Liquid Metal

Liquid Metal adapts Paper Design's 2D shader to an uploaded 3D model. Its moving bands and color shifts are integrated into a physical material, where the surface normals and environment lighting determine how the metal reflects. That adaptation lets the original shader controls work across different shapes, including models with no UV coordinates.

Stickers required a separate solution. The app follows connected triangles around the placement point and builds a local surface map for the artwork. A sticker can wrap across the model's curves and stay attached as the object rotates.

Surface wear needs to stay attached too. The scratch texture is projected from three directions and blended according to the surface angle. Its scale, depth, and inversion change how the light breaks across the metal without adding geometry. A smooth silhouette can carry fine scratches, and the same mask can cover a model whose original texture mapping would stretch or leave seams.

Lighting gives the metal much of its shape. The app separates the environment reflected by the object from the background behind it, so a plain canvas can hold a model reflecting a detailed studio setup. The environment can come from generated light panels or an uploaded HDR or EXR image. Rotating that environment moves the highlights across the surface while the object and composition stay in place.