Normal Map for Exterior Painted Trim?

[cwrm74]

On my renders, the painted exterior trim looks a bit flat and dull, especially in contrast to the other elements, like brick, where I'm using normal maps for the materials.

 

I'm curious as to what people may be using to add a bit of depth and texture to painted trim in renders? 

[KirkClemons]

Many of the siding materials in the Core Catalogs come with normal maps. You could use one of those, or at least use it as a reference for your own normal map.

[cwrm74]

Thanks. Outside of copying the material into my User Catalog and looking at the attributes, is there a way to determine which materials in the Core Catalogs have normal maps?

 

I upgraded from HD 2016 to HD 2017 to CA x9, and I'm not even sure that the materials updated with the new normal maps when I upgraded to CA. I've only found a very few materials that have normal maps in the Core Catalog in my CA environment. 

[KirkClemons]

Apply a material and then open it with the Adjust Material Definition tool, or copy it to your User Catalog and then open it from there.

If it's using a normal map, you should see that under the Textures panel.