Material Room Basics - The Poser Compendium Part 2

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	Version: 1.0 Release: 06.03.2010 System: Poser 5+	Renderosity ($ 9.50)

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Description

The material plays an essential role when rendering an image because this is what you actually see on the surface of each object. The material system that was introduced with Poser 5 is very powerful, but it can be rather confusing when you don't know how to unleash its power. This tutorial explains the basics of the material room and the different types of materials that can be configured there.

The tutorial starts by describing how the material room works. It explains what a material is and how it can be configured and modified in the material room. This includes loading and saving materials in the content library. It also contains a small excursion about the difference between previews of materials in the material room and in the scene preview and in the rendered image.

The most important material type is the one for the surface of objects, called PoserSurface. It consists of several different components, which are explained in detail with sample renders (see image above). Then, it is described how these components work together to create the material during a render.

The last chapter describes the other material types: background, light, and atmosphere. The background material is used for the scene background wherever no object is visible in the scene. The light material provides additional parameters for light objects. The atmosphere material allows to create volumetric effects like fog.

Note: This tutorial is intended for both, beginners as well as experienced users. Because it is a tutorial on a particular topic, it assumes at least a basic understanding of Poser in general. It can be used as a tutorial for learning, but also as a reference guide to get information about a particular issue.

Features

• Comprehensive tutorial for Poser 7, Poser Pro, Poser 8, and Poser Pro 2010
  (Can be used with Poser 5 and Poser 6 as well)
• Topics:
  • Material room: creating and modifying shader trees
  • Material library: loading and saving single materials, material collections, and material poses
  • PoserSurface: function of the different components
  • Background: configuring the scene background
  • Light: light features set in the material room
  • Atmosphere: depth cue and volumetric atmosphere
• Document:
  • PDF format
  • 39 content pages, 58 images
  • 10 pages appendix with glossary in a separate document

The Poser Compendium

• Part 1: Camera, Light, Render!
• Part 2: Material Room Basics
• Part 3: Material Techniques
• Part 4: Designing Materials (to be released soon)
• Part 5: Materials for Human Characters (to be released soon)
• Appendix (included in all parts)

Content (Part 2: Material Room Basics)

	Introduction	2
	Overview	2
	How to Read this Tutorial	2
	Remarks	3
1.	The Material Room	4
1.1	Material Regions	4
1.2	Shader Trees and Nodes	5
	Connecting and Arranging Nodes	7
	Animated Materials	8
1.3	How a Shader Looks and Renders	9
	Scene Preview Settings	9
1.4	The Material Menu	10
	Wacros	11
1.5	The Material Library	12
	Saving Materials	13
	Material Poses	13
1.6	Modifying Material Regions	14
2.	The PoserSurface Node	15
2.1	The Components of PoserSurface	15
	Diffuse	16
	Ambient	16
	Translucence	16
	Specular Reflections	18
	Reflection	18
	Refraction	20
	Transparency and Alpha	22
	Bump and Displacement	23
	Alternate Diffuse and Specular	27
	Other Parameters	29
	Scene Preview for PoserSurface	30
2.2	The Simple View	31
2.3	All Together Now ...	32
	Rendering	32
	Calculating a Shader Tree	32
	The PoserSurface Components	33
	Other Node Types	35
	Summary	36
3.	Other Root Nodes	37
3.1	The Background Node	37
3.2	The Light Node	38
3.3	The Atmosphere Node	40
	Depth Cue	40
	Volume	41

Content (Appendix)

A	Glossary	1
	Technical Terms	1
	Abbreviations	6
	File Extensions	7
	Technical History	9
B	Recommended Tools	9
	Python Scripts	9
	Python Scripts for Poser 8	9
	Stand-Alone Windows Tools	10