Reflection on metal curvy surfaces

[TaChunHuang]

Hi! I have tried a lot of different settings with these curvy surfaces, but the reflection just seems off and not realistic enough, please share your experiences with me, thanks in advance!

[Trixtr]

Try using an environment , which you can then hide from the viewed background.  Majes the reflections more realistic.

[TaChunHuang]

Thanks for the reply! Not sure what you meant about the viewed background tho...could you please elaborate on this ? thanks!

[RRIS]

Your material is supposed to be perfectly polished and mirror smooth? If so, it works if your environment has at least one hard edged light panel (if you see a sharp reflection, that means a surface can only be mirror smooth, right? So, this gives a bit more information on the surface quality). Mix that with softer reflections away from the main viewing angle. With the softer reflections you can try to focus more on clarifying the flow of the surfaces. Try not to have more than 1 hard reflection per surface, otherwise your render can look a bit too busy.

Keep the environment as simple as possible. The more light panels you add, the more chance for unwanted reflections. Simplicity is the key.

Add a ground plane so you have a cast shadow. A diffuse white plane also can reflect light back into your shape, one less light panel to make

Look at this image, probably there are only 2 light panels (one stronger, one slightly less so) and a ground plane which creates a softer reflection.

[TaChunHuang]

Can I make a plane in 3D software and apply area light in key shot as a light panel? Does that count? thanks!

[RRIS]

Can I make a plane in 3D software and apply area light in key shot as a light panel? Does that count? thanks!

Sure, that works just fine. You can also just create area lights inside keyshot.

[KristofDeHulsters]

Also, I don't think it is an issue here but make sure your normals are correct. When they're wrong, your reflection will be really wonky.

[TaChunHuang]

Sorry...what do you mean by "normal"? I also found that the metal reflections in different versions of key shot are different. For instance, the ones with solid edges's version is always wired, but in the demo version is just fine...thanks for your answer!

[HaroldL]

From  the KeyShot Manual:

A normal is the direction that is perpendicular to a mesh surface. In a 3D model, the normals should all be facing the same direction, otherwise "holes" might appear. Also if your vertex normals are not aligned, flat spots might appear on what was intended to appear as a curved surface.

[KristofDeHulsters]

Thanks for the clarification Harold. TaChunHuang can you share pictures of what you mean? Keyshot usually does small improvements to materials but they shouldn't be vastly different with newer Keyshot versions.