Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to real-time neural appearance models. Using a neural decoder, scenes are rendered in real-time with complex material appearance previously reserved for offline use. Learned hierarchical textures representing the material properties are encoded as latent codes. When a ray is cast and intersects with geometry in the scene, the intersection point is mapped to one of the latent codes. The latent code is interpreted using neural decoders, which produce reflectance values and importance-sampled directions that can be used to determine a pixel color.