topic Re: Building Materials and texture in Modeling

Building Materials and texture

clauds1223 — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 05:41:41 GMT

I would like this wall to have a corrugate steel texture that shows up on the surface when I open it in 3D.
How would I do this?

Thanks

Operating system used: Windows 11

Re: Building Materials and texture

Lingwisyer — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 05:46:17 GMT

Apply a Surface Override to the wall, or change the Surface assigned to the selected Building Material.

If you are talking about 3D corrugations, you will need to make it differently, such as using the Profiled Sheet object, using a Wall Accessory for cladding, or using Complex Profiles as a wall, beam or column depending on the orientation required.

Ling.

Re: Building Materials and texture

Barry Kelly — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 06:06:38 GMT

As Ling mentioned, it depends if you want a surface texture that looks like corrugations (flat surface with one polygon), or an actual corrugated surface (many polygons).

Barry.

Re: Building Materials and texture

matthewadams — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 08:23:08 GMT

You’re close—you just need to use a material with a texture (not just color) and make sure it’s visible in your 3D view.

Here’s the quick way to get a corrugated steel look

1. Create/Edit Material

Open Material Browser
Duplicate an existing metal material (or create new)
Name it something like Corrugated Steel

2. Add the texture

In the Appearance tab:
- Add an Image (texture map) → use a corrugated metal image (PNG/JPG)
- Adjust scale so the ribs look realistic (this is key)

3. Add surface relief (important)

Add a Bump map (or normal map if available)
→ this gives the actual corrugated effect instead of a flat image
Tweak bump amount until ribs are visible but not exaggerated

4. Assign the material

Apply this material to your wall (either via wall type or paint tool)

5. Check your view settings

Make sure 3D view is set to:
- Realistic or Shaded with textures ON
If you’re in Hidden Line, you won’t see it

Common issue (what your image shows):
Right now your wall is just a flat surface → meaning:

Either no texture is applied
Or you’re in a view mode that doesn’t display it

If you want it to look even better:

Use a seamless corrugated texture
Match orientation (vertical vs horizontal ribs)
Adjust reflectivity (metal should have slight gloss)

Re: Building Materials and texture

CosminF — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 08:54:29 GMT

As far as I know, the bump map is only visible in rendering not in the 3D view. The 3D views mentioned (Realistic or shaded with textures, aren't the ones usually found in archicad).

The AI reply sounds feasible but it is not applicable here just yet.

Re: Building Materials and texture

Barry Kelly — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 09:30:59 GMT

@CosminF wrote:

As far as I know, the bump map is only visible in rendering not in the 3D view.

Correct.

What you will see in Archicad is the left hand image in my post above.

In a 3D render the bump map will come into play.

If you want to see the corrugations in Archicad then you need a 3D object or wall accessory or a complex profile (column).

Barry.