Frozen Icy Surface of Lake or Pond with Cracks and Frost | Free PBR free download

. Formats: PNG . Free for personal & commercial use.

Preview — Frozen Icy Surface of Lake or Pond with Cracks and Frost | Free PBR

IDfrozen-icy-surface-of-lake-or-pond-with-cracks-and-frost-free-pbr
Ground surface
PNG
Size1k (1024x1024px), 2k (2048x2048px), 4k (4096x4096px), 8k (8192x8192px)
sRGB

This high-quality PBR texture captures the intricate frozen icy surface of a lake or pond, showcasing natural cracks and delicate frost patterns formed through seasonal weathering. The base substrate is primarily organic water ice with varying degrees of translucency, interspersed with mineral impurities and air pockets that create subtle variations in opacity and surface detail. The cracks reveal the brittle, crystalline structure of the frozen water, emphasizing fracture lines and thin fissures that contribute to the texture’s authentic weathered appearance. Fine frost deposits add micro-scale roughness and diffuse scattering effects, enhancing realism through the interplay of light and shadow on the cold, glass-like surface.

From a materials science perspective, this texture represents a composite natural ice layer, where the binder is frozen water molecules bonded in a hexagonal crystalline lattice. The aggregates include trapped air bubbles and microscopic mineral grains, while the surface finish is smooth yet irregular, with areas of higher polish interrupted by frost and crack edges. These characteristics manifest clearly across the PBR texture channels: the BaseColor or Albedo map shows muted blue-gray tones with white frost highlights; the Normal map captures the subtle undulations and sharp fissures; Roughness conveys a predominantly glossy, low-friction surface punctuated by rougher frost zones; Metallic remains near zero due to the organic nature of ice; Ambient Occlusion emphasizes shadowing within cracks and frost accumulations; and Height or Displacement maps provide fine vertical detail for realistic surface depth and parallax effects.

Rendered at up to 8K resolution, this seamless texture is optimized for use in Blender, Unreal Engine, and Unity, ensuring crisp detail even on large-scale environmental surfaces. For practical implementation, it is recommended to carefully adjust the UV scale to maintain the natural size and spacing of cracks and frost, avoiding repetitive patterns. Additionally, fine-tuning the roughness map can help balance the glossy ice sheen with frost’s matte texture, enhancing visual depth and material authenticity in close-up or dynamic lighting scenarios.

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)

  1. Enable the addon: Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Node Wrangler.
  2. Create a material and select the Principled BSDF node.
  3. 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.
  4. Add AO and Height using the “Manual wiring” steps below (5 and 6).

Manual wiring (full control)

  1. Create a material (Material Properties → New) and open the Shader Editor.
  2. Add an Image Texture node for each map. Set Color Space:
    • AlbedosRGB
    • AO, Roughness, Metallic, Normal, Height, ORMNon-Color
  3. Connect to Principled BSDF:
    • albedoBase Color
    • roughnessRoughness
    • metallicMetallic (for wood this often stays near 0)
    • normalNormal Map node (Type: Tangent Space) → Normal of Principled. If details look “inverted”, enable Invert Y on the Normal Map node.
  4. 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).
  5. Height / Displacement:
    Cycles — true displacement
    1. Material Properties → SettingsDisplacement: Displacement and Bump.
    2. Add a Displacement node: connect heightHeight, set Midlevel = 0.5, Scale = 0.02–0.08 (tune to taste).
    3. Output of Displacement → Material Output → Displacement.
    4. Add geometry density (e.g., Subdivision Surface) so displacement has polygons to work with.
    Eevee (or lightweight Cycles) — bump only
    1. Add a Bump node: heightHeight.
    2. 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:

  1. Add one Image Texture (Non-Color) → Separate RGB (or Separate Color).
  2. R (red) → AO (use it in the Multiply node with albedo as above).
  3. G (green) → Roughness of Principled.
  4. B (blue) → Metallic of Principled.

UVs & seamless tiling

  1. These textures are seamless. If your mesh has no UVs, go to UV EditingSmart UV Project.
  2. 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.


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