Playground Rubber Mulch Safety Surfacing Tiles | Free PBR free download

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

Preview — Playground Rubber Mulch Safety Surfacing Tiles | Free PBR

IDplayground-rubber-mulch-safety-surfacing-tiles-free-pbr
Plastic
PNG
Size1k (1024x1024px), 2k (2048x2048px), 4k (4096x4096px), 8k (8192x8192px)
sRGB

These playground rubber mulch safety surfacing tiles are expertly crafted from a durable polymer base combined with recycled rubber granules, delivering an eco-friendly and resilient composition ideally suited for outdoor playground environments. The material integrates specialized binders that securely hold the rubber aggregates together, providing essential flexibility and superior impact absorption while maintaining consistent structural integrity over time. Its surface features a slightly porous texture designed to enhance grip and facilitate efficient drainage, preventing water accumulation and improving safety underfoot. Finished with a subtle matte appearance, the tiles exhibit natural color variations created by embedded pigments and oxide layers within the recycled rubber, contributing to a visually rich and authentic look that withstands prolonged exposure to weathering, UV radiation, and mechanical wear.

The seamless PBR (Physically Based Rendering) texture maps capture the complex characteristics of this safety surfacing material across multiple channels for highly realistic digital representation. The BaseColor or Albedo map showcases the nuanced dark and muted tones typical of rubber mulch, revealing subtle shifts in pigmentation that reflect the organic nature of the recycled components. Normal and Height maps emphasize the granular, uneven surface created by shredded rubber pieces, adding depth and tactile detail to 3D models. Roughness maps highlight the non-reflective, matte quality of the tiles, ensuring accurate light diffusion without unwanted glossiness, while the Metallic channel remains minimal or absent, aligning with the organic polymer composition. Ambient Occlusion enhances shading around the aggregates and crevices, lending increased depth and realism in rendered scenes.

Rendered at resolutions up to 8K, these textures are optimized for seamless use in Blender, Unreal Engine, and Unity, supporting detailed close-up views and efficient real-time rendering without sacrificing quality. For optimal results, it is recommended to adjust the UV scale moderately to preserve the natural granule size and detail inherent to the rubber mulch, ensuring the texture maintains a realistic appearance. Additionally, fine-tuning the roughness values slightly lower can simulate a wetter or more polished surface finish if desired, allowing flexibility for different artistic or environmental conditions. This texture set provides a versatile and accurate solution for visualization and simulation of playground safety surfacing tiles in various digital 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)

  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.


AITEXTURED Tools

Build, preview, and export seamless PBR materials. Generate full map sets from a single image, inspect them in a real-time WebGL viewer, and re-package maps for Unreal, Unity, and Blender—directly in your browser.