Real Bricks

by Baraa Khaled in Surfacing


Appending the "Real Bricks" Node Group

  1. Download the "Real Bricks" Blender file.
  2. Open the Blender file where you want to append the node group.
  3. Go to the "File" menu and select "Append".
  4. Navigate to the location of the "Real Bricks" node group file or the Blender file containing the node group.
  5. Open the file and browse to the "NodeTree" folder.
  6. Select the "Real Bricks" node group and click "Append" to add it to your current Blender file.


Adding the "Real Bricks" Node Group to the Blender Asset Browser

  1. Download the "Real Bricks Asset" (.zip) file and unzip it.
  2. Open a new Blender file.
  3. Go to the "Edit" menu and select "Preferences".
  4. In the Preferences window, click on the "File Paths" tab.
  5. Scroll down to the "Asset Libraries" section.
  6. Click on the ➕ button to add a new asset library.
  7. Navigate to the folder you extracted earlier and select it.
  8. Click on the "Add Asset Library" button.
  9. After adding the asset library, click on the button with the three horizontal lines icon at the bottom left of the Preferences window (The "Save & Load" button).
  10. Select "Save Preferences" to save the changes.
  11. Now, when you open the Asset Browser in Blender, you will find the "Real Bricks" node group under the "Real Bricks" category in the library.
For more info about the asset browser: https://youtu.be/G4DjNSxlxSM?si=pStMYDz6xrdTCs4f


A Simple Example on How to Use "Real Bricks"

  1. Open a new or existing Blender file.
  2. Add an object to your scene such as a plane.
  3. With the object selected, go to the "Material Properties" tab in the Properties Editor.
  4. Click on the  button to create a new material for the object.
  5. Navigate to the Shading tab & In the Shader Editor, add a "Texture Coordinates" node by pressing Shift+A and selecting "Input" > "Texture Coordinates".
  6. Add the "Real Bricks" node group to the Shader Editor by either appending it or dragging it from the Asset Browser.
  7. In the Shader Editor, select the "Real Bricks" node group from the Asset Browser or the Node Editor by appending it or dragging it from the Asset Browser.
  8. Connect the "UV" output of the "Texture Coordinates" node to the "Vector" input of the "Real Bricks" node group. This ensures that the brick texture is mapped correctly to the object's UV coordinates.
  9. Connect the desired output(s) from the "Real Bricks" node group to the appropriate inputs of the shader nodes you want to modify.
  10. For example, to change the colors based on the mortar mask, you can connect the "Mortar" output of the "Real Bricks" node group to the "Factor" input of a "Mix Color" node.
  11. Connect the output of the "Mix Color" node to the "Base Color" input of the "Principled BSDF" node.
  12. Adjust the A & B colors of the "Mix Color" node to control the color of the bricks and mortar individually.
  13. Customize other parameters of the "Real Bricks" node group, such as brick width, height, rotation, ... to achieve the desired brick texture.
  14. Render or preview the scene to see the updated brick texture with the changed colors based on the mortar mask.

This Is How the Nodes Should Look Like: