3d-high-resolution-textures
3D High-Resolution Textures
Make materials hold up at the closest intended camera view. Specify visible surface detail, mapping scale, and delivery cost together.
Choose resolution from the view
Identify hero surfaces, their nearest camera distance, projected pixel coverage, and target render scale. A texture need depends on visible UV coverage: if a surface spans 1200 physical pixels while showing half a tile, a roughly 2400-pixel-wide tile is a useful starting estimate. Inspect the result rather than assigning 4K or 8K to every map.
Use higher resolution for readable close-up albedo/normal details and lower resolution for smooth roughness or distant surfaces when they look equivalent. Match texel density across connected surfaces. Upscaling a small source cannot invent captured detail; obtain a better source or author appropriate procedural detail when necessary.
Build a coherent PBR material
| Map | Role | Color interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Base color, emissive color | Surface color or emitted color | sRGB for ordinary PNG/JPEG/WebP color artwork |
| Normal, roughness, metalness, AO, height | Numerical material data | No color-space conversion |
| HDR lighting image | Radiance for environment lighting | Use the format/loader's linear HDR interpretation |
Keep lighting calculations linear and apply final output conversion once. Configure maps according to the material and renderer version; see Three.js color management.