This seamless 3D texture presents highly detailed horse hoofprints embedded into a dry, cracked mud surface, rendered at an impressive 8K resolution for photorealistic results. The base substrate consists of compacted organic soil rich in fine mineral particles and natural clay binders, which contribute to the brittle, fissured structure characteristic of arid environments. The cracked mud reveals a complex network of natural fissures and desiccation patterns, with subtle dust accumulation filling some crevices. The surface finish is rough and matte, displaying various brown hues created by natural pigments and oxide layers, which together simulate the weathered, sunbaked appearance of a rural terrain. The horse hoofprints themselves impress clear, concave footprints into the mud, exhibiting realistic edge wear and cracking consistent with repeated drying and pressure, emphasizing the organic interaction between animal and earth.
In terms of PBR channels, the BaseColor/Albedo map conveys the nuanced brown tones and dust overlays, while the Normal map captures the intricate relief of cracked mud and hoofprint depth, adding convincing surface irregularities. The Roughness channel highlights the matte, uneven texture of dry mud, with slightly smoother areas inside the hoof impressions to replicate compressed soil. Metallic values remain negligible, reflecting the non-metallic, natural composition of the substrate. Ambient Occlusion enhances depth perception within fissures and footprint depressions, increasing realism in shaded conditions. The Height/Displacement map defines the micro and macro elevation changes, crucial for parallax effects in real-time engines, ensuring the texture integrates seamlessly in 3D environments. This texture is fully optimized and ready to use in Blender, Unreal Engine, and Unity, supporting realistic environmental scenes such as equestrian grounds, rural landscapes, or natural trail simulations.
For practical application, adjusting the UV scale to maintain fine detail at close camera distances is recommended, especially to preserve the definition of the hoofprint edges and mud cracks. Additionally, fine-tuning the roughness map allows for creating variations in soil moisture appearance, from drier patches with higher roughness to slightly compacted, darker areas with reduced roughness, enhancing material fidelity in diverse lighting setups. This texture is an excellent choice for artists and developers seeking a natural, seamless, photorealistic representation of dry footprints on cracked mud surfaces with realistic aging and wear effects, tailored for high-end 3D projects.
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.
