Bump to Glossiness

The Bump to Glossiness texture node converts a normal or bump map into a glossiness map. This node allows a workflow to eliminate overly shiny or too glossy areas of an object. With a reflection glossiness texture generated from a bump/normal map, proper reflection glossiness is achieved at any distance, while detail is preserved.

The Bump to Glossiness node takes a bump/normal map and mixes it with a (separate) reflection glossiness map or value, and the resulting output is fed into the shader.

Note that the Bump to Glossiness node always outputs reflection glossiness.

Bump to Glossiness is not supported with V-Ray GPU, yet.

Glossiness – Specifies a reflection glossiness map to be mixed with the bump/normal map to produce the final reflection glossiness output. You can also use only a numerical value here.

Use Roughness – This option controls how the Glossiness map is interpreted. When Use Roughness is selected, the inverse value of the Glossiness is used.

Map – Specifies the bump/normal map. Only a Bitmap node can be attached here. Procedural textures cannot be used here.

Bump Amount – A multiplier for the bump effect.

Bump Mode – Determines how the Map is going to be read. Set the Mode to match the type of map that is connected.

Bump Map – Uses a bump map to determine the bump effect applied.
Normal Map in Tangent Space – Uses a tangent normal map to determine the bump effect applied.

Context – Allows the attachment of a Context node (UVW generator) to adjust the UVWs of the texture. For more information, visit the Context Nodes page.

To achieve a more matte finish to a material, consider the following steps. See the video for more details.

1. Connect Bitmaps for the Glossiness and Map parameters of the Bump to Glossiness node. Only Bitmaps work here.
2. Connect the Bump to Glossiness node to the Reflection Glossiness port of the surface material node.
   1. Consider the Bump Type of the surface material. Match the Bump Mode to that. Keep in mind that you can only use Normal Map in Tangent Space Bump Type in the surface material.
   2. Match the Bump Amount to the corresponding bump multiplier of the surface material node.
   3. Consider whether the Use Roughness option is enabled in the surface material node. If it is - disable Use Roughness in the Bump to Glossiness node. In turn, enable the option in the Bump to Glossiness node, if it is disabled in the surface node. Having the option active in both nodes causes miscalculations.