Intermediate Materials 1

Tutorial 1 in the Intermediate Twilight Render V2 Series

Twilight Render materials are based on the concept of Templates, preconfigured materials that are easily adjustable to achieve a desired effect.  Twilight Render V2 comes equipped with a large variety of material templates.  In this tutorial we will look at some commonly used materials and how we can create them quickly.

Polished Concrete has many looks, but here's the quickest way to a nice polished concrete look. Remember quality materials always start with quality textures.

To create polished concrete:

1. Click on the Twilight Render Material Editor in the TWR toolbar
2. The editor window will open, and the material selection tool (the eyedropper) will be enabled
3. Click in the scene, on the concrete material texture that you want to edit.
4. From the Material Editor Templates menu, choose Perfect Reflection->Polished Concrete.
5. By default, the Templates always use the SketchUp material color or texture.  You can change it to use a high resolution texture from your hard drive or network location by choosing "Texture" from the drop-down menu.
6. Bump represents the texture you wish to use to influence the look of bumps on your texture. Easiest is to choose "SketchUp" to load the same texture from SketchUp as the bump map. Avoid temptation to increase bump "size" (strength) too much, leave at default of 1 until after you have seen the result in some test renderings.
7. Properties like IOR and Shininess can be edited by entering a new number. Increasing IOR by amounts of .1 will have drastic effects on the apparent reflectivity of the material. Glass has IOR of 1.52, Water has IOR of 1.33. IOR is the angle of refraction of light as it passes through (and by interpolation, reflects from) an object.

 

Glossy Paint is quick and easy to create. In this example a white texture with very subtle variations of grey has been painted to the face. However, the technique works fine with a simple color. Be sure to avoid pure white, black, or any pure color. Reduce any pure color by 8%-10% saturation for good results. Change white to be light grey, change black to be dark grey, and so on.

To create glossy paint:

1. Click on the Twilight Render Material Editor in the TWR toolbar
2. Click in the scene on the paint material that you want to edit.
3. Choose template Paint->Gloss from the Templates menu.
4. Adjusting the Bump will have a large effect on your results.
   
   • For smooth paint, leave the default "Color" set to black; this means that there will be no bump.
   • If your SketchUp material has a texture, choose "SketchUp" to load the bump map texture from SketchUp as the bump map.
   • If you have a good paint texture file, choose "Texture" and navigate to your bump map for the paint.
   • Using "Procedural" and choosing "Perlin" noise for your bump is also very effective. Keep bump "size" very subtle when using procedural textures in bump channel. Start with .02 and work up or down from there after you have seen the result in some test renderings. Remember that scale of the bump in procedural materials in x, y, and z coordinates is very important.
5. Properties like IOR and Shininess can be edited by entering a new number. Paint is between 1.05 (low reflectivity) to 1.3 (high reflectivity).

Shiny Plastic is very easy to create. In this example a chair is painted with dark grey. As with Paint, be sure to avoid pure white, black, or any pure color.

To create shiny plastic:

1. Click on the Twilight Render Material Editor in the TWR toolbar
2. Click in the scene on the plastic material that you want to edit.
3. Choose template Plastic->Shiny from the Templates menu.
4. As with Paint, the Bump channel can have a large effect on the appearance of your Plastic, and can be edited in the same way.
5. Properties like IOR and Shininess can be edited by entering a new number. Increasing IOR by amounts of .1 will have drastic effects on the apparent reflectivity of the material. Plastic is between 1.05 (low reflectivity) to 1.3 (high reflectivity). IOR is the angle of refraction of light as it passes through (and by interpolation, reflects from) an object.

Ceramic Tile is surprisingly easy to create. In this example a wall is painted with a high resolution nicely repeating tile texture. High quality textures are a must for nice looking tiles.

To create Ceramic Tile Material for walls or floors:

1. Click on the Twilight Render Material Editor in the TWR toolbar
2. Click in the scene on the tile material texture that you want to edit.
3. Choose template Tile->Gloss from the Templates menu.
4. Be sure to have a proper Bump Map texture created for your image. White where the tile is, black where the grout is, and transitioning from white to black where the tile slopes down to meet the grout line. Using .jpg or .png file formats for your bump maps is recommended. Choose "Texture" and navigate to the proper bump map for the tiles. 
5. Ceramic tile looks good between 1.3 and 2.6. IOR is the angle of refraction of light as it passes through (and by interpolation, reflects from) an object.