Materials and UV Coordinates

tome · February 09, 2013, 10:29:41 AM

I have a 3D logo design which incorporates a gear. I want to render my gear with a finish similar to the attached image. I am still trying to figure out all the settings for editing a material in Keyshot. I have been playing with (mostly) the color option under Material -> Textures but not having much luck getting it to look like this image using various metal texture images. I am wondering if that is because I should be using UV Coordinates, or if spherical is ok for this? The machine I am running this on isn't very fast and so when I select UV Coordinates nothing happens, other than Keyshot taking 100% cpu for a very long time (over an hour so far). I assume if I wait long enough Keyshot will complete the calculation of UV Coordinates and show me the rendering? But is that necessary to get the finish I am looking for? Or are there other hints someone can give me for reproducing the look below? Does the size of the texture .jpg effect the result? Should I be using large size images for texture or are small ones (say, 320X320 pixels or less) ok? Is the lighting and specular color as (or more) important than texture itself to recreating this look?
Thanks
Tom

tome · February 10, 2013, 02:59:46 PM

Well, I got something that I am happy with after playing around a bit...

Tom

PhilippeV8 · February 10, 2013, 11:19:08 PM

You need to add a blue and a yellow pin to your environement. That will make it more interesting. Also I would add just a tiny little bit of color to the basic material color. Add enough roughness to it so it doesn't look too glossy.

tome · February 11, 2013, 06:44:21 AM

Quote from: PhilippeV8 on February 10, 2013, 11:19:08 PM
You need to add a blue and a yellow pin to your environement. That will make it more interesting. Also I would add just a tiny little bit of color to the basic material color. Add enough roughness to it so it doesn't look too glossy.

How do I "add a blue and a yellow pin to your environement" exactly? And thanks!
Tom

PhilippeV8 · February 11, 2013, 07:34:55 AM

It depends. If you don't have the full version of KS, you just cant.
If you have the pro version, you can edit the HDRI with the editor, and in there, you can add colored pin lights.

tome · February 11, 2013, 07:37:35 AM

Quote from: PhilippeV8 on February 11, 2013, 07:34:55 AM
It depends. If you don't have the full version of KS, you just cant.
If you have the pro version, you can edit the HDRI with the editor, and in there, you can add colored pin lights.

I have the basic version. I don't see the Edit button in the Environment tap of the Project window. So, I guess you are saying this a Pro version feature. Bummer.
Tom

DriesV · February 11, 2013, 07:44:06 AM

Yes, pin lights are pro only.
Maybe you can edit the HDR in Photoshop? You can paint in 32 bit mode in Photoshop too.
It will be more of a hassle to get the highlights right, but it should work.

Dries

tome · February 11, 2013, 07:45:19 AM

Quote from: DriesV on February 11, 2013, 07:44:06 AM
Yes, pin lights are pro only.
Maybe you can edit the HDR in Photoshop? You can paint in 32 bit mode in Photoshop too.
It will be more of a hassle to get the highlights right, but it should work.

Dries

Ok, I can give that a try. Thanks!
Tom

tome · February 11, 2013, 08:09:54 AM

Quote from: DriesV on February 11, 2013, 07:44:06 AM
Yes, pin lights are pro only.
Maybe you can edit the HDR in Photoshop? You can paint in 32 bit mode in Photoshop too.
It will be more of a hassle to get the highlights right, but it should work.

Dries

You wouldn't happen to have an environment file with some pin lights in it would you? I am playing with it, but since I have no idea what one looks like with other lights in it, it is a bit of a challenge to get anything at all to show up...
Tom