How to use A23D PBR Textures in Rhino

This guide explains how to import and configure A23D PBR texture maps as Physically Based (PBR) materials in Rhino, using Rhino's built-in PBR system (Physically Based material with Rhino Render and the Cycles-based Raytraced display mode).

1. Download and Extract the Texture Set

Sign in to your A23D account.
Browse to the texture you wish to use.
In the Software dropdown on the asset page, select Rhino. A23D automatically delivers the PBR texture set in the format best suited to Rhino (JPG maps) - no manual format selection required.
Click Download, save the .zip to a known location, and extract it to access the JPG texture files.

2. Open the Materials Panel

Switch a viewport to a rendered mode (e.g. Rendered or Raytraced) so you can preview materials.
Open the Materials panel:

Go to Panels -> Materials, or
Use Render Tools -> Materials.

Select the object(s) you want to assign the material to.

3. Create a Physically Based (PBR) Material

Rhino has a native Physically Based material type designed for PBR workflows.

You have two options:

Option A - Start from a blank PBR material

In the Materials panel, click Add material (+ icon).
Choose Physically Based from the list.
A new empty PBR material appears, with slots for Base Color, Roughness, Metallic, Normal, Displacement, Opacity, etc.

Option B - Let Rhino auto-build from a texture set (ZIP or images)

In the Materials panel toolbar, click Create Physically Based material from texture files....
Select:

Your A23D PBR texture ZIP, or
The individual A23D map files in a folder.

Rhino will attempt to auto-assign maps based on filenames (BaseColor/Albedo, Roughness, Metalness, etc.).
Check each slot and correct any mis-assigned maps using the table below.

4. Load A23D PBR Texture Maps

In the Physically Based material properties:

Each parameter (Base Color, Roughness, etc.) has a texture icon or "Add texture" button next to it.
Click that icon to browse and assign the corresponding A23D bitmap.

Rhino PBR Parameter	A23D Map to Use	Notes
Base Color / Albedo	`A23DTEX_Albedo.jpg`	Load into Base Color. This is your main color map.
Ambient Occlusion	`A23DTEX_AmbientOcclusion.jpg`	If your Physically Based material exposes an Ambient Occlusion slot, you can plug the AO map here. Otherwise you can ignore it, or multiply it into the albedo in an external app if you intentionally want baked shading (less physically accurate).
Normal Map	`A23DTEX_Normal.jpg`	Load into Normal (or Bump / Normal -> Normal map). Make sure it's treated as a tangent-space normal map, not as a color texture.
Height / Displacement	`A23DTEX_Height.jpg`	Connect to Displacement (or Height) in the Physically Based material. Use low values first; high values need a dense render mesh.
Roughness	`A23DTEX_Roughness.jpg`	Load into Roughness. Rhino's PBR workflow uses roughness, not gloss, so you don't need to invert this map.
Metallic / Metalness	`A23DTEX_Metalness.jpg`	Load into Metallic. White = metal, black = non-metal; mid-values for partially metallic areas if needed
Opacity / Alpha	`A23DTEX_Opacity.jpg`	Use for glass, cutouts, fences, decals, etc. Connect to Opacity (or Alpha / Transparency channel).

Tip: If you used "Create Physically Based material from texture files...", most of these should already be filled in.

Displacement / Height Details

Rhino's PBR materials support Displacement as a dedicated parameter.

To get a convincing height effect:

Assign A23DTEX_Height.jpg to the Displacement slot in the Physically Based material.
Start with a small displacement amount and slowly increase:

Too high -> surfaces look broken or "exploded".
Too low -> effect is barely visible.

Use Rhino Render or Raytraced mode to preview, as displacement is evaluated at render time and depends on the render mesh quality.

If you only need shallow detail (scratches, pores, small dents), you can skip displacement and rely entirely on the Normal Map for performance.

5. Assign the Material to Your Object

With your object(s) selected, right-click the Physically Based material in the Materials panel.
Choose Assign to Selection.
The material is now applied to your object(s) and should display correctly in rendered viewports.