Patchwork 3D 2025 includes a PBR Neutral Tone Mapper to ensure accurate material rendering that aligns with the requirements of physically based workflows. This feature improves the handling of lighting and color in complex 3D scenes while preserving physical realism.

It is designed for design, visualization, and marketing teams aiming for consistent, realistic, and portable visuals across tools, platforms, and rendering pipelines.

The video below showcases the PBR Neutral Tone Mapper applied to a demo scene with high-contrast reflective materials, including the iconic Speedster model.
Watch how reflections on the spheres, vehicle body, and ground behave with the effect toggled on. The tone mapping preserves brightness without sacrificing color accuracy or realism.

Key Benefits

• Accurate material preservation
  Avoids color shifts or contrast drifts caused by non-neutral tone mapping curves. What you see reflects the true material properties.
• Enhanced artistic control
  Artists can rely on physical material values (e.g., albedo ~50% for white wall) without compensating visually. Lighting and post-process tools do their job properly.
• Physically consistent light response
  Changes in intensity yield expected and controllable results, even with highly reflective or emissive materials.
• Compatibility with modern PBR workflow
  No distortion in BRDF interpretations (GGX, Lambert, etc.), and consistent results across rendering engines like Unity HDRP, Unreal, V-Ray, etc.
• Reduced clipping
  Smoother roll-off for highlights. Helps maintain dynamic range without harsh cutoffs.
• Neutral base for grading/post-production
  A clean output is easier to grade and stylize. Fully compatible with ACES/OCIO workflows and custom LUTs.

Already using this feature? Share your results or insights below. We’d love to see your scenes!