Metalic Matt Black with JJ06

Hi Al

With reference to Carls earlier post - is there any reason why you cannot achieve a metalic\reflective preset with pure black - I have struggled to get this to work this week with both previous and current stable versions.

Thanks

Boothy

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Permalink Reply by Render Plus on October 8, 2010 at 2:04pm

True black does not reflect light. The 'Metallic' setting specifies that the reflections will be in the color of the reflecting object. So if it is black, it will reflect black.

You may be able to achieve the effect you want by selecting a "custom" reflection color on the Advanced material editor, and setting the custom color to dark gray.

Black Base Color - Metallic Reflection

Black Base Color - White Reflection

Clack Base Color - Dark Gray Custom Reflection

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Permalink Reply by Boothy on October 8, 2010 at 2:10pm

Yes Thanks thats what I eventually did - In real terms though it tends to render quite naturally much lighter - I have found it quite a challenge this week to achieve bright black reflections and retain all the other reflected light qualities of a render - Its not easy !

Thanks

Boothy

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Permalink Reply by Render Plus on October 8, 2010 at 2:40pm

Are you going to share your secrets with us on what works well.

On a similar note we struggle with black glass. OpenGL and SketchUp let light pass through black, transparent objects. nXt does it not - it treats black or any other color as a pure filter - only blue light can pass through a blue transparent object.

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Permalink Reply by Boothy on October 8, 2010 at 3:00pm

I did here briefly - link: http://irendernxt.com/forum/topics/brilliant-black-reflections

1. The only way to get a good black reflection is make sure target mirror is opposite matt black panel \ object.
2.Above works well if `contained` within a `studio enclosure`
3.The above method can cause problems with reduction of hi lite to reflective surfaces.
4.Using large reflective panels as in sample in link above can make overall light levels\control really difficult.
5.As per link sample depending on scenario it may be better to make a series of renders and overlay via transparent png in image editor as I did with above sample\image below.
6.I tried all presets to attain reflection but also control light levels - none were really that successful.
7.May be worth considering producing `black themed`HDR file - I have been too busy to experiment this week