How to use A23D PBR Textures in V-Ray

This guide explains how to configure A23D PBR texture maps inside the VRayMtl shader across V-Ray host applications including 3ds Max, Maya, SketchUp, and Rhino.

1. Download and Extract the Texture Set

1. Sign in to your A23D account.
2. Browse to the texture you want to use.
3. In the Software dropdown on the asset page, select V-Ray. A23D automatically delivers the PBR texture set in the format best suited to V-Ray (PNG maps) - no manual format selection required.
4. Click Download, save the .zip, and extract (unzip) the archive. You will find:

• A23DTEX_Albedo.png - Base color
• A23DTEX_Normal.png - Tangent-space normal map
• A23DTEX_Roughness.png - Surface roughness (white = rough, black = smooth)
• A23DTEX_Metalness.png - Metallic values (white = metal, black = non-metal)
• A23DTEX_AmbientOcclusion.png - Ambient occlusion
• A23DTEX_Height.png - Height / displacement

2. Create a VRayMtl Material

The VRayMtl is V-Ray's primary physically based material shader. It is available in all V-Ray host applications.

In 3ds Max

1. Press M to open the Material Editor.
2. Click an empty material slot.
3. Click the Standard button and change it to VRayMtl from the material type browser.

In Maya

1. Open the Hypershade window (Windows > Rendering Editors > Hypershade).
2. In the Create panel (left side), under V-Ray, click VRayMtl to create a new material node.

In SketchUp / Rhino

1. Open the V-Ray Asset Editor.
2. Click the Materials tab.
3. Click the + button and choose VRayMtl from the material types list.

Once created, assign the VRayMtl to your mesh object.

3. Load A23D PBR Texture Maps into VRayMtl

For each channel in the VRayMtl, click the small square slot icon next to the parameter to open the texture browser, then choose a Bitmap (3ds Max) / File Texture (Maya) / Bitmap Texture (SketchUp/Rhino) node and browse to the corresponding A23D map.

Gamma critical: Albedo (color data) loads as sRGB. All other maps (Normal, Roughness, Metalness, AO, Height) load as Linear (Gamma Override 1.0). Incorrect gamma settings will cause washed-out or overly bright materials.

4. Configure Gamma / Color Space per Map

In 3ds Max with V-Ray:

1. When loading a Bitmap texture, in the Bitmap node properties, find the Gamma section.
2. For A23DTEX_Albedo.png: Select Automatic (Recommended) or explicitly set Gamma 2.2 (sRGB).
3. For all other maps (Normal, Roughness, Metalness, AO, Height): Select Override and set to 1.0 (linear).

In Maya with V-Ray:

1. In the File Texture node's Color Space attribute, set:

• Albedo: sRGB
• All other maps: Raw (or linear)

In SketchUp / Rhino (V-Ray Asset Editor):

• The Asset Editor typically handles gamma automatically based on the channel type. Verify in the texture node that non-color maps are set to Linear if the option is exposed.

5. Set Up the VRayNormalMap Node (Critical)

The Normal map must be loaded via a VRayNormalMap intermediate node for correct tangent-space decoding:

In 3ds Max

1. Open the Material/Map Browser and search for VRayNormalMap.
2. Create the node and load A23DTEX_Normal.png into its Normal map texture slot.
3. Connect the VRayNormalMap output to the Bump Map slot of your VRayMtl.
4. In the VRayMtl Maps rollout, set the Bump amount to 1.0 (100%).

In Maya

1. In the Hypershade, create a VRayNormalMap node.
2. Connect A23DTEX_Normal.png (as a File Texture node) to the Vray Normal Map node's Normal Map attribute.
3. Connect the VRayNormalMap's output to the VRayMtl's bumpMap input.

In SketchUp / Rhino (Asset Editor)

1. In the material's Maps section, expand Bump.
2. Change the bump map type from Bitmap to Normal Map if the option is available, or load the normal map directly - the V-Ray Asset Editor in SketchUp/Rhino handles tangent-space normal maps automatically when assigned to the Bump slot.

6. Add Ambient Occlusion

V-Ray renders true GI-based ambient occlusion automatically. The A23D AO map provides additional baked contact shadow detail:

Option A - Multiply into Diffuse (Simple)

1. Create a Composite Map node (3ds Max) or a Multiply blending node (Maya) with two inputs:

• Input 1: A23DTEX_Albedo.png
• Input 2: A23DTEX_AmbientOcclusion.png (set blend mode to Multiply)

2. Connect the Composite output to the VRayMtl Diffuse slot.

Option B - VRayDirt Override (Advanced)

1. Create a VRayDirt map node and use the A23D AO map as the Occluded Color texture input.
2. Connect the VRayDirt output to the VRayMtl Diffuse slot for a combined procedural + baked AO result.

7. Add Displacement via VRayDisplacementMod

1. Select the mesh object in the scene.
2. Apply a VRayDisplacementMod modifier:

• 3ds Max: In the Modify panel, click More in the modifier list and choose VRayDisplacementMod.
• Maya: In the Hypershade, connect a displacement material node to the mesh's shading group.

3. In the VRayDisplacementMod settings:

• Load A23DTEX_Height.png into the Texmap slot.
• Set Type to Normal Displacement (for true 3D geometry displacement at render time).
• Set Amount to a small value - start at 0.01 m (1 cm) and increase gradually.
• Enable Edge Length subdivision control for adaptive tessellation.

Texture Channel Reference Summary

Additional Resources

V-Ray for 3ds Max - VRayMtl DocumentationV-Ray for Maya - VRayMtl DocumentationChaos Help - Substance Painter to V-Ray PBR Workflow