Fossilized tree resin — solidified, polymerized, and then buried for tens of millions of years. Baltic amber comes mostly from a Tertiary forest of Pinus succinifera that grew where the Baltic Sea now sits, around 40–60 million years ago. The amber that washes up on the Baltic coast preserves insects, plant fragments, and air bubbles in a transparent yellow-orange to red-brown matrix. The most softness in this catalog — Mohs 2.5 — and the only entry that's strictly speaking organic.
Polymerized terpenoid resin (succinite), Mohs 2.0–2.5, specific gravity 1.05–1.10 (floats in saturated saltwater — the diagnostic test). Refractive index ~1.54. Soluble in chloroform, swells in alcohol. Heat-treated routinely to clarify and intensify color; pressed amber (reconstituted) is also common in trade and disclosed. Becomes electrostatic when rubbed (the Greek root elektron means "amber").
Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere transparent finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material. Or grab the whole library at once: ForMaterials library →
# finish: transparent albedo #d88820 metallic 0.00 roughness 0.05 ior 1.50 transmission 1.00 clearcoat 0.00 sheen 0.00 anisotropic 0.00 thickness 1.00 attenuation_distance 0.60
{
"albedo": "#d88820",
"metallic": 0.0,
"roughness": 0.05,
"ior": 1.5,
"transmission": 1.0,
"clearcoat": 0.0,
"sheen": 0.0,
"anisotropic": 0.0,
"thickness": 1.0,
"attenuation_distance": 0.6
}
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Baltic Amber · finish: transparent
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_gem_amber_baltic")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value = (0.6867, 0.2462, 0.0144, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value = 0.050
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value = 1.500
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 1.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value = 0.000
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Baltic Amber · finish: transparent
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_gem_amber_baltic", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse", (216, 136, 32)) # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic", 0.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness", 0.050)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.500)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 1.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
{
"_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
"_about": "Baltic Amber \u00b7 finish: transparent",
"baseColor": {
"r": 0.6867,
"g": 0.2462,
"b": 0.0144
},
"metallic": 0.0,
"roughness": 0.05,
"ior": 1.5,
"opacity": 0.0,
"anisotropyLevel": 0.0,
"_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}{
"asset": {
"version": "2.0",
"generator": "ForMatter"
},
"materials": [
{
"name": "mat_gem_amber_baltic",
"pbrMetallicRoughness": {
"baseColorFactor": [
0.6867,
0.2462,
0.0144,
1.0
],
"metallicFactor": 0.0,
"roughnessFactor": 0.05
},
"extensions": {
"KHR_materials_transmission": {
"transmissionFactor": 1.0
}
}
}
]
}# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Baltic Amber · finish: transparent
def Material "mat_gem_amber_baltic" {
token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_gem_amber_baltic/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>
def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.6867, 0.2462, 0.0144)
float inputs:metallic = 0.000
float inputs:roughness = 0.050
float inputs:ior = 1.500
float inputs:opacity = 0.000
float inputs:clearcoat = 0.000
token outputs:surface
}
}
Baltic Amber Council technical literature; GIA amber identification (natural / pressed disclosure).
House vocabulary — terms ForMatter uses with intent.
Materials and processes for people who design and make things.
A local-first library of materials, processes, applications, and finishes — equal weight, citable everywhere, so a student can move from "what is this" toward "what's actually buildable here, now, by me." Part of the renato.design ecosystem — sibling of Plenum, Specimen, Ingenue, gesture, graf, and the Renato Rhino plug-ins. Form and matter, inseparable.
Half of teaching materials is teaching how the material is made into the thing. The standard subscription library was always light on that half. The wedge here isn't better samples or a prettier interface — it's treating Process as a peer entity, not a footnote.
Conway, Lefteri, Forty, Sparke, ASM, GIA. Every voice: Voices.
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