Chrome Material

Chrome is a near-perfect mirror. The surface shows its surroundings sharply, slightly cooled and brightened, so the object looks like it is made of the scene around it. It is the material of car trim, bathroom fittings and liquid-metal sci-fi.

Settings

• Roughness 0.05: almost zero, the lowest of any metal preset. Reflections stay crisp all the way across the surface.
• Env Map Intensity 2: double the normal reflection strength and the highest in the family, which makes chrome bright and punchy.
• Color very light grey: barely tints the reflections, so the scene keeps its own colours.
• Metalness 1: fully metallic.

Raise Roughness slightly, to 0.15 or so, and chrome turns into polished Silver or stainless steel; change the Color for coloured chrome finishes.

Use it for

Retro and Y2K chrome lettering, futuristic product visuals, car and motorcycle parts, bathroom and kitchen fittings, and abstract mirror shapes. Chrome is entirely about what it reflects. In an empty, dark scene it looks almost black; in front of a bright environment, a sky or a gradient background with lights, it comes alive. Use an HDR environment with strong contrast and curved geometry such as spheres, bevelled text or blobs so reflections stretch across the form.