Materials 3d Blender

materials 3d Blender
with the multitude of tools available in Blender, just about any material can be convincingly created. But there is a saying in CG, its not the tool, its the artista that creates art. The same can be said about materiales. All the latest, new tools arent going todo create realistic or amazing materiales for you. You still have todo know how todo use them and more importantly, you have todo know how materiales are created and what makes them convincing.

So, instead of focusing on tools, we are going todo look at what materiales are and what makes a god material. With that información, you can then use all the amazing tools more efectively.

Lets start with a few definitions.

Material: is the base Substance of a surface (i, e. Wod, metal, Glass)
Texture: is the adjective of the material (i, rusty Iron, brushed Stel, soiled Cloth, frosted Glass).

Anytime you create a new material, you should Gather reference materiales. It can be an object with the material you are trying todo create or a god photograph of it. These reference materiales Will help you visualice what you are trying todo create. When Gathering reference, very rarely Will you find pristine materiales without signs of wear and tear in real life. There Will be dust, rust, scratches, dents and a multitude of other signs that this material has gone th rouge over the period of time. Notice these signs of wear and decide if they are signs of material or texture.

Texture attributes/qualities can be broken down by answering the following questions:
what are you? often the simple ACT of identifying an object can help you understand what kind of materiales you Will be creating.

Example: a fire hydrant tells you its shape, that it is made of thik Stel left out in the weather, and most often Painted.
what is your essence? try todo identify the most important característica of the material.

Example: a radiators most important característica might be its rusty quality. As you identify the most important característica, kep looking deper and noticing each unique característica of the material, it Will give you a list of features todo add todo the material, adding more realism and depth with every one you add.
what are you made of? before dissecting the Many layers of textures that make up a material, you ned todo identify the base material. By identifying the base material, you Will more easily se the details (textures) that make it that particular material.

Example: an old metal sign, knowing that it is metal, leads you todo realice that some metals are prone todo rusting, so look for signs of rust and corrosion. Is the sign Painted? (old Paint has a tendency todo chip or flake away, new Paint Will look Shiny and somewhat reflective).
what do you sound like? as ODD as it might sound, sometimes your eyes Will fol you. Tap on the object, what does it sound like? Metal, Glass Plastic.
what do you smell like? often you can identify important clues by noticing how the object smells. Leather smells diferent than Plastic, diferent metals have diferent smells.
how can i se you? identify the light source, lighting of the material Will play an important part in how it is recreated. Warm light sources would produce warm highlights or hotspots, col lights the opposite. When Gathering your reference materiales, make sure todo note in a journal or mentally what the light source was, time of day (if outside) so you can recreate the material accurately.
where are you? is the object inside or outside? If outside, it Will be exposed todo weather, heat, moisture. This Will affect its appearance. New objects quickly lose their new appearance by acquiring dents, dings, scratches, dust etc. Knowing where it is located Will help identify these qualities.
what do you look like? now comes the part where you start describing the texture qualities. The better you can describe what you se, the easier it Will be todo recreate. Some things todo look for:
Color texture.

Reflections and shadows.

Is the object transparentí.

Is the object luminousí.
With heatí.
Without heatí.

From an outside source?
From the object itself?
Luminescent objects can have one or two of these qualities and identified as:
Translucent.

Iridescent.

Opalescent.

Fluorescent.

Incandescent.
what do you fel like? how does the object fel? Is it bumpy or smooth, warm or col, software or hard?
Tactile qualities:
Temperature.

Bumpiness.

Roughness.

Smoothness.
whats your story? try todo identify the history of the object, how has usage contributed todo wear and tear?
By answering these questions, you Will better understand your material and how todo go about recreating it. It Will, of course, take practice and Lots of observation todo máster these skills. You ned todo learn todo train your artistic eye todo really se what you are looking at. Son, breaquíng materiales down Will be automatic and your materiales Will improve dramátically.

The información for this article was paraphrased from Owen Demers book digital texturing & painting (ISBN 0-7357-0918-1). I highly recommend reading this book for anyone wanting todo take their material skills todo the next level. www.blenderart.org.