How to map a texture at real-world scale

Blender

Open the texture page and note “Size (one repetition)” — say 200 × 200 cm (2 × 2 m). With a standard Image Texture → Mapping node setup and UVs unwrapped in metres (1 UV unit = 1 m), set the Mapping node’s Scale X and Y to 1 / repeat-in-metres. For the 2 m example that is 0.5, which tiles the image every 2 metres.

If your UVs are not in metres, the same logic applies relative to whatever your UV unit is: scale = (UV units covered by one tile)⁻¹. Keeping UVs at 1 unit = 1 m makes every material read directly from the page.

3ds Max, V-Ray and Corona

Enable Real-World Map Size on the Bitmap and enter the repetition in millimetres — 2000 × 2000 for the same example. V-Ray and Corona read the same bitmap setting, so the material stays correct across renderers.

Game engines and other tools

In engines that tile UVs by world unit (Unreal works in centimetres), set the texture-coordinate scale so one tile covers the measured size — for a 200 cm repeat that is one repetition per 200 cm of surface. The principle is always the same: one tile = the number on the texture page.

To avoid setting these by hand, the public JSON API exposes world_size.width_mm and height_mm for every texture — a small script can drive a scale-setting tool or import preset. See the API documentation.

Sanity check in ten seconds

Find something with a known size in the pattern — bricks per course, plank width, tile format — and count it across a 2 m span in your viewport. If the count matches the sizes reference, your mapping is right.

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