Surface qualities

Show what a surface is made of through its highlights, reflections, transparency, scattering, and emitted light.

What it is

Surface qualities describe materials through their response to light and value, or light and dark. You control highlight shape, light bounce, light scattering inside the material, and self-emitted glow.

Matte and rough surfaces have broad, soft highlights. Glossy and polished surfaces have smaller, sharper highlights that reflect light sources and environments more directly. Wet surfaces add a glossy layer over the underlying material, with stronger highlights and reflections, especially along edges and pooled water.

Reflectivity increases at glancing angles, known as the Fresnel effect. Transparent materials let you see through them while showing surface reflections and distortions. Translucent materials scatter light inside, causing softer light and glow, especially in thin areas and strong backlight. Emissive surfaces, such as screens, neon, lava, and magic glows, add light to the scene with bright cores, surrounding bloom, and light on nearby forms.

Why it matters

Surface qualities help distinguish materials such as metal, skin, wet surfaces, and glowing objects. Weak control can make different materials share the same appearance, or make glow and wetness read as flat brightness.

You can check it when

✓Repaint the same simple object as dull, glossy, wet, transparent, translucent, and emissive. Each version reads without labels.
✓Adjust highlights for each material: use broad, soft highlights on rough surfaces, sharper highlights on polished surfaces, and stronger sheen at glancing angles.
✓Add wet or slick areas as a glossy layer over the base material, with localized highlights and reflections.
✓Show emissive objects with bright cores, softer bloom, and light cast onto nearby forms.

Surface qualities

What it is

Why it matters

You can check it when

Sub-skills

Related skills