Wooden Wall and Brushed Stainless Steel

[aflack]

This is my first attempt at an image in Max 6. I'm trying to use Mental Ray although not very successfully!

 

As you can see in the attached image (please excuse the horrible floor material but it's a hospital room and it’s what the client wanted). The room is pretty simple, but the whole left hand wall is now covered in wooden panels which can be seen on the shaded view on the right hand side. I know how to create a material that looks like wood. But I can't get the look of the material right; it just comes out flat no depth to it. I would have thought if I made the material shinny the closer it got to the window the brighter it would be but it just stays flat. The timber is just a medium tone brown. I have attached the simple setting I am using don't know if anyone has any suggestions?

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/forum/filepush.asp?file=tempimage5.jpg

 

Also I know they are small but there are brushed stainless steel push plates on some of the wooden panels. I have read a lot of tutorials on how to create brushed stainless steel and they all say use a brushed or scratched material for a bump map. Does anyone know where I can find one?

 

Thanks for your time and help!

[aflack]

Sorry, here is the view rendered with a brown wall in place, I would like to achieve the same effect in that wall that I achieved in the ceiling and floor. It looks like a reflection of the white background and it fades out, I achieved this by simply uping the shinny toggle but it doesnt seem to have much effect on that wall.

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/forum/filepush.asp?file=tempimage6.jpg

[William Alexander]

MR settings?

[Fran]

Hi Adam,

 

The index of refraction needs to be greater than 1.

[aflack]

Here are my Mental Ray Indirect Illumination settings.

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/forum/filepush.asp?file=tempimage7.jpg

[Fran]

Hi Adam,

 

I'm referring to the IOR of your wood material. Your mental ray settings have nothing to do with your flat wood.

[aflack]

No but the person above you asked for my MentalRay settings.

 

What would you suggest was a good value for a wooden panel? I have changed it to 1.3 and it hasnt made any difference.

[Fran]

Originally posted by aflack:

No but the person above you asked for my MentalRay settings.

 

What would you suggest was a good value for a wooden panel? I have changed it to 1.3 and it hasnt made any difference.

Oops, sorry for the mistake. I don't have any more suggestions. It should be reflecting something with an IOR of 1.3 and shinyness of 30.

[William Alexander]

aflack,

 

Some of the flatness is how the light energy is being distibuted-applied. Both the photon and FG GI use a radius to apply / sample an area. The default for both I believe is 1/10 of the size of a scene. A meter radius or more for yours. A large sampling area really evens out the illuminance=Flat. I generally get good results 1-1.5' .3m +/-. Thats with Photon and Max size FG radius. The min can be left alone, but with the narrow spaces between doors try 1/10 of the FG max radius.

 

Try just FG and increase samples progressively. Then add the photon mapping, will require lowering the energy levels.

 

The render sampling qaulity, samples per pixel needs to be increased a level or two. This will help with the definition of door edges ect. Adds to rendertimes.

 

I'm no definitive expert. Wrestling with MR too!!

 

rgrds

WDA

[Jason Matthews]

http://3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/max/metal_surfaces/lotsmetal.asp

 

Also, check out Http://3dtotal.com for the brushed metal texture. In the link above, scroll to the bottom of the page if you are in a hurry. You can dl the matlib from the site. Or, I recommend following the tutorial. For future reference, it is helpful.