Guides & glossary

PBR texturing, explained.

Clear, practical guides to physically based rendering and 3D texturing — what each map does, how the pieces fit together, and how to do it yourself.

Start here · The manuals

A vintage rangefinder camera textured in Mixos — black leather grain, brushed metal body, and a glass lens — rendered in the browser viewport

Texturing · Paint

Getting started with Mixos

The complete Mixos guide with screenshots and interactive demos: import a mesh, unwrap UVs, bake maps, paint and layer PBR materials, then export textures.

Read the manual

An organic form sculpted in Mold — teal clay pushed, pulled and smoothed with 3D sculpting brushes in the browser

Sculpting · Mold

The 3D sculpting manual

A complete guide to 3D sculpting: what it is, how hard it is to learn, the brushes that matter, subdivision, dynamic topology, remeshing and 3D printing.

Read the manual

Fundamentals

What every PBR map does

What is PBR? Materials and maps explained

PBR (physically based rendering), explained simply: what PBR materials are and what each map does — base color, roughness, metallic, normal, height, AO.

Albedo vs base color: what's the difference?

Albedo vs base color, explained: why the terms are used interchangeably, the difference in the metalness workflow, and what the map should contain.

Normal map vs bump map: what's the difference?

Normal map vs bump map: both fake detail without extra geometry but store it differently. When to use each, and how height maps relate to both.

Roughness and metallic maps, explained

What roughness and metallic maps do in PBR: roughness sets reflection sharpness, metallic marks what's metal. How they work together and common mistakes.

ORM maps explained (channel packing)

What an ORM map is: one texture packing ambient occlusion (R), roughness (G) & metallic (B) to save memory — and why Unreal & Godot use it.

What is auto-texturing? AI 3D texturing explained

Auto-texturing explained: how AI textures a whole 3D model from a text prompt — multi-view projection, PBR map derivation, strengths and limits.

What is dynamic topology?

Dynamic topology (dyntopo) adds mesh resolution under the brush as you sculpt. How it differs from multiresolution and remeshing, and when to use each.

What is CC0? Public-domain assets explained

What CC0 means for 3D textures and models: what you may do with them, why no attribution is required, and how CC0 differs from “free” and royalty-free.

What is UV mapping?

UV mapping explained: what UV coordinates are, why 3D models need unwrapping before texturing, and what seams, islands, and UV space actually mean.

1K, 2K or 4K? Choosing texture resolution

How to choose texture resolution: what 1K, 2K and 4K actually mean, how texel density decides sharpness, and when a bigger map stops helping.

GLB vs glTF vs FBX vs OBJ

The four 3D file formats you actually meet: what GLB, glTF, FBX and OBJ each store, which carry PBR materials, and which to use when.

What is procedural texturing?

Procedural texturing explained: how node graphs generate PBR materials from rules instead of pixels, why they scale, and when to paint by hand instead.

3D modelling vs sculpting

The difference between 3D modelling and digital sculpting, what each is good at, which to learn first, and why most artists end up using both together.

What is retopology?

Retopology explained: what it does, why a sculpt needs it, when you can skip it entirely, and the difference between automatic remeshing and hand retopology.

What is remeshing?

Remeshing explained: what it does to a 3D model, the difference between voxel, quad and adaptive remeshing, and when to use each on a sculpt.

3D sculpting jobs

What 3D sculpting jobs actually exist, what studios hire for, what belongs in a sculpting portfolio, and a realistic path from first sculpt to first paid work.

Blender sculpting vs ZBrush

How Blender's sculpt mode really compares to ZBrush: brush depth, performance on dense meshes, retopology, cost, and which one a beginner should start with.

Is 3D sculpting hard?

3D sculpting is easier to start than 3D modelling and harder to get good at. What's actually difficult, how long it takes, and how to shorten the curve.

Sculpting brushes explained

What every 3D sculpting brush actually does — Clay, Draw, Smooth, Flatten, Scrape, Pinch, Inflate and Move — and the four you need to make a real sculpt.

Tutorials

Texture it yourself, step by step

Set up the Blender Live Link

Set up the Mixos Live Link for Blender: one-click plugin install, Auto Sync while you paint, and two-way transfer between Blender and your textures.

Preview your material path-traced, right in the viewport

Flip on Mixos's Ray toggle for a path-traced render of your model: real bounced light, soft shadows, glossy reflections and depth of field, no export.

How to texture a 3D model

A step-by-step guide to texturing a 3D model: import your mesh, set up PBR materials with layers & masks, add wear, and export render-ready maps.

How to bake an ambient occlusion (AO) map

How to bake an ambient occlusion map: what AO baking does, the steps to bake from your mesh, common pitfalls, and how to use the AO map in PBR.

How to make seamless (tiling) textures

How to make seamless textures that tile without visible seams: methods from offset-and-fix to AI generation and triplanar projection — and how to test.

How to sculpt a 3D model

Digital sculpting step by step: start from a base mesh, block primary forms, subdivide for detail, and use masks and symmetry — all in your browser.

How to teach 3D texturing without installing software

A practical guide to running a 3D texturing unit on school lab machines: what to cover, how to sequence it, and how to dodge the install and licence problems.

How to make an STL file for 3D printing

Make a printable STL from scratch: sculpt the shape, remesh it watertight, thicken fragile parts, decimate and export — plus the checks that stop a bad print.

How to sculpt a face

Sculpt a face from a sphere: block the skull masses, place the features on real proportion landmarks, then detail. The order that stops faces looking wrong.

Learn by doing.

Every concept here is one you can try in the browser right now. Import a model, paint real PBR materials, and export render-ready maps — free to author.