Harb Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Hello, I would appreciate some advice on making realistic materials for objects in 3-D Studio Max 2012 Edition. I would like to make materials such as platinum, marble, granite, etcetera. A simple tutorial for creating a 1" thick granite slab, for instance, would be very helpful. What is the best way to do this so that my final 3-D rendering looks as realistic as possible? Which parameters are key? Thanks! Harb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cad64 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 So you want to create procedural materials instead of using image based textures? Take a look at this tutorial for making platinum: http://www.creativecrash.com/tutorials/how-to-make-convincing-platinum-gold-silver-copper-brass-and-bronze For marble and granite I just use tileable photo images. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harb Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 Thank you, Cad64, for your help. The polished metals look beautiful! This is exactly the type of information that I was looking for. Which method, procedural or image based, renders the most realistic 3-D textures? Which method is fastest, in any? Does one method produce better animations than the other? Finally, how do I create marble and granite using tileable photo images? Thanks! Harb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cad64 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Pros and Cons of Procedurals vs. Bitmaps. Copied from a reply on another forum: Procedurals: Advantages: - Unlimited Resolution - Easy To Create Pattern Fast - Easy to change some features like overall size of pattern - takes up less memory than large bitmaps Disadvantages: - Difficult to get a complex look without layering lots of procedurals together, or programming your own. - Sometimes slower to compute than a bitmap due to extra calculations - Generally more difficult to anti-alias than a bitmap, which means potentially longer render times or sparkling - Very difficult to place specific details exactly where you want them Bitmaps: Advantages: - You can get a pattern to look exactly how you want - sometimes faster to calculate, since the final color is read from a bitmap rather than calculating a complex algorithm - easier to anti-alias than a procedural Disadvantages: - Creating a bitmap takes time. If a painted bitmap, it takes time to paint it. If a Photomanipulation, takes time to clean up artifacts. - Resolution is not unlimited, you have to pick a res and then stick with it. Getting closer than the bitmap allows to your object requires repainting, or rephotographing the reference. - large bitmaps take up more memory than many procedurals There are lots of tutorials online that can teach you how to create and use tileable textures: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=vHI&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=np&q=creating+tileable+textures+in+photoshop&oq=creating+til&aq=0p&aqi=p-p1g9&aql=1&gs_l=serp.1.0.35i39j0l9.165339.166905.0.169548.12.12.0.0.0.0.109.1023.10j2.12.0.pfwe.1.0.0.Yl7GeQsPQU4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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