Metallic slider question

Hi!

Comming from a specular/gloss workflow, I’m just a bit confused with the metallic/smoothness way of doing it. (Guess this is not just relating to unity, but it’s the package I currently use.) I kind of get what the smothness slider does; it makes the surface appear just more or less “smooth”. What I don’t really get is the notion of more or less “metallic”. More or less spec, I do get, but aren’t things always either metallic or not? Where would you use, let’s say, 50% metallic? Where would you put, lets say, a stone, or wood? Just feels wrong to use a slider called “Metallic” for objects not typically consisting of metall. Please enlighten me. :slight_smile:

Just to be sure, have a look at this link : Physically-Based Rendering, And You Can Too! | Marmoset

But as an explanation, your metallic slider should either be 1 or 0.

If you’re using a metallic map, the pixel should mainly represent 1 (white) or 0 (black).

0-1 values (greyscale pixels) should only be used for partialy metallic information : mix of metal and non-metal surface at a sub-pixel scale.

every matter can be classified by its metallicness as more metallic or less metallic.

here take a look :