Shading Masterclass Part 2 - Understanding Metals

Take the guesswork out of shading metal.

Metals have unique properties that set them apart from other materials, and understanding these properties can help elevate your shading skills to the next level and allow you to create extremely realistic shaders.

In this training, you will take a deep dive into all the important characteristics of different metals and develop expert knowledge on why metals look the way they do, what differentiates different metals from each other, and how to create realistic metals in any 3D application.

The training is software-agnostic and can be applied to all available 3D packages. The example scenes are created in Blender so that anyone can follow along, but the methods demonstrated will translate to any application and any render engine.

As a special bonus the example scenes have also been recreated in Modo so that Modo users can follow along without needing to rebuild the scenes from scratch.

The training will cover everything from manufacturing and finishing to corrosion and wear, and will demonstrate how to accurately derive the correct colour and reflectance values for different types of metals.

The training also covers how to create believable brushed anisotropic metals, how to create micro-scratches for worn steel materials, how to create realistic corrosion effects, and how to approach the creation of specific types of metal rather than creating generic and less realistic shading.

Armed with this knowledge you will be able to confidently tackle any shading challenge relating to metal, and take all the guesswork out.