Rendering Chrome material

[Nickster]

How can I get a Chrome material to look exactly like chrome material you see on old car bumpers when rendering? When I use the default Chrome material under Metal catagory, it doesn't look anything like that. I would appreciate it if someone can tell me the right settings for that effect.
Thank you,
Nick

[guest84672]

I am not sure what you mean. Can you post an example where you are not getting what you expect inside KeyShot?

[Nickster]

Hi Thomas,
Thanks for the quick reply. lets say I have an object like the one attached, and I assign the chrome material to it. This is how it would look without changing any parameters. It looks ok but what I am looking for is to have the same look of a chrome that you see on car bumpers where you car even see your face(deformed of course) when looking at it like a mirror, but it is actually chrome without using any environment.
The cubical/curvy shape is the one I have modeled as an example and the effect I want is like the second object attached.
Thanks so much again.

[Ed]

Nickster - When you photograph (render) a shiny object, you're not photographing the object, but rather you are photographing what the object reflects.

It looks like the environment has soft hazy shades of white and grey, and that's what you see reflected in the object.  To make it look like chrome you'll need some sharp contrasts to create well defined reflections:

1. Experiment with environments that have a combination of well defined black and white areas, like some of the studio environments. Try the Zebra Stripe environment to get the idea.

2. Experiment with adding dark objects in your scene (out of camera range if desired) so your main subject has something to reflect.

This is a wrench I modeled with the chrome material applied.  I created the environment shown in HDR Light Studio, although other environments supplied with KeyShot will work as well.

Ed Ferguson

[Nickster]

Thanks Ed. I'll give it a try. So it would be very hard to get the exact same shiny effect without applying some sort of an environment. I'll experiment with the parameters then.
Thanks again,
Nick

[Speedster]

Hi Nickster;

I'm a car freak, so I know your anguish!

A trick worth trying is to import one or two planes, and locate them just off the camera view so you don't see them.  Then, apply any jpeg as a decal to the inward facing surface.  The jpeg(s) will reflect on your chrome.  Sometimes just a simple Photoshop image, with stripes, or whatever, will work.  You just have to work with reflective materials, especially chrome, to get what you want.  But you don't have to depend on the HDR only.

Another trick is to apply a texture or bump (normal) map with small "scratches" on it.  This works quite well for that extra touch of realism, unless your car is going to the pebble Beach Concourse!  A scratch on chrome knocks your score down a full point!

And the last trick is to just apply a very tiny amount of "roughness", which benefits all reflective materials, in my opinion.

Bill G
www.GouldStudios.com

[Nickster]

Thanks Bill. I sure will try those options. I know Ed mentioned last to try the Zebra Stripe environment, however I don't know where one can find that. I can't find it in the environment tab. I will try your first suggestion with the two planes and so on. Does keyshot come with default planes or do I jsut create couple of planes in my modeling software?
Thanks again Bill.
Nick

[Jermaine87]

Hi, Question how do you make those stripes like that?