Surfaces with character.
Twelve materials, shared by forward PBR and SDF ray marching.
Twelve spheres. Changing light.
Both renderers use the same sphere layout, camera and lighting timeline. Glass shows how their light paths differ. Cloud drift is accelerated.
Run the matched scenes ↗Inspect individual materials
Separate stills under frozen lighting. The order below matches the rows in the film.
Neutral gray
Neutral comparison surface
Limestone
Dry stone with filtered granular relief
Balanced marble
Subtle Balanced veins and warm mineral regions
Dry terracotta
Dry granular terracotta with rough diffuse response
Ivory ceramic
Smooth ivory glaze
Satin bronze
Satin bronze conductor
Tinted glass
Tinted smooth glass with optical absorption
Unvarnished hardwood
Solid growth rings, long grain and end grain across cuts
Rusted steel
Dry dielectric oxide patches interrupt reflective steel
Kraft cardboard
Matte uncoated kraft fibers and pulp flecks
Plain-weave cloth
Oriented plain weave with restrained grazing sheen
Frosted glass
Etched surface with softened reflection and transmission
How the renderers share materials
Both use the same recipe library. Forward PBR shades mesh spheres; SDF ray marching shades implicit solids. SDF glass follows a bounded interface path and resolves to the environment, without refracting neighboring specimens. Frosted glass filters that environment light. These are matched lighting studies, rather than an equivalence test between optical solvers.
Shared recipes and renderer details ↗Four materials, one cut
Wood, marble, rusted steel and clear glass reveal their interiors through the same saved subtraction.
Four fields, the same cut.
Grain, veins, oxide and transparent interfaces continue through the solid. Compare the saved operation with the camera held still.
Wood and marble above; rusted steel and glass below.
About this scene
Each solid uses its own continuous procedural material field. Glass samples the environment through a bounded interface path; it does not refract the neighboring solids.
A closer look · SDF
Building and cutting a solid.
Watch a robot take shape, look inside four materials, and try the ideas behind the surface.
Explore the SDF story ↗