Metal and gemstone materials that look like the real thing

Metals for every alloy and finish

The metal library covers the alloys jewellers actually sell and the surface finishes that make a design recognisable.

• Polished alloys. Yellow, white, rose, red, green, grey, sand and warm gold, plus platinum, silver and black rhodium.
• Karat looks. Separate 9K, 14K and 22K gold presets with subtly different colour, so a rich 22K bangle for an Indian bridal collection does not look like a pale 9K band.
• Satin and matt finishes in yellow, white and rose gold, from brushed in three strengths to matt and sand. Finish presets change the gloss and colour of the metal rather than adding a surface texture, so hammering, engraving and diamond-cut facets show when they are modelled in your CAD file.
• Other metals and colours. Brass, bronze, copper, chrome, aluminium, white enamel, and polished or matt colours in black, blue, brown, green, red, purple and violet for fashion pieces.

Each preset sets the colour, metalness, roughness and reflection strength of the metal together, and the intensity and rotation of the metal lighting environment fine-tune how that finish reads in the shot.

Gemstones with real refraction and fire

Stones are rendered with physically based refraction, so light bends through the facets instead of sitting on the surface.

• Diamonds by colour grade. D colourless, H near colourless, K faint yellow, P very light yellow and T light yellow, plus fancy black, blue, brown, green, pink and yellow diamonds.
• Precious stones. Emerald, ruby and sapphire in blue, green, pink and yellow.
• Coloured stones. Amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, red and rhodolite garnet, morganite, peridot, smoky quartz, tanzanite, topaz, green and rose tourmaline, tsavorite, and zircon in eight colours.
• Cabochons. Amethyst, emerald, ruby, blue and yellow sapphire, and topaz.

Each gem preset sets the index of refraction, dispersion (the rainbow fire of a diamond) and transmission for its stone. On top of that, seven cut profiles for round brilliant, emerald, princess, cushion, marquise, pear and oval stones tune sparkle and refraction depth. They change how light behaves inside the stone, not its shape, which always comes from your CAD file.

How the studio knows which part is a stone

When a model opens, the studio reads the names of its layers and meshes. Names containing words such as Diamond, Gem, Stone, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Opal, Topaz, Garnet, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Citrine, Tanzanite, Center stone, Side stone, Pavé or Halo are treated as stones. Everything else starts as metal. Naming your layers well in Rhino, MatrixGold or Blender saves you a minute on every model. Our guide to preparing CAD files shows a naming scheme that works.

Apply to one part, several parts or everything

Click a part in the viewport to select it. To work on several parts at once, open the Layers panel, which lists every part, then Ctrl or Cmd click to add parts or Shift click to select a range. Choose a preset and it applies to the selected parts only. With nothing selected, a metal preset applies to all metal parts at once, which is the quickest way to try a whole piece in rose gold.

Tips for metal that looks real

1. Match the karat. Use the 14K preset for 14K pieces and the 22K preset for high-karat gold. Customers notice when the colour on screen does not match the box.
2. Let the light do the work. Polished metal is a mirror. If it looks flat, try a different lighting environment or raise its intensity before you change the preset.
3. Choose the finish deliberately. Brushed, matt and sand presets carry more roughness, which softens reflections on satin designs. On a polished piece the same softness looks like plastic, so keep those presets for pieces that really have a satin finish.
4. Show the finish. Satin surfaces, and textures modelled into the CAD file such as hammering, only read when a highlight runs across them, so rotate the lighting until it does.

Tips for believable stones

• Diamonds need contrast. A gem lighting environment with bright and dark areas gives the facets something to reflect.
• Match the cut profile to the stone. The emerald cut profile shows less fire than a round brilliant, just as a real step cut does, so pick the profile that matches the stone in your file.
• Dark stones such as sapphire, emerald and garnet often look richer with slightly less environment intensity.
• Coloured diamonds and coloured stones are separate presets, so a pink sapphire and a pink diamond will not look identical, just as they do not in life.

For a deeper walkthrough, read how to render diamonds realistically and how to render gemstone colours.

Build colourways in minutes

Because every material change is instant, you can show the same ring in yellow, white and rose gold, or with a sapphire instead of a diamond, before you cast anything. Set up each combination as a variant and switch between them with one click. See variants and colourways for the workflow.