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1402 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps
using a special shading t ype, described later in
this topic.
R epresenti ng M anuf actur ed M ater i als
Indoor scene with manufactured materials
Manufactured materials often have a sy nthetic
color rather than an "earth tone." Also, many
manufactured materials, such as plastics and
porcelain glazes, are very shiny. For manufactured
materials, use the following guidelines:
• Am bient color: The ambient color depends on
whether the scene is indoors or outdoors, as
previously described.
• Diff use color: Although the diffuse color
doesn’t have to be an "earth tone," as w ith
naturalmaterialsyoushouldusedtheobserved
color of the object or a similar object.
• Sp e cul ar color: Make the specular color close
to white, or to the color of the light source.
White is especially characteristic of plastic
mater ials.
• Glossiness: Set the glossiness to a high value.
R epres enting M eta ll ic Obj ects
Metallic cu p and ice cream scoop
Polished metal has a characteristic "glancing"
high light that appears where the light is at a high
angle of incidence. To generate this effect, Metal
shading uses the Cook/Torrance illumination
model.
For meta llic materials, you can use the Metal
shading type. This disables the specular color and
highlight controls. The Metal shader calculates its
own specular color, which can vary between the
diffuse color and the color of the light.
In the diffuse region of a metal material, the
ambient component is greater than it is for other
kinds of materials.
The Anisotropic, Multi-Layer, and Strauss shaders
give you f urther options for modeling polished
metal.
Ifthemetallicobjectisthefocusofthescene,you
can improve realism by using a Blend material
(page 2–1588) to combine metallic shading with a
reflection map (page 2–1699).
Tip: When you preview metallic surfaces, it
is useful to turn on a backlight. This displays the
metal’s glancing high light. The Back light button
is to the right of the sample slots.