Glossy BSDF

The Glossy BSDF node is used to add reflection with microfacet distribution, used for materials such as metal or mirrors.

Inputs

Color

Color of the surface, or physically speaking, the probability that light is reflected for each wavelength.

Roughness

Sharpness of the reflection; perfectly sharp at 0.0 and smoother with higher values.

Anisotropy Cycles Only

Controls the amount the reflection stretches the reflection along the surface of the material. A value of 0.0 results in no anisotropic reflections. Higher values give elongated highlights orthogonal to the tangent direction; negative values give highlights shaped along the tangent direction.

This is a phenomenon know as “Anisotropic Reflections” which is often seen in metallic materials.

Rotation

Rotation of the anisotropic tangent direction. Value 0.0 equals 0° rotation, 0.25 equals 90° and 1.0 equals 360° = 0°. This can be used to texture the tangent direction.

Anisotropic rotation on 0.

Anisotropic rotation on 0.25 (90°).

Normal

Normal used for shading; if nothing is connected the default shading normal is used.

Tangent

Tangent used for shading; if nothing is connected the default shading tangent is used.

Properties

Distribution

Microfacet distribution to use.

GGX:

GGX microfacet distribution.

Multiscatter GGX:

Takes multiple scattering events between microfacets into account. This gives more energy conserving results, which would otherwise be visible as excessive darkening.

Beckmann:

Cycles Only Beckmann microfacet distribution.

Outputs

BSDF

Standard shader output.

Examples

Sharp Glossy example.	Sharp Glossy behavior.
Rough Glossy example.	Rough Glossy behavior.

Anisotropic shading with 0° rotation, 90° rotation and textured rotation of the tangent direction. Example blend-file.