Last week, we gave you a little overview of the V-Ray Blend Material. This week, we have an important question:
When should I use Blend over other types of materials?
1. When there are layered materials, where the base and coat can be seen clearly as different materials.
In the example below, you can see that the wood has a completely different reflection/highlight pattern than the glossy lacquer layer on top.
2. When an object has radically different surface properties in large areas.
In this example photo, it’s easier to create two different shaders for galvanized metal and rust and blend them together, instead of trying to do it all in one material.
3. When the object needs a specific shading effect that is not possible with a simple material.
A good example would be worn and/or slightly dirty metal that has glossy and blurred reflections at the same time.
4. When the shader needs to be easily and quickly modified.
Let’s say you have a rusty, painted metal material with three different types of surfaces: metal, paint, and rust. Theoretically, it would be possible to build elaborate mix maps and custom-painted textures to create all these effects in a single material… but imagine if you need to change the rust pattern. “Oh, yeah, the material looks great, just make it a bit less rusty!” What a nightmare! You would have to go through all the maps and adjust them, one by one, to make this “small” change.
Now imagine that you have 3-layered blend instead (Metal, Paint and Rust layers). Everything is controlled by two simple b&w masks that can be adjusted quickly and easily. This saves a lot of time and is far less frustrating.
Next week: we give you some examples and common issues with the V-Ray Blend Material.
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This series of tutorials was made with our friends at Viscorbel.
If there are any topics you’d like to see in a future edition of TurboTips, let us know in the comments below, or Tweet your question to @TurboSquid with hashtag #TurboTips.