WET CERAMIC POOL DECK TILE
Material study by Ethan Lancaster
Version 1.0 — July 2026

ABOUT THE STUDY

I made this material while reworking my indoor pool-room render. The first
version was basically just a color map, so the floor stayed flat and never
really told you that it belonged beside a pool. I rebuilt the grout,
strengthened the normal detail, and used a wetness mask to break the finish
into dry tile, shallow puddles, and scattered drops.

I am still learning how small material choices make a render feel more
believable. This study helped me see that realism is not only about adding
more geometry. The recessed grout, darker wet areas, and changing roughness
do a lot of the storytelling. I am sharing the maps so other artists can take
the setup apart, try it in their own renderer, and hopefully learn something
from it too.

INCLUDED MAPS — 1024 x 1024

color.png
  Base color / albedo with visible cool-gray grout.
  Color space: sRGB

surface-depth.png
  Height map with raised ceramic faces and recessed grout.
  Color space: Raw / Non-Color

surface-direction.png
  OpenGL normal map with grout and ceramic micro-detail.
  Color space: Raw / Non-Color

surface-response.png
  Roughness map. Brighter pixels are rougher; darker pixels are smoother.
  Color space: Raw / Non-Color

wetness-mask.png
  Random puddle and droplet mask. White is wet; black is dry.
  Color space: Raw / Non-Color

ambient-occlusion.png
  Optional AO map emphasizing recessed grout.
  Color space: Raw / Non-Color

metallic.png
  Non-metallic mask. This map is intentionally black.
  Color space: Raw / Non-Color

material-study.png
  Website-ready 1920 x 1080 presentation graphic.

ARNOLD STARTING POINT

Standard Surface:
  Base Weight: 1.0
  Metalness: 0.0
  Specular Weight: 1.0
  Specular IOR: 1.50
  Specular Roughness: surface-response.png
  Normal: surface-direction.png through an Arnold Normal Map node
  Coat Weight: wetness-mask.png
  Coat IOR: 1.333
  Coat Roughness: 0.045

The wetness mask can also be used to darken the color slightly or mix between
a dry roughness value near 0.30 and a wet value near 0.055.

NOTES

- The maps are tileable and use an eight-by-eight tile layout.
- Adjust UV scale to match the real tile size in your scene.
- Keep color.png in sRGB. Set every data map to Raw / Non-Color.
- The material was developed for an indoor pool visualization in Maya and Arnold.
- This download is provided as a portfolio material study. Check Ethan's website
  for current usage terms.
