This seamless 3D PBR texture in 8K resolution captures the nuanced appearance of drifting stratus clouds with soft edged, layered formations that create a natural, photorealistic atmospheric effect. The base composition simulates a delicate interplay of organic water vapor and fine particulate matter suspended in the air, mimicking the subtle density variations and moderate opacity typical of stratus cloud layers. The texture’s surface finish reflects a soft, diffused softness with no harsh reflections, achieved by replicating light scattering through thin, semi-translucent cloud masses. Pigment-wise, the uniform gray scale tones represent the neutral, overcast sky conditions, enhanced by subtle color gradations to emulate natural atmospheric depth and moisture content. This material composition is ideal for foggy or overcast environments where realistic cloud diffusion and shadowing are critical to immersive weather front visualizations.
In terms of PBR channels, the BaseColor/Albedo channel conveys the muted gray hues and soft gradients characteristic of stratus clouds, while the Normal map subtly encodes the gentle undulations and layering of cloud edges, providing depth without harsh surface details. The Roughness map maintains a high value to preserve a matte, soft appearance with minimal specular highlights, reflecting the diffuse scattering of light in cloudy conditions. Metallic values remain near zero, consistent with the organic, non-metallic nature of clouds. Ambient Occlusion enhances the perception of depth within overlapping cloud layers by simulating soft shadowing, and the Height/Displacement map captures the gradual elevation changes across the drifting strata, aiding in realistic parallax effects when viewed from different angles.
Designed with seamless tiling to avoid visible repetition, this texture supports large-scale sky and weather environment applications in 3D engines such as Blender, Unreal Engine, and Unity. The neutral lighting baked into the texture ensures compatibility across various scene lighting setups, making it versatile for both day and dusk scenarios. For optimal use, it is recommended to adjust UV scale moderately to maintain natural cloud proportions and to fine-tune roughness settings in the shader to balance softness against any desired subtle glossiness, depending on atmospheric moisture levels. This drifting stratus seamless 3D PBR texture provides a reliable and high-fidelity foundation for creating dynamic, realistic cloudscapes and weather effects in advanced 3D rendering workflows.
How to Use These Seamless PBR Textures in Blender
This guide shows how to connect a full PBR texture set to Principled BSDF in Blender (Cycles or Eevee). Works with any of our seamless textures free download, including PBR PNG materials for Blender / Unreal / Unity.
What’s inside the download
*_albedo.png — Base Color (sRGB)*_normal.png — Normal map (Non-Color)*_roughness.png — Roughness (Non-Color)*_metallic.png — Metallic (Non-Color)*_ao.png — Ambient Occlusion (Non-Color)*_height.png — Height / Displacement (Non-Color)*_ORM.png — Packed map (R=AO, G=Roughness, B=Metallic, Non-Color)
Quick start (Node Wrangler, 30 seconds)
- Enable the addon: Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Node Wrangler.
- Create a material and select the Principled BSDF node.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + T and select the maps
albedo, normal, roughness, metallic (skip height and ORM for now) → Open.
The addon wires Base Color, Normal (with a Normal Map node), Roughness, and Metallic automatically.
- Add AO and Height using the “Manual wiring” steps below (5 and 6).
Manual wiring (full control)
- Create a material (Material Properties → New) and open the Shader Editor.
- Add an Image Texture node for each map. Set Color Space:
- Albedo → sRGB
- AO, Roughness, Metallic, Normal, Height, ORM → Non-Color
- Connect to Principled BSDF:
albedo → Base Colorroughness → Roughnessmetallic → Metallic (for wood this often stays near 0)normal → Normal Map node (Type: Tangent Space) → Normal of Principled.
If details look “inverted”, enable Invert Y on the Normal Map node.
- Ambient Occlusion (AO):
- Add a MixRGB (or Mix Color) node in mode Multiply.
- Input A =
albedo, Input B = ao, Factor = 1.0.
- Output of Mix → Base Color of Principled (replaces the direct albedo connection).
- Height / Displacement:
Cycles — true displacement
- Material Properties → Settings → Displacement: Displacement and Bump.
- Add a Displacement node: connect
height → Height, set Midlevel = 0.5, Scale = 0.02–0.08 (tune to taste).
- Output of Displacement → Material Output → Displacement.
- Add geometry density (e.g., Subdivision Surface) so displacement has polygons to work with.
Eevee (or lightweight Cycles) — bump only
- Add a Bump node:
height → Height.
- Set Strength = 0.2–0.5, Distance = 0.05–0.1, and connect Normal output to Principled’s Normal.
Using the packed ORM texture (optional)
Instead of separate AO/Roughness/Metallic maps you can use the single *_ORM.png:
- Add one Image Texture (Non-Color) → Separate RGB (or Separate Color).
- R (red) → AO (use it in the Multiply node with albedo as above).
- G (green) → Roughness of Principled.
- B (blue) → Metallic of Principled.
UVs & seamless tiling
- These textures are seamless. If your mesh has no UVs, go to UV Editing → Smart UV Project.
- For scale/repeat, add Texture Coordinate (UV) → Mapping and plug it into all texture nodes.
Increase Mapping → Scale (e.g., 2/2/2) to tile more densely.
Recommended starter values
- Normal Map Strength: 0.5–1.0
- Bump Strength: ~0.3
- Displacement Scale (Cycles): ~0.03
Common pitfalls
- Wrong Color Space (normals/roughness/etc. must be Non-Color).
- “Inverted” details → enable Invert Y on the Normal Map node.
- Over-strong relief → lower Displacement Scale or Bump Strength.
Example: Download Wood Textures and instantly apply parquet or rustic planks inside Blender for architectural visualization.
To add the downloaded texture, go to Add — Texture — Image Texture.
Add a node and click the Open button.
Select the required texture on your hard drive and connect Color to Base Color.
