Confused making mirror materials! Which one would you choose ?

[orpvsilence]

Only changed the default setting in refelctions ;

 

1. texture editor - default bitmap texfresnel replaced by none

2. texture editor - parralel color to white ( 255 )

3. texture editor - IOR 1,55 set to 50

4. general reflection - 1,0 set to 50

5. other method ??

 

Test setup ; method 1,2 & 4 gives good mirror results. Method 4 has a red ( 255 ) glare. I,m confused, because this is a method a lot of tutorials recommend. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvfhfYz2QWc )

 

 

Which method would you use and why ?

[Nicolai Bongard]

Set diffuse to black (0,0,0) reflection to white (255,255,255) and do not use fresnel?

[orpvsilence]

@ Nicolai,

 

Thanks you method 5 works good. Result is like method 1,2&4. For the setup my diffuse color was red ( 255,0,0 )

 

What I don't understand; Method 3 uses by default the natural fresnel effect on materials ( texfresnel ) and a IOR of 1,55. Boosting the IOR ( fresnel index ) up to 50, you would expect total reflection, preview texture editor ( white / gray ), but a red glare remains ?

 

1. preview texture editor ( black ) - diffuse color red ( 255,0,0 ) - result ; good mirror

2. preview texture editor ( white / gray ) - diffuse color red ( 255,0,0 ) - result ; good mirror

3. preview texture editor ( white / gray ) - diffuse color red ( 255,0,0 ) - result ; red glare on the mirror

4. preview texture editor ( black ) - diffuse color red ( 255,0,0 ) - result ; good mirror

5. preview texture editor ( black ) - diffuse color red ( 0,0,0 ) - result ; good mirror

 

My conslusion is tor the perfect mirror ;

A : Don't tamper in reflection ; texture editor ; IOR, let it by default 1,55.

B : Only change in reflection ; texfresnel to none or parallel to white and diffuse color doesn't matter !

[Ernest Burden III]

A perfect mirror material is not a photo-realistic mirror, since real mirrors are not perfect. Polished metal has micro-pits and some fresnel and a glass mirror has glass over the silver. Both of those things affect the look in a rendering.

 

You can use a mirrored surface to create effects in a view, but it's surface must be fully raytraced, which adds to rendertimes.

 

But yes, Diffuse black, Reflection white. IOR of 1.55 is for glass. You would not need IOR for "perfect" reflections, but if you want it, you would use something more like IOR 22

Edited January 5, 2018 by Ernest Burden

[orpvsilence]

@ Ernest,

 

Adding to the conslusion:

C: Toggle around with the IOR ( 20-30 ) for more realistic mirror effects ( the imperfect surface / mirror ) " the glare effect "

[Andrew _GF]

In general it is good to make the reflection in the mirror a little darker. So you can choose black diffuse color and not use full 255,255,255 reflection value, but a little lower. That way the mirror doesn'r blur into the surrounding so much, it sometimes can be confusing for an eye if it has 100% reflectivity. I once worked with a person who made a postproduction on interior photography sessions and they did it with all mirrors ( in photoshop )