The Layered material system lets you construct complex materials that consist of a base layer and up to eight Material Layers. The Layers are based on components used in previous Octane materials. Using this set of unique layers, OctaneRender® now lets you recreate complex materials in a physically-based manner, as opposed to manually mixing materials together.


The following Material Layer nodes are available:

  • Diffuse Layer - Used for dull, non-reflective materials.
  • Material Layer Group - Adds multiple Material Layers to existing materials.
  • Metallic Layer - Used for highly reflective materials.
  • Sheen Layer - Simulates the grazing coloration in fabrics.
  • Specular Layer - Used for shiny materials like plastic, or clear materials like glass.
  • Material Layer Switch - This node can be used to connect two or more material layer types to one input on a Layered Material node.


Material Layers

Figure 1: Accessing the Material Layers from the Node Graph Editor window.


Material Layers can connect to the Layered Material, Layer Group, or Material Layer pins on standard materials.