how to build shading networks

[NickBFTD]

i have no idea, just wanted to say HI to a fellow anim8or user :buttrock:

[westiemad]

its more of a case of, what do i want to do, then you start simple, like brick texture connected to colour.

So you think, hmm I want some bumps now, so you can grey scale your map, play with its values and plug it into your bump for the material.

Now you think, I want some plaster, off you go for a plaster image, and bump for that, and you think, man I would like that to appear infront of that brick, but only in certain areas

Out comes a layered shader node, dragging and dropping the 2 into the little window, back over to photoshop for make a black and white transp map, which you plug into the plaster transpancy, so now you have plaster, and brick, now you might want say some graffiti on the wall, but over all of it?

Over to photoshop, make some words with your airbrush tool, then create a new layer for transpancy, create a new material, colour and transp connected up, drag that onto the layered shader, and there you go

Simple, logical steps, and download other peoples and look and learn.

AnDy

[mr.wheels]

Hey nickBFT wassup there is another anim8or user in this forum Simon or it might be $imon not to shore thanks westiemad for the tips I am gonna take a really in depth look at it tommorrow but it is like 2:30 here in australia now anyway if anyone else wants to throw there 3 cents worth in please do they all go in my calculator by which I mean my brain LOL :surprised :beer:

[SpriteGF]

I think the best way to learn online would be to download preexisting shaders from highend3d.com, open them up, and view the shading networks in the Hypershade. Dissect them. See how they tick.

Otherwise, I haven't really seen a comprehensive shader network tutorial site. If you're willing to spend the dough, Charles River Media released Texturing: Concepts and Techniques (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1584503009/qid=1082910416/sr=8-9/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i9_xgl14/103-3550166-9299862?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Dennis Summers, which covers core concepts in texturing and shading networks in Maya (and 3ds and Lightwave ... he seems to skimp a little bit on the Maya material and doesn't even bother covering Maya-Mental Ray, but if you're completely new to texturing, this might be good reading material).

[mr.wheels]

Actually that does sound like a pretty damn good idea :applause: I will take a look on amazon to see What is costs :D

[mr.wheels]

OK I found this In a site called www.learningmaya.com :bowdown: really good site here is the link if anyone wants to check out the tut i found

http://www.learning-maya.com/t_sn1_01.php

I am gonna do this and I will see what I come up with :D

[Pete2003]

It took me aaaaages to know anything about shading networks but now I love creating procedural textures and having the ability to animate them creating really neat effects...

I think at the start I was like 'hmm, okay I can link this checker procedural texture to a materials colour channel and that creates a checker pattern -so what? How on earth do you get anything worthwhile outta these nodes?!'

After a while (a long long while) something just seemed to click and suddenly I felt like I knew and understood exactly what was going on. Suddenly, I realised for example that you could link practically anything to anything!

Try playing around just with ramp procedurals for example -Create one ramp with a 2d texture placement and create another ramp and link this to say the repeat uv of the first ramps placement node and look and understand what happens. Maybe create a set range node, feed the first ramp into the set range, put old min as 0, old max as 1, new min as 0, new max as 360, then feed this into the rotate uv of the second ramps placement node, then change the ramp to a circular ramp and voila, neat spiral effects! (Eureka!) :)

Anyway, start simple and just understand whats going on and how you can link things together in different ways. Then you can start thinking not just about colour but bump maps, specularity etc.

Pete.

[mr.wheels]

OK now I get all the principles and all the math and complex stuff about it now (DONT LAUGH) exactly what Commands do U use to get the nodes to connect and all that ?? :shrug: and to actually put it all together there is nothing in the maya online manual

[SpriteGF]

To get the nodes to connect in the Hypershade, you can either:

Middle-mouse-button (MMB) drag one node onto another node.

Click on the Output Connections (bottom-right corner, left-click), drag to the Input Connection of another node (bottom-left corner).

[mr.wheels]

OK thanks :D I can't beleive how nice everyone is here :beer: thanks for the help I am fiddling around in maya right now making a shader I will show the results when I am done :D

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