How to use the AI Material Generator in Enscape | Chaos

Enscape users can quickly turn images and textures into PBR materials using the Chaos AI Material Generator, available in the Cosmos asset library. It is ideal for creating secondary materials that don’t need a high level of detail, such as background surfaces.

How do you access the AI Material Generator in Enscape?

The AI Material Generator is accessed through the Enscape Material Editor. A dedicated Material Generator button on the toolbar opens the Chaos Cosmos browser and automatically navigates to the AI Material Generator.

You must be logged into your Chaos account and running Enscape version 4.14 or above to use the tool. It’s also a good idea to download the latest version of Cosmos for the best performance.

Generating a new material

To create a material, upload an image or texture directly into the AI Material Generator. This image can be either tileable or non-tileable.

For tileable images, disable the Make tileable option in the settings. This preserves the original image and generates only the normal and roughness maps.

For non-tileable images, Cosmos provides a Pattern utility that helps generate a seamless repeating texture. Clicking the checker icon opens the Pattern utility, where you can choose between automatic or manual pattern detection.

The Smart pattern option attempts to detect a repeatable area automatically and is recommended as a starting point. If needed, the pattern can be refined manually using selection, zoom, and rotation tools.

Adjusting material settings

Before generating the material, several settings allow you to control the output:

• Resolution defines the quality of the generated textures by specifying the output resolution.
  
  
• Preserve colors keeps the original image colors intact. Disabling this applies a de-lighting process, which can improve results when the source image contains strong lighting.
  
  
• Make tileable enables seamless tiling. This requires a selection in the Pattern utility.
  
  
• Normal controls the strength of surface details and bumps.
  
  
• Roughness adjusts how matte or reflective the material appears.

Once the settings are configured, click Generate. Processing time typically ranges from a few seconds to about a minute, depending on resolution.

A preview of the generated material appears, including albedo, normal, and roughness maps. If needed, settings can be adjusted and the material regenerated.

Downloading and importing into Enscape

Once you’re happy with the result, click Download, then name the material. Material names must be unique within the Enscape Material Editor. If a duplicate name is used, Enscape automatically appends a number.

After saving, the material is downloaded and immediately imported into the Enscape Material Editor. The AI-generated material is converted from a V-Ray material into a standard Enscape material and can be edited like any other Enscape material.

All downloaded AI materials are also stored in Chaos Cosmos under Downloaded > Materials > AI-Generated, allowing them to be reused across projects.

Replacing an existing material

The AI Material Generator always creates new materials by default. To replace an existing Enscape material, right-click the material in the Enscape Material Editor and select Replace with a material.

This launches the same generation workflow mentioned above. Because Cosmos is not currently aware that a replacement is taking place, the tool will still request a new material name.

Once the download is complete, the existing material is automatically replaced, and the change is immediately visible in the Enscape viewport.

Try generating materials in Enscape

As part of Enscape’s real-time design visualization workflow, the AI Material Generator offers a simple way to create materials from images, particularly during early design and iteration.

The feature is available in Enscape version 4.14 and above. Ensure that you are logged into your account and that you have the most recent version of Cosmos installed for optimal performance.

More information about Enscape and recent feature updates is available on the Chaos website, where a free trial is also available.