Beginner Blender 4.0 Tutorial - Part 5: Shading
Summary
TLDRIn this tutorial, the instructor guides viewers through 3D modeling and texturing in Blender. Starting with checking for hidden meshes, the lesson dives into material creation, adjusting colors and roughness for realism. It covers parent-child relationships for object alignment, introduces PBR (Physically Based Rendering) materials with texture maps, and demonstrates the use of image textures from a dedicated website. The instructor also explains the process of adding a normal map for enhanced detail and touches on texture painting to achieve a more natural look for a 3D donut model. The tutorial is rich with practical tips and resources for creating realistic 3D scenes.
Takeaways
- π Ensure no hidden meshes are present in the scene by checking the DUT (Donut) setup.
- π¨ Start by applying materials in render mode to enhance the visual appeal of objects like the lamp and donut.
- π Change the color of the donut material to a pink hue and adjust the roughness value to avoid a mirror-like reflection.
- π© Create a separate material for the donut base with an orange-yellow color, which can be altered later.
- π‘ Add a marble countertop by using a plane object and scale it up to serve as a base for the donut.
- π Parent the donut base to the donut icing to ensure they move together as a single unit.
- πΌοΈ Use an image texture for the countertop material, enhancing realism with a marble texture from a dedicated website like Polygon.
- π Understand the importance of UV unwrapping for applying 2D textures to 3D meshes, which is crucial for texture painting.
- π¨ Utilize nodes in Blender for a more detailed and customizable material setup, allowing for adjustments like hue, saturation, and roughness.
- ποΈ Explore texture painting to add more natural and realistic details to the donut, such as varying the base color to mimic cooking effects.
- πΎ Remember to save any changes made in texture painting as a separate image file, as it won't be saved within the blend file by default.
Q & A
What should be checked before continuing with materials in the script?
-Before continuing with materials, one should check for any hidden meshes that should not be present in the scene, ensuring only the camera, the donut, and the light are included.
What is the purpose of changing the color and roughness values when creating materials in the script?
-Changing the color values alters the appearance of the material, while adjusting the roughness values affects the reflection properties, making the material look more or less reflective depending on the setting.
Why is the base of the donut given a different material in the script?
-The base of the donut is given a different material to differentiate it visually from the rest of the donut and to prepare for a change in color that will happen later on.
What is the significance of the marble countertop in the script?
-The marble countertop serves as a realistic and visually appealing surface on which the donut rests, adding to the overall scene's realism.
How is the donut parented to the donut base in the script?
-The donut is parented to the donut base by first selecting the donut base as the child, then selecting the donut as the parent, and finally using the 'Control + P' shortcut to apply the parenting with the 'Keep Transform' option.
Why is the image texture used for the countertop material in the script?
-The image texture is used to replace a flat color with a more realistic and detailed surface pattern, enhancing the visual quality of the material.
What is the role of the roughness map in the script?
-The roughness map is used to add detail and variation to the material's reflection, making it appear less like a flat mirror and more realistic.
How does the script describe the process of adding a normal map to a material?
-The script describes adding a normal map by first adding an image texture, then converting it to non-color data, and finally using a 'Vector Normal Map' node to correctly interpret the map and add subtle bumps to the material.
What is the purpose of texture painting in the script?
-Texture painting is used to add a natural variation to the donut's color, creating a more realistic appearance by making the middle of the donut appear whiter as it would be less cooked.
Why is it important to save the texture paint image separately in the script?
-It is important to save the texture paint image separately because it is not automatically saved with the blend file. Failing to save it separately could result in losing the texture paint work.
Outlines
π¨ Material and Lighting Adjustments
This paragraph discusses the process of adjusting materials and lighting in a 3D scene. The speaker begins by checking for hidden meshes and ensuring only the camera, donation, and light are present. They then proceed to apply a new material to a lamp, changing its color to pink and adjusting the roughness value to affect the reflection. The base of the donut is given an orange-yellow material, with plans to change it later. The speaker also introduces the concept of subsurface scattering to make the donut look milkier. Finally, they demonstrate how to create a marble countertop by using a plane object, scaling it, and parenting the donut base to it for a realistic resting position. The importance of correct parenting is emphasized to ensure both objects move together.
π Texture and Material Application
In this paragraph, the focus is on applying textures and materials to 3D objects. The speaker recommends using a dedicated website called Polygon for high-quality textures suitable for 3D rendering. They guide the viewer through downloading a marble texture from Polygon, unzipping it, and applying it as an image texture to a plane object representing a countertop. The speaker explains the importance of using a roughness map to add realism to the material and demonstrates how to add it using nodes in Blender. They also touch on the concept of normal maps to simulate small bumps and details on the surface, and how to correctly apply them using nodes.
ποΈ Texture Painting and Material Details
This paragraph delves into the process of texture painting and adding material details in Blender. The speaker shows how to paint directly onto a mesh using the Texture Paint mode, which requires an image texture to be created and saved. They demonstrate how to adjust the base color of the donut and use the eye dropper tool to select a color for painting. The speaker also discusses the importance of UV unwrapping, which is necessary for applying 2D textures to 3D objects. They briefly touch on the limitations of Blender's texture painting capabilities compared to other software like Substance Painter, but emphasize the importance of understanding the process.
π© Donut Coloring and Realism Enhancement
The speaker focuses on enhancing the realism of the donut by adjusting its coloring. They explain that donuts typically have a whiter middle due to the way they are cooked, with only half being submerged in the frying process. To simulate this, the speaker uses texture painting to add a lighter color around the rim of the donut. They create a new image texture for the donut base, adjust its color, and save it externally to ensure it is not lost. The speaker also discusses the importance of saving texture paint work and the limitations of Blender's texture painting features.
π Scene Composition and Future Plans
In the final paragraph, the speaker wraps up the current part of the tutorial by bringing back all elements of the scene and discussing future plans. They mention that subsurface scattering, which would make the donut look more realistic, will be covered in a future part of the tutorial, after adding sprinkles. The speaker invites viewers to join them in the next part of the tutorial, indicating that the process of making the scene more realistic is ongoing.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Material
π‘Roughness
π‘Subsurface Scattering (SSS)
π‘Parenting
π‘Marble Countertop
π‘Image Texture
π‘Normal Map
π‘UV Unwrapping
π‘Texture Painting
π‘PBR Shader
Highlights
Ensuring no hidden meshes in the 3D workspace to maintain scene integrity.
Introduction to material properties, emphasizing the importance of color and roughness in realism.
Creating a new material with a pink color for the donut and adjusting its roughness for a non-mirror effect.
Using subsurface scattering to achieve a milky look for the donut in later stages of the tutorial.
Creating a marble countertop with a plane object and scaling it to size.
Parenting objects in Blender to create a hierarchical relationship for realistic movement.
The 'Keep Transform' option for accurate parenting without resetting object positions.
Applying a material to the countertop with an image texture for a realistic marble look.
Using the Polygon website for high-quality, 3D-ready texture maps.
Installing and utilizing the Polygon add-on in Blender for streamlined texture application.
The concept of nodes in Blender for creating complex materials and their flexibility.
Adding a roughness map to the countertop material to enhance realism.
Incorporating a normal map to simulate small-scale details like chips and divots on the marble surface.
Understanding the importance of UV unwrapping for texture application on 3D models.
Introduction to texture painting in Blender for adding custom details to the donut.
Creating and saving a new image texture for the donut base within Blender.
Adjusting the donut's color variation using texture painting for a more natural appearance.
The necessity of saving texture paint work as an image to avoid losing progress.
Transcripts
this is where we finished at the end of
the last part um and we are ready for
some materials before we continue do a
check over though because I looked
inside my dut and I saw
this which shouldn't be here obviously
so make sure you don't have any hidden
meshes that should definitely not be
there you've only got your camera your
donate your icing and your light okay
okay so materials let's do some
materials if we jumped into our render
mode that little uh button that I showed
you on the first part that takes you
into rended View mode you can see we've
got a lamp and it's lighting our dut in
a very depressing cold gray so let's
give it a material down here the little
material Tab and then we're going to hit
new so just like before the one thing
we're going to change is the color let's
make it a nice pink color
and that looks pretty good the other
value that you typically want to change
um for a lot of objects is the roughness
value so you can see the further I go
all the way to the left hand side the
more it becomes a mirror so all the way
at zero is basically a mirror um and
then all the way to the right is your
like most porous object uh like a brick
or something like that basically
something that looks like it doesn't
have a reflection although everything
does um the roughness is uh is just
merely ipating that reflection um
everywhere so it appears as though it
doesn't but anyways so we're going to go
with like a point uh yeah 3 something
like that that's pretty good and then
for the base of our donut we're going to
give it uh another material and let's go
with a nice orangey yellow which we will
change later on so it won't matter
anyway um but that's good great look at
us we've got a donut by the way we'll
add some
subsurface SSS later on uh to make this
look a little bit more milky but for now
this is good now we want to put put our
donut onto a marble countertop so first
of all we need that countertop as a
separate object so shift a and the one
we're looking for is again under mesh
and we're going to go with a plane so a
plane is just a square um that's
literally made up of four vertices it's
the simplest object but the most
versatile that you use it all over the
place and I'm going to make this look a
little bit bigger so let's just scale
that out with s and then click okay so
we want to make our donut rest on to the
countertop so if I selected my donut
base and moved it up well there's a
problem right we need to have both of
these move together so if you want to
have one object basically attached to
another object while still being its own
separate object um you parent it so the
way we parent it is first of all you
select the object that you want to
follow the other object so the child um
and then you select the parent so
holding down shift I'm going to now
click on the donut base and then to
parent its control p key okay or again
if at any time you don't know what it is
just hit F3 for search and then we can
just type in parent now by the way with
uh with parent you get a number of
options here uh the one you actually
want is keep transform if you just do
object it means if you've ever moved the
object like off its base or whatever
like that it'll then like clear its
position so it's actually not the one
you want most of the time so it's keep
transform now that I've done that if
you've done it in the correct order you
should be able to select the base and
then move it and the icing should go
with it if it doesn't it means it's
probably parented the other way so again
make sure the the object you want to
follow the other one is selected first
and then the parent is selected last
okay so now I'm going to move that up
along it Z axis so G and then just a
middle tap and pull it up till it's
resting on my counter haha lovely now
don't worry about this looking like
cartoonishly bad in terms of realism I'm
going to show you um a button later on
which is is going to make this look
phenomenally realistic um that's going
to be in some later Parts uh but for now
this is fine just whilst we work and uh
piece the scene together so for our
countertop here we need to give it a new
material and then underneath the base
color you can select not just a color by
clicking the the color but the Little
Dot next to it that little yellow thing
doesn't look like a button it is if you
click that you get this uh this pop up
or pop down in this point uh which uh
just gives you a number of options and
the one that we're looking for is image
texture so essentially it's replacing
that input from a flat color to an image
texture property and it's now black and
it's asking you what image texture so we
need an image texture now we could go to
uh just Google images and just find any
old marble texture download that uh the
problem usually with uh textures on the
web is that what most people call A
texture is not ideal for 3D most
textures are good for websites but for
3D we need extra information to tell the
3D software how the material property
looks like how does it reflect light uh
what are the bumps look like across the
surface and all that information is
never available on these sites so to
find those texts you have to go to a
separate dedicated website and the
website that I recommend is polygon and
the reason I recommend it is because
it's mine it's my website it's why I
recommend
it uh no I started eight years ago
because I was uh pretty dissatisfied
with the quality of the texture websites
that were available at the time so I
used my YouTube money to invest in a
team and some high-tech equipment we
went out into the world and we scan
stuff to a very high quality standard
and over the years we've grown it to
include uh models and hdris as well and
obviously a lot of this stuff is paid um
but we also have a free range and
obviously we're going to be using a free
Texture for this part so this is the
free Texture this is the one we're going
to use use and first of all although it
is free you need to sign up for an
account so you can just sign up with
Google that's usually the easiest one
it's a couple of onboarding questions uh
I would like to actually know how you uh
you know are you a professional are you
a student that's kind of interesting to
me to know that and then when you get to
here just going to say continue with
free account but pal through that um and
if you click the link in the description
again this is the marble and we just
want to hit download and you'll see in
the bottom right hand corner it's
downloading it is a large size but this
because it's 8 K and we've got maps that
like 16bit depth um to get all of that
accurate information there but once it
is finished it'll just appear in your
downloads then you just unzip the zip
file as you would normally and then
finally you should see some glorious
high resolution images and ones with
extra information like roughness very
very subtle but we'll come through when
we do the rendom so back into blender
where we've got that image texture we're
going to click on open then navigate to
where you unzipped it and then just
click on the one that's ends uh with C
in the name and then just hit open and
here it is okay and it looks great up
close only problem is of course look at
that reflection so Bland so fake and as
I mentioned before fake is the enemy and
you need to uh squash it by just adding
variant so that's where our roughness
map is going to come in and while we
could try to add it in here this section
on the right hand side it's actually not
where you do most of your material work
because this is kind of like a
simplified dumb down version it doesn't
really it's it gets a little bit
complicated when you try and add too
many things to it cuz there's like too
many menus and drop downs and all that
kind of stuff so instead if you go to
your shading tab at the top of the
screen there this will change the layout
of the screen to something completely
different we haven't seen before and
lots of Windows actually too many I
never actually need this one on the
right hand side so where you just Mouse
over where you've got the divider and
then just right click and then say join
areas and then you want want to join it
to the left to close it and then I'll do
the same here cuz I've never needed
those on the left hand side so I've just
got my view at the top here and then
this one here and the Reason by the way
this looks different um than what we had
before is because this is the material
preview but you can change it back to
what we had before by clicking that so
material preview by the way it's the
same it's it's a rendered mode but it's
using uh lights a Different Light setup
basically just an hdri which is like a
fake kind of light and reflection map
just so that you can quickly preview
materials and really you could use
either or um they both kind of show the
material but yeah let's use this one
okay but the bit that we're looking for
is here so this section here is your
node setup and it's actually an exact
duplicate of what we did over here
because this on the right hand side is
the simplified version if you're just
doing like a quick change you might want
to use this but over here this is what's
actually happening to it underneath the
hood right so you can see as I change
this on the right hand inside that is
also changing there so they are linked
so the way nodes work is basically a
left to right function so we start over
here with our image texture it goes into
our Shader which is the material for uh
this plane and then it comes out into a
material output and that's what is fed
into the final uh Shader so essentially
we could put we could do anything like
for example and this is one of the value
of nodes is between these two nodes we
could add another node like for example
I could hit shift a to add again same
hoty works everywhere and then I could
add in like a hue saturation value node
and then I could change the Hue of my
marble to look blue right or or
something else um so that's the power of
nose and you could just keep going
adding in adjustments and everything you
want um so nodes very very flexible um
they do look daunting because they get
all these like you know squid looking
lines going everywhere um but it's very
very convenient very customizable okay
but we want to add something to our
roughness so so that we don't have a
flat uh single value roughness which is
what that is currently we want to use
that map that we just downloaded so uh
one you could hit shift a and then add
an image text this way but actually we
could also just drag out from that input
there and then just do a release and
it'll now say what do you want to add in
this input and we could type in image
texture color and then hit uh enter Then
here go to that same place that we
unzipped it and then we're looking for
the one with roughness in the name so
Ness in the name and then hit open okay
so this is better right you can kind of
see we've got some detail there but it
doesn't look quite right something is
not going right um it's because when you
add an image texture um blunder doesn't
really know what type of information it
is yet and by default it's looking at
the color information is though there
even though there isn't really color
there so instead we need to tell blender
this is a special map and we're just
looking at the values right so
essentially the color space here we need
to change it from srgb where it's a
standard photo color to instead
non-color data or just non- color I
guess they've changed it um but now you
can see that looks correct right so look
at all that we got scratches we got
smudges it's infinitely more realistic
uh than what we had
previously so beyond that though we
could also add in little tiny bumps okay
so bumps are in a place you would not
expect there's not a bump value here
it's actually under normal so normal you
hear that word a lot in 3D it just
basically means the face which direction
is the face pointing right so if this is
your face of the plane you're pointing
this way that's the normal right but you
can change the normal information to
kind of tweak it to pretend like there
is detail in that okay essentially we
can plug in a specialized map called a
normal map okay so we're going to drag
out from that normal map and then relas
release and then image texture that's
the last used thing that's the one we
want I'm just going to click color then
drop and then hit open go to that same
folder and then this is the one the
purple one it's the weirdest looking map
you always know you're looking at a uh a
CG texture map directory cuz it's the
purple one and it's got nrm in the name
for normal and hit open and just like
before it's not going to be correct
because it it thinks this is a color
image texture just like for photos so we
need to change it again to non-color
data and now you would think that would
fix it but no it looks even worse what
did we do the problem is is we need to
convert this image texture into
something this can read so we need to
put another node in between here so the
node is found under shift a a for add
then Vector normal map so click and then
just drop it here so it highlights
between it and then just drop it and it
will now finally be correct and if I go
full screen with control space I didn't
mention that before but yeah control
space and then you can uh Go full screen
and you can see we've got very subtle
little little chips and divots across
the texture along with those smudges and
uh it just looks way more believable
means you don't have to worry about this
part of your scene it's just going to
work and you're going to get all that
detail for free and um just makes life a
little bit easier but it is a lot of
work like what you've just made is a PBR
Shader and yeah it's it's a lot of work
all those little maps and everything and
having to know which setting is which um
but it is a very common thing to learn
so that's why I wanted to include it in
here um if I could plug my own website
again though I will say we did hear you
cuz a lot of people say that so we
actually made an add-on called the
polygon add-on which I'll actually show
you how to install later on cuz that is
actually important for 3D cuz you use a
lot of add-ons but to plug it very
quickly it actually does all of that
without you having to leave blender so
it'll download the texture for you there
we go see it's uh downloading it's
actually faster through the add-on and
then once you've got it you just hit
apply and then it will do all of that
node work for you in the background and
it'll just apply it to the mesh for you
um so you don't have to do all that all
the time and in fact most people I think
if you're working on Big scenes you're
using libraries uh you're using add-ons
like this so you don't have to do it all
manually all the time but it is
important to know the process so that's
why I wanted to show it but anyways this
was our material and we are happy with
it well done let's go back to the layout
tab and now we're going to do one more
thing so you see our dut base here let's
just isolate this doughnut for one
moment here by hitting forward slash
which I mentioned previously okay when
you're in forward this is isolate mode
which means it's literally turning off
everything including the lamp which is
why it's dark but if you turn on
material preview then you get this so
this is okay uh but if you look look at
real references of donuts you'll see
that it's typically whiter around the
middle and the reason for that is as I
mentioned before the way it Cooks right
it's only like half submerged and then
it's flipped and it means that the bits
that are closest to the surface are
cooked less so there's usually like a
whiter part around the rim and I mean
really this is just an excuse to show
you another part of blender which is
texture paint so at the top there click
the texture paint tab and again let's go
into isolate mode with our donut there
um why are we not seeing okay there we
go so what texture paint uh does it lets
you paint directly onto your mesh but if
we try doing it you can see nothing's
happening and it does give you a warning
at the body missing textures detected so
to paint you're painting into an image
and the image doesn't exist yet so we
have to give it one so go to the
material Tab and then here where we got
base color we set it up as yellow but
we're actually just going to override it
now so click that little yellow dot
again and then say image texture so now
it's black doesn't have an image so and
instead of clicking open we're going to
click new so we're going to be creating
a brand new image and let's call this
donut base we could make this higher res
if we want but don't this is more than
enough for a donut base that's fine and
uh this will just save us time to color
this will just fill the uh it'll fill
the the the image for us with a flat
color so going to go for something
pretty similar to what we had before a
nice yellowy color like that and by the
way make sure you're all the way bright
otherwise your donut is uh is going to
be a little bit dark so yeah there we go
all right and then hit okay and once
we've done that you should I mean it
should be over there on the Le hand side
but if it doesn't pop up you can just
select it from the drop down donut base
and there we go so now we're in this
state look what I can do ooh fancy so I
don't know why I said it like that um
but we can paint directly onto our mesh
so to understand this because it's kind
of weird you can also paint directly
over here and you might be thinking like
well how does it know like how do I know
which part over here is actually going
to be painted over onto the donut there
you might not care but it's uh it's
actually good to understand how it works
so basically this mesh here it has to be
unwrapped over onto this left hand side
here cuz that's the only way to uh have
a 2d texture 2D flat image be applied to
a mesh is to unwrap it in some way I
mean there's projection I'm not getting
into that uh to unwrap it and unwrapping
is essentially like there is a meme
actually that that explains it um but if
you have like a chocolate right that is
wrapped in some tin foil if you flatten
it out that is essentially UV unwrapping
there are are little places in that
wrapping where there had to be a cut
right and then that cut was wrapped
around the object that's what uvon
wrapping is so the reason this works for
us is because the cuts are actually
already in in place for default objects
so this Taurus is already perfectly UV
unwrapped so we don't have to do
anything I did want to mention it though
because it's important to understand UV
unwrapping anyways so we could actually
paint directly on here as I mentioned
white is a little bit too extreme though
so I'm going to click that and choose a
color first of all I'm going to select
the eye dropper and then not click over
here cuz that's got shading information
I'm going to click on the left hand side
so we get the exact color and then I'm
going to make it closer to White so not
fully white cuz that'll be too far but
closer to White and I'm also going to
change the strength of my
brush uh yeah I'll make about halfway
and then now I can do paints across it
and this will enable you to get a much
more natural feel um because you'll have
just like in fact I might even go a
little bit softer and that way you can
kind of just paint across it and this is
very forgiving because we've got icing
that's going to go over the top of it um
but that's good we don't want it to be
too too extreme let's just make it I
might go the other way make this a
little bit more saturated anyways that's
basically all we need to do we just want
to just dab our toes into the field of
uh texture painting I would say texture
painting by the way it's one of the
weaker areas of blender it's actually
due for an update at some point in the
future um but it doesn't do like you
can't paint into like the uh the height
information or the roughness information
at the same time like you can with
substance painter but
it's it's got basic functionality
now importantly this is an image but
it's not saved into your blend file it
still needs to be manually saved so see
at the top leftand corner there it's got
image with a star if you see that star
it means you've got changes that haven't
been saved so we need to go image and
then save and specify where are we going
to put our image because if we don't do
this uh we're going to lose it so it has
to be saved somewhere so I'm just going
to save it
yeah anywhere it has to be saved
somewhere because it will not be saved
as part of the blend fob very important
to know that otherwise you can lose
texture paint work that you've done but
there we go so now to bring back
everything remember if it looks like
where's the rest of my seene gone see
the top left hand corner local means
it's isolated mode so that means you
just have to hit forward slash again and
it brings back everything and there we
are so that's the extent of uh this part
of the tutorial as I mentioned the uh
some of you might be wondering when are
we going to make that lovely uh
subsurface scattering we're going to do
that in the future after we do the
sprinkles cuz it's too hard to see at
this point so there we go guys join me
in the next part and I'll see you there
Browse More Related Video
Texture Maps Explained - PBR Workflow
Beginner Blender 4.0 Tutorial - Part 2: Basic Modelling
Blender Jack O'Lantern Pumpkin Tutorial | Polygon Runway
How to texture REALISTIC buildings in Blender #b3d
How to Use Generative Tools in Sampler for Fast Iterations | Adobe Substance 3D
Blender Tutorial for Complete Beginners - Part 1
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)