shading standard values list

[right_on_cats]

Basically what you need to do is start downloading some shading networks and start looking at those........take them apart piece by piece. Change up some values on them.....Make them drastic so that you can see the big difference right away...."That's wood with reflection amount X and Refraction amout Y and specularity Z!"........this is very difficult to do.....and almost impossible as far as I'm concerned....With every shader the values are going to be different to make them look the way they are supposed to look....So therefore the values are going to be different everytime and trying to "see" what those values are is a very difficult thing....You may be able to get an approximation of the values....but there is really no point to it........its all about what looks good......not the values it takes to get those values......theres my two cents.

[EricChadwick]

Trial and error is what it's all about. Learning.

Anyway, any tables would be particular to the software and renderer that was used. For example, here's one that's apparently for Lightwave 5.6, listing metals:
http://www.projectpixel.com/Metals.htm
Another from the same source, for plastics and rubber.
http://www.projectpixel.com/plastic_and_rubber.htm


However there are some more universal tables, for things like Index of Refraction:
http://www.is.kiruna.se/~cjo/d2i/REFRACTION.INDEX3.html


And most 3d software ships with example materials.

[Garma]

Ok guys, thank you very much for your reactions, really appreciated. While I can imagine the values being renderer and scene dependand it doesn't seem very logical though.. In real world the values are (mostly) the same for the same material under different circumstances. Thinking about this I can't help being drawed to the conclusion that most scenes, how photorealistic they may seem aren't even possible in real world because of this. Rather strange, you could say that 3D realism is actually one big fake.

Guess I m gonna get myself a copy of Leigh's book (work Leigh, work! :)) and indeed experiment with it

thanks again.

[EricChadwick]

you could say that 3D realism is actually one big fake.

You hit the nail on the head! Yes, there should be a correlation between real-world measurements and the values in 3D materials and renderers, but a lot of these settings, and the algorithms behind them, are highly optimized so they will render in a decent amount of time.

Rendering good realistic materials involves a lot of fakery, and artistry.

Here's an individual who has carefully observed real-world materials, and has shared his insights into how to fake them in 3D. Neil is now at Pixar, as a TD I believe. It's neat to see how his mind works... something worth emulating.

Neil Blevins' CG Education
http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

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