Carbon fibre weave textures

Fusion setup in 5 steps

1. Appearance panel → duplicate a Standard Surface (or Carbon Fiber) appearance.
2. Base Color → Image → load the basecolor map.
3. Roughness → Image → load the roughness map (not glossiness).
4. Bump → Normal map → load normal_gl, depth about 0.25.
5. Coat weight 1, coat roughness 0.03–0.08, then set the tile size from the guide.

Inventor setup in 5 steps

1. Manage → Appearance Browser → duplicate a Generic appearance.
2. Color → Image → basecolor map.
3. Reflectivity → use the glossiness map (Inventor reads shiny as white).
4. Bump → Image → height map, amount about 0.3.
5. Texture Map → set sample size to match the guide.

Choosing the right scale

Real tow widths: plain weave and 2x2 twill are usually 3k tows (about 5–6 mm per square). 3x3 and 6x6 suit bigger 12k looks.

If the weave looks like a checkerboard from across the room, the tile is too big — halve it.

Tile sizes: plain 100 mm, 2x2 80–100 mm, 3x3 120 mm, 6x6 200 mm per full map.

Weave direction

Run the weave along the length of the part — lengthwise on a bonnet, spanwise on a wing.

For a 45° "bias" look, rotate the texture 45° instead of rotating the part.

On curved parts, use Box or Cylindrical projection so the weave doesn't stretch.

Getting a realistic finish

Real carbon is near black — keep the base color dark; the shine comes from the clear coat.

Gloss parts: low coat roughness and a bright studio environment. Matte / satin: raise roughness to 0.4–0.6 and drop the coat.

A subtle bump sells the weave; too much and it looks like fabric.

Common mistakes

• Using normal_dx in Fusion — the weave looks inside-out. Fusion uses normal_gl.
• Loading glossiness where roughness is expected — shiny areas turn dull.
• Visible seams — use the whole map; don't crop it.
• Blurry close-ups — the 2048px maps hold up to about a 300 mm tile.

Forged & hexagonal carbon

Forged carbon has no direction, so it hides seams well on complex shapes.

Keep the base colour dark; the shine comes from the clear coat.

Hexagonal carbon reads best at 100 mm or smaller so the cells stay crisp.

Brushed aluminium

Turn metalness up to 1 — otherwise it looks like grey plastic.

Line the grain up with the part's longest edge, like real machining marks.

No clear coat; a bright environment makes the grain streaks show.

Leather

No clear coat and no metalness; specular around 0.4.

A stronger normal depth (about 0.6) brings out the pebble grain.

Use a larger tile (about 150 mm) so the grain isn't too busy on a steering rim.