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Unity Engine

Metallic and specular workflows

Choose a shader workflow in a prebuilt material to determine how Unity calculates reflections.
Read time 2 minutesLast updated 21 days ago
Prebuilt Unity shaders have two different ways of calculating reflections, known as workflows:
  • Metallic workflow. Set a value for how metallic the material is, where 0 is non-metallic and 1 is fully metallic. Unity calculates the strength and color of reflections, and tints them with the base color.
  • Specular workflow. Set a color value to directly control the tint and intensity of reflections and highlights.
The workflow controls two types of reflections:
  • Specular reflections, which are bright spots that reflect light components.
  • Environment reflections, which reflect the surrounding environment, for example the skybox.
In both workflows, you can also adjust the blurriness or sharpness of reflections using a smoothness value.
Note
You can use either workflow for any material. The metallic workflow isn't only for metallic materials.

Metallic workflow

In the metallic workflow, the following applies:
  • A value of 0 means the surface is non-metallic, also known as dielectric. The base color is visible as matte color, also known as diffuse reflection. Specular highlights are the color of the light source.
  • A value of 1 means the surface is metallic. There's no diffuse reflection. The base color defines the color of the specular reflections and environment reflections.
Values between 0 and 1 blend these two results.

Spheres with a range of metallic values from 0 to 1, and a constant smoothness value of 0.8. The reflection of the environment becomes more visible.

For more information, refer to Configure reflections in prebuilt shaders.

Specular workflow

In the specular workflow, a specular color value directly controls the intensity and color of reflections on the surface. This makes it possible to have a specular reflection that's a different color to diffuse reflection.
A black specular color means no reflections, while a white specular color means full reflection.

Spheres with a range of specular colors from black to white. Rubber, dirt, rough plastic, and mud have a dark specular color, and faint reflections. Brushed metal has a light specular color and a clear, bright reflection.

For more information, refer to Configure reflections in prebuilt shaders.

Smoothness

In both workflows, a smoothness value controls the clarity of the specular effect.
Smoothness represents the microsurface detail of the material. A low smoothness value means the surface is microscopically rough with many different surface angles, so light rays bounce off at a wide range of angles, and fewer reflections reach the camera. A high smoothness value means the surface is microscopically smooth like a mirror, so light rays bounce off at a narrow range of angles, and more reflections reach the camera.

A comparison of low, medium and high values for smoothness (top to bottom).

As a result, a low smoothness value produces blurry, diffuse reflections, while a high smoothness value produces clear, sharp reflections.

Spheres with a range of smoothness values from 0 to 1. Plaster and smooth wood have lower smoothness values, and blurrier reflections. Steel and a mirror have high smoothness values, and sharper, clearer reflections. Glossy plastic is approximately in the middle.

For more information, refer to Configure reflections in prebuilt shaders.

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