
Sci-Fi Panel Surface	AO, Curvature	Coated panel substrate with contrasting repairs, edge wear, scratches and recess grime; add decals above the folder.
Post-Apocalyptic Scrap Metal	AO, Curvature, Position, World Normal	Pitted steel, deep rust and two mismatched paint generations under repairs, gouges, oil and dust.

Colours in the recipes are linear RGB; raw-metal colours describe reflectance and paint, rust, dirt and wood colours describe diffuse albedo. Height is a signed modulation around 0.5. Anisotropy and clearcoat are display parameters on the texture set's output material — an exported map set does not itself encode them. Welded Steel and Heat-Treated Metal place bead-like marks and temper regions procedurally; they do not infer weld paths from the model. See docs/material-catalog.md for authoring conventions and PBR references.

Saving and importing materials

Assets › Library in the sidebar holds the portable smart-material commands: save the selected folder or the whole set as a .openpaintmaterial file, import one, and delete library entries. Files preserve procedural and filter parameters and bundle image inputs as lossless EXR. Import assigns fresh layer IDs, checks every referenced image before touching the stack, and rolls back on any error. Limits: 512 MiB uncompressed and 256 layers per file; generator masks that need mesh maps must be baked in the destination texture set.

The same files are what Materials+ packs and team libraries deliver through Connect, and what you upload to a team. The format is documented in Packs and the material format.