Meta:BSoD/2006/Proposals/Introduction to Materials

Materials and texturing in Blender from the basics up to but not including UV mapping. To help make this interesting I propose that the trainee will produce 2 spectacular scenes based on the same mesh (that can be supplied). One will be a Niagara/Victoria/Angel falls scene and the other a lava falls scene similar to that from a recent space opera. Materials and textures will be the only things to make the changes between these 2 scenes.

However, by the conclusion of the documentation the trainee will have learnt the material and texture settings within Blender including the why and how. The idea is to teach materials so that the beginner can develop a strategy for producing the look they require. Then apply these strategies using Blender materials and textures.

Scope/Breakdown

How to identify the components of a real surface and use that knowledge to duplicate the properties within Blender. This involves identifying the roughness or smoothness, either natural or as a result of interaction with liquids such as a rock in water.

• Diffuse and specular properties of the object you are trying to convey understanding diffuse.

• Diffuse shaders:
  • Lambert, Oren Nayar,
  • Mannaert,
  • (Toon and Fresnel as special diffuse shaders)
• Specularity shaders:-
  • Cook Torr
  • Blinn, Phong
  • Toon
  • Wardiso

• Applying Textures to a material and how to map them
• Procedural textures types in Blender and how to modify them:-
  • Soft and hard noise
  • Noise size, noise depth
  • Noise basis
  • Brightness Contrast
  • Color band

• Using the texture slots to build up complex materials
  • Map Input
  • Scaling
  • Offsetting
  • Orientation via mapping Type
    • Flat
    • Cube
    • Tube
    • Sphere
  • Map to
    • (all settings)

• Texture Blending Modes* and how to use them. Including Stencils to act as masks to vary the application of textures in a material.

• Animating textures via IPO curves. With several examples.

• Appling textures to Halo materials and strategies to avoid problems.

• Using Textures to modify meshes including:-
  • Noise
  • Displacement

• Image mapping. Using images produced by a camera or paint program as a precursor to UV mapping. This will involve strategies for dealing with seems such as:-
  • Hiding seems
    • Covering and masking seems
    • Matching seams without producing obvious patterns

Deliverables

I suspect the proposal will produce 60 to 100 pages with about 30-40% illustrations and/or screenshots. I would also produce 2 blendfiles of the mesh to produce the scenes. The first would be the untextured scene and the second having 2 scenes setup for rendering of the completed waterfall and laverfall. I could also make available the movies to show both scenes if these were required.

Biography

I would call myself a continual learner of 3D. In terms of Blender I have developed sufficient knowledge to undertake complex tasks including production of a feature using Blender as the main tool.

I have previously produced several tutorials on Blender that have been well received by the community. I am a frequent contributor to the Blender Artist community and have recently had one of my Blender creations placed on the Blender gallery.

My previous work and tutorials can be found via my website http://www.cogfilms.com/