The Measured material type supports the import of the X-Rite Appearance exchange Format (AxF) and Radiance BSDF format. These formats contain vendor neutral digital material representations that captures the light scattering characteristics for specific physical materials.

The X-Rite AxF Material Format

AxF is a digital file format developed by X-Rite that delivers a standardized appearance representation. AxF materials are created from physical material samples scanned using an X-Rite TAC7 Scanner which captures and creates the accurate digital material specifications in the AxF file. AxF files can be accessed from digital material catalogs such as the PatoneLIVE Cloud and imported directly into KeyShot using a Measured material type. Learn more about AxF and how to create them at xrite.com/axf/. 

The Radiance XML BSDF Format

BSDF (bidirectional scattering distribution function) is a mathematical model used to describe light interactions with surfaces. Developed for the Radiance Renderer, the BSDF file format supported in KeyShot is an XML format containing measured BSDFs defining the distribution function that dictates how the light is scattered and how the material appears.

Importing Measured Materials

You can import .Axf materials directly into the material panel or to the Library, either directly or using the Material Importer.

While editing a material in the Projects > Materialtab, select Measured from the Material Type drop-down, the part will appear black and a File location field will appear in the Properties tab. Select the folder icon to select a measured file format. Both the .axf and .xml file extensions are supported.