Techniques described herein are directed to a system and methods for generating 3D models of an object which accurately depict reflective properties of the object. To do this, an image of an object is captured and a rendered image of the object is generated from the image. The system then generates a lighting effect which approximates an effect of the actual light source on the appearance of the object when the image was captured. A number of rendered images of the object are generated using the lighting effect, each having different visual material property values. Once the rendered images have been generated, the system may compare the generated rendered images to the actual image in order to identify the rendered image which best approximates the actual image. The visual material property values associated with the best approximation are then assigned to the object.