nowfound

Dev tools · August 15, 2023

AT

API to acquire PBR materials from any portrait image for relighting

With SwitchLight API, you can extract surface normal map, albedo map, roughness map & remove background of any portrait image and use it in your own 3D pipeline that supports physical-based-rendering (PBR). 1. Surface Normal API: Surface Normal maps represent in which direction each pixel is pointing towards in 3D space, and without surface normal, things will look super flat and unrealistic. 2. Albedo API: Albedo map removes any shadows or highlights from the original image and represents what the subject would look like under very flat white lighting. Also known as diffuse map or base…

API to acquire PBR materials from any portrait image for relighting launched on August 15, 2023 with 12 votes, #1,612 of 4,347 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 3 years on.

In plain words

SwitchLight API extracts physical-based rendering materials from portrait images for use in 3D pipelines. The tool generates surface normal maps that define pixel directionality in 3D space, albedo maps that show subjects under neutral lighting, roughness maps indicating surface texture, and removes backgrounds automatically. It is designed for 3D developers and artists who need to convert 2D portraits into relightable 3D assets with accurate material properties for realistic rendering.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

SwitchLight API is now closed. Visit beeble.ai for our new platform.

SwitchLight API is closing to make way for something even better. Join us on our brand new platform Beeble for an improvedfrom switchlight-api.beeble.ai

In the maker’s words, at launch

With SwitchLight API, you can extract surface normal map, albedo map, roughness map & remove background of any portrait image and use it in your own 3D pipeline that supports physical-based-rendering (PBR). 1. Surface Normal API: Surface Normal maps represent in which direction each pixel is pointing towards in 3D…

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