---
title: "Metal Shaders and IOR"
canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/THEORY/116719710/Metal%20Shaders%20and%20IOR"
format: markdown
---
The following chart provides Diffuse and Reflection Color values that help you create realistic metallic shaders with V-Ray:


|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Name** |  | **Base (diffuse) color** | ** ** | **Reflection color** | ** ** | **Metalness** | **Base color (web)** |  |
|  | <span style="color: #000000">**Red**</span> | <span style="color: #000000">**Green**</span> | <span style="color: #000000">**Blue**</span> | ** ** | <span style="color: #000000">**Red**</span> | <span style="color: #000000">**Green**</span> | <span style="color: #000000">**Blue**</span> |
| <span style="color: #000000">Silver</span> |  | 252 | 251 | 250 |  | 255 | 255 | 255 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | fefefd | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Gold</span> |  | 244 | 202 | 104 |  | 255 | 250 | 195 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">fbe6ab</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Copper</span> |  | 238 | 159 | 137 |  | 254 | 231 | 216 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">f8cfc2</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Aluminium</span> |  | 231 | 233 | 235 |  | 245 | 250 | 252 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">f5f6f6</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Chromium</span> |  | 142 | 141 | 141 |  | 145 | 142 | 176 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">c5c5c5</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Lead</span> |  | 168 | 169 | 176 |  | 191 | 192 | 209 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">d4d5d9</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Platinum</span> |  | 244 | 238 | 216 |  | 254 | 253 | 249 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">faf8ee</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Titanium</span> |  | 246 | 240 | 209 |  | 254 | 254 | 250 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">fcf9ea</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Tungsten</span> |  | 236 | 213 | 193 |  | 251 | 241 | 218 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">f7ece2</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Iron</span> |  | 227 | 224 | 211 |  | 242 | 245 | 244 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">f3f1eb</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Vanadium</span> |  | 242 | 228 | 199 |  | 254 | 251 | 242 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">faf3e5</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Zinc</span> |  | 223 | 222 | 218 |  | 245 | 247 | 249 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">f1f0ef</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Nickel</span> |  | 227 | 220 | 193 |  | 245 | 245 | 237 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">f3efe2</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Mercury</span> |  | 199 | 199 | 199 |  | 224 | 232 | 240 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">e5e5e5</span> | ![image]() |
| <span style="color: #000000">Cobalt</span> |  | 175 | 168 | 158 |  | 205 | 205 | 208 |  | <span style="color: #000000">1</span> | <span style="color: #000000">d8d4cf</span> | ![image]() |


* The exact hex values for V-Ray for Houdini can be found here: [Metal Shaders](https://docs-chaos.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/VRAYHOUDINI/pages/113280375)


The Index of Refraction (IOR) plays an important role when creating a physically based material and has to be considered as part of the shader. For metallic materials (having Metalness value of 1) it is automatically calculated from the Diffuse and Reflection colors: see the [Artist Friendly Metallic Fresnel](https://jcgt.org/published/0003/04/03/paper.pdf) paper. For materials with Metalness < 1, the Fresnel IOR parameter from the V-Ray interface is taken into account.

The site [RefractiveIndex.info](https://refractiveindex.info/) is a great resource for understanding the proper IOR of different materials.

> ⚠️ Note that in earlier V-Ray versions the Fresnel IOR still plays a role for creating physically accurate metallic shaders even if the Metalness is set to 1.

Useful information on metallic surfaces can be found at the [Journal of Computer Graphics Techniques](https://jcgt.org/published/0003/04/03/) site.

For detailed information on the Metalness parameter, go to Chaos [blog post](https://www.chaosgroup.com/blog/understanding-metalness).


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### **Examples**

Below are some examples and their settings.

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