Metal and what not

Reverenddevil · 24-03-2008, 01:26 AM

I have a quick question in general. What is the best way to get a good metal look to objects? i know to use a specular and metal texture etc. What I would like to know though is how to get a reflective shiny metal like a polished metal. I would want it for a game engine/render. So the method would need to be reasonable. So, any input of techniques etc would be appreciated. Thank you.

thanoz · 24-03-2008, 10:39 AM

There's a long long list of answers to this, and a billion tutorials to boot. But I'll give you a few of my own guidelines and shortcuts.

Different engines/3d programs are going to have some different options and names but here goes some things I do:

Find reference of the TYPE of metal that you are looking to simulate. [CG Textures] - The worlds largest free texture site then click METAL, be certain about it. Don't use steel where it should be aluminum, or diamond plate where it should be chrome etc.

If it's highly reflective (like chrome) then easy job, just jack up reflectivity and specular in your Shader, people have been making 'realistic' chromes for a long long time.

If it's not chrome, then it's nice to take your photo reference, play with contrast/brightness in Photoshop (probably darkening it quite a bit). Then plug that image in as your Specular.

There's some tinkering here if you want to get it to match the metal type you want. So play with that specular a lot, do several test renders with different specular settings in your shader and with your image in photoshop.

As for color, if you've got paint on the metal or rust in your photo, then you can use it - or parts of it - as your Diffuse/Color layer. Just make sure that the rust areas in your specular image are nearly black. They must not reflect ANY light. The worst thing that could be done is to use a photo with rust in it as specular and leave it fully saturated and unchanged. As soon as it renders it will show a bright reflecting shiny copper region....not rust.

If you have no rust/paint in your image, try assigning the color to a medium to dark gray, with no image, see how that renders out (with the image plugged in as Specular). For some metals that will do the trick.

For others, you'll use the photo for the color and the specular (with modifications mostly to the specular). And for yet others, where there's paint chips, dents, and holes - you'll want a normal map possibly.

I could go on and on, and some people here are probably itching to send you on an awesome tutorial journey, but try that stuff out if you haven't already, I've gotten some nice results with the simple stuff.

24-03-2008, 01:26 AM	#1 (permalink)
Reverenddevil Industry Artist 282 - 27	Metal and what not I have a quick question in general. What is the best way to get a good metal look to objects? i know to use a specular and metal texture etc. What I would like to know though is how to get a reflective shiny metal like a polished metal. I would want it for a game engine/render. So the method would need to be reasonable. So, any input of techniques etc would be appreciated. Thank you.

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24-03-2008, 10:39 AM	#2 (permalink)
thanoz Frequenter 106 - 28	There's a long long list of answers to this, and a billion tutorials to boot. But I'll give you a few of my own guidelines and shortcuts. Different engines/3d programs are going to have some different options and names but here goes some things I do: Find reference of the TYPE of metal that you are looking to simulate. [CG Textures] - The worlds largest free texture site then click METAL, be certain about it. Don't use steel where it should be aluminum, or diamond plate where it should be chrome etc. If it's highly reflective (like chrome) then easy job, just jack up reflectivity and specular in your Shader, people have been making 'realistic' chromes for a long long time. If it's not chrome, then it's nice to take your photo reference, play with contrast/brightness in Photoshop (probably darkening it quite a bit). Then plug that image in as your Specular. There's some tinkering here if you want to get it to match the metal type you want. So play with that specular a lot, do several test renders with different specular settings in your shader and with your image in photoshop. As for color, if you've got paint on the metal or rust in your photo, then you can use it - or parts of it - as your Diffuse/Color layer. Just make sure that the rust areas in your specular image are nearly black. They must not reflect ANY light. The worst thing that could be done is to use a photo with rust in it as specular and leave it fully saturated and unchanged. As soon as it renders it will show a bright reflecting shiny copper region....not rust. If you have no rust/paint in your image, try assigning the color to a medium to dark gray, with no image, see how that renders out (with the image plugged in as Specular). For some metals that will do the trick. For others, you'll use the photo for the color and the specular (with modifications mostly to the specular). And for yet others, where there's paint chips, dents, and holes - you'll want a normal map possibly. I could go on and on, and some people here are probably itching to send you on an awesome tutorial journey, but try that stuff out if you haven't already, I've gotten some nice results with the simple stuff.