Enhanced Capabilities for Creating Compelling Appearances

SOLIDWORKS Visualize uses Dassault Systèmes' Enterprise PBR Shading Model (DSPBR) to closely replicate the realistic appearance of metal, glass, plastic, and other surfaces.

DSPBR is an appearance model for physically based rendering, supported by many renderers in the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform. The shading model is easy to use and renderer independent. It combines parameters to describe metallic and nonmetallic appearances, including transparency for thin-walled and volumetric objects. It also provides effects, such as emission, clear coat, metallic flakes, and sheen, to cover a wide range of appearances.

SOLIDWORKS Visualize provides appearances for an expanded range of material types and subtypes. The full Enterprise PBR Shading Model consists of more than 30 parameters, which can be complex. The software organizes these parameters into categories that are relevant to specific Appearance Types. This simplifies the user interface and enhances usability while keeping unnecessary parameters hidden. The Appearance Types available are Car Paint, Metal, Basic, Emissive, Textile, Leather, Wood, Glass, and Plastic.

Enhancements include:
  • A simplified interface for selecting appearance types and optimizing their parameters. You can select appearance types from a list or by clicking thumbnail images.
  • The ability to adjust textures and texture maps for almost all parameters, with greater control and fidelity.
  • The ability to combine normal and displacement maps and to apply vector displacement.
  • Sample projects and other assets are updated and improved for showcasing DSPBR appearances. Additional appearances and assets are available in the Cloud content library.

You do not need to convert existing files to the DSPBR appearances. You can continue working with files created with legacy appearance types or convert them to the DSPBR types. New files must use the DSPBR appearance types.