Blender Tutorial: Photorealistic Ring

in this splendor video I'll be demonstrating how to make this image of a silver and turquoise ring I'll be using blender version 2.7 6b let's start by creating a new project so from the file menu select new and then click on reload startup file to make it easier to see the scale and location of the objects that we'll be adding switch from perspective to orthographic view by pressing 5 on the number pad now delete the cube by right-clicking on it to make sure that it's selected and then press X now let's make the ring band so add a circle by pressing shift a and then select mesh and then circle then enter edit mode by pressing tab make sure that the vertex button is selected and then press a once or twice until everything is selected next press e to extrude we're going to extrude to the same location as the original vertices so just right-click now scale it down in size by pressing s then 0.95 then enter next we're going to extrude all of the vertices so press a twice to select everything then press E then point to four then enter later we're going to be adding a subdivision surface modifier so to keep the inside of the ring flat we're going to add a little more geometry so press ctrl R to make a loop cut then hover the mouse over the inside of the Ring until you see a line that runs around the inside then click the left mouse button drag the line up until it's near the top and click the left mouse button again when it's in place then repeat this for the bottom edge so press ctrl R then left-click drag it near the bottom and left-click again the outside of the ring is going to be curved so let's add another loop cut so press ctrl R then left-click on the outside of the Ring this time instead of dragging the line just right-click and the loop cut be placed in the center now scale it up in size by pressing s then 1.05 then enter next let's add a subdivision surface modifier and smooth it out so press tab to return to object mode then click the object modifiers button and then the add modifier button and then select subdivision surface set the view and render values to 3 and then click the smooth button now let's make the front face of the ring so I'll move this ring band out of the way now add a circle by pressing shift a and then select mesh and then circle then rotate it on the x-axis by pressing R then X then 90 then enter now scale it down in size by pressing s then point 5 then enter now press tab to enter edit mode let's start by making the front slip that fits around the edge of the stone so press a once or twice until everything is selected then extrude along the y axis by pressing E then Y then point 0 5 then enter then scale it up in size by pressing s then 1.1 then enter next we're going to select these inside edges and add a thickness to them so to select the edges hold down the Alt key and then right-click on one of the edges then extrude on the y axis by pressing E then Y then point 0 1 then enter then scale it down in size by pressing s then point 9 7 then enter now let's make the decoration that will go around the outside of the stone so select these outside edges by holding down the Alt key while right-clicking on one of the edges then press e to extrude we're going to extrude to the same location as the original vertices so just right-click now scale it up in size by pressing s then 1.3 then enter next we're going to rotate these vertices so that the decoration will look like it has a twist so press R then Y then 10 then enter now we'll add a thickness to this so press E then Y then point 1 then enter then to add a face on the back side press F now we need to select all of the front faces that are part of the decoration so click the face select button so that we can select faces then hold down the Alt key and right click on one of the faces next we're going to extrude these faces but we need to extrude them as individual faces to do that click the extrude menu and select individual faces then type point 0 8 and press Enter since we extruded these as individual faces each of the faces will be rounded after we add a subdivision surface modifier so let's do that now so press tab to return to object mode then click the add modifier button and select subdivision surface set the view and render values to 3 and then click the smooth button now we're going to scale it on the x axis so press s then X then point 7 then enter this is a good time to save what I have so far so from the file menu I'll select save as I'm going to name it ring dot blend now let's add turquoise stone so I'll move this out of the way now add a sphere by pressing shift a and then select mesh and then UV sphere then press tab to enter edit mode now press a once or twice until everything is selected next rotate it on the x-axis by pressing R then X then 90 then enter then press 3 on the number pad to switch the right side view and then press a so that nothing is selected we're going to be deleting all of the vertices on the right so click the vertex select button so that we can select vertices then switch to wireframe mode so that we can select the vertices on the back side now press B and drag the selection box over the vertices on the right don't include the vertices in the middle now press X to delete and select vertices now press tab to return to object mode and then switch back to solid view next we're going to flatten this out a little so press s then Y then points 5 then enter now scale it down on the x-axis by pressing s then X then point 7 then enter now scale the whole thing down in size by pressing s then point 5 then enter next we'll add a subdivision surface modifier and smooth it out so click the add modifier button and then select subdivision surface set the view and render values to 3 and then click the smooth button now let's position the three ring pieces together so press n to open the properties panel make sure that the location of the stone is a zero for all three axes now right-click on the front face of the ring to select it then set all three location values to zero then right-click on the ring band to select it then set all three location values to zero now rotate the views so that you can see the backside then drag the band until it's just touching the backside of the other piece the Y location value should be about 1.1 now press 1 on the number pad to switch to front view then drag the band up until it's centered now right-click on the stone to select it then drag it back a little the Y location value should be about 0.05 we don't need the properties panel anymore so press M to close it we're going to be joining these three ring pieces together to make a single object but we still want to be able to add separate materials to each piece one way to do this is to add a material to each piece before joining them so click the material button and then click the new button then come up here and change this from blender render to cycles render then click the use nodes button name this material stone we'll be making changes to this material later using the node editor now right-click on the front face piece to select it and then press the new button set the surface type to glossy then click here to set the color now click the hex button and set the color to C 3 C 3 D 1 then set the roughness value 2.05 name this material front next right-click the band to select it then click the small button on the left side of the new button and select front to keep the ring band material separate from the front face material we need to make a copy so press the plus button to copy the material and name it band now let's join the pieces together the band is currently selected so hold down the shift key and right-click on the front face and then the stone to add them to the selection then click the join button now the ring is a single object and the three materials are listed here a little later we'll be making changes to these materials using the node editor but before we do that let's position the ring at a surface for it to sit on and set up the lighting in the camera so let's rotate the ring a little along the y-axis so press R then Y then minus 7 then enter then press 3 on the number pad to switch the right side view then press R to rotate and rotate the ring until the two bottom surfaces are even with each other next let's add a surface for the ring to sit on so press shift a and select mesh and then plane scale it up in size by pressing s then 10 then enter then drag it down until it's just below the bottom of the ring now let's set the material so click the new button we're going to keep the diffuse surface type and white color now let's set up the lighting we're going to use two plain objects to light the scene so press shift a and select mesh and then plane then press 3 on the number pad to switch the right side view then drag the plane up about 2 grid divisions and then drag it to the left about 2 grid divisions now row it by pressing our and face it toward the ring next press 1 on the number pad to switch to front view and drag the plane to the left by about 3 grid divisions now let's make the second light source so press Shift D to duplicate and place it 5 grid divisions to the right now press 7 on the number pad to switch to top view then rotate the plane by pressing R and face it toward the ring then do the same for the other plane so right click to select it and R to rotate this is what the scene should look like now let's add a material to the first plane so click the new button and set the surface type to emission then click the color and make it slightly yellow now set the strength to 20 next right click on the second plane to select it then click the new button and set the surface type to emission then click the color and make it slightly blue now set this linked to 15 this is a good time to save what I have so far next let's set up the camera view so press 0 on the number pad this is the view looking through the camera I'll zoom in a little now I'm going to lock the camera to the view to do that press n to open the properties panel and put a check mark next to lock camera to view then press in again to close the properties panel now I can zoom pan and rotate while looking through the camera the default focal length setting that blender uses is 35 millimeters since this is going to be a close-up image let's change the focal length setting to 100 millimeters to do that find the camera in the outliner and select it then click the object data button if it's not already selected this is where you can change the focal length set it to 100 now I'll set up the view that I'd like to use we're going to be using the pointyness attribute to make the lower portions of the metal look darker but to get the expected results we should make sure that the normals are facing the right direction so right click on the ring to select it then press tab to enter edit mode now press a once or twice until everything is selected then select the shading UVs tab and click the recalculate normals button now press tab to return to object mode now let's use the node editor to finish setting up the materials for the Ring so from the screen layout menu select compositing then click the shader nodes button now click the material button you may need to resize this panel to bring the material button into view here are the three materials for the Ring to get a preview of how this will render click the viewport shading menu and select rendered we don't need to make any changes to the band material so let's work on the front material so click it to select it to give myself more room to work I'll close this property panel by pressing in we're going to add some nodes to make the metal look darker in the low areas so let's start by mixing in a dark material so press shift a and select shader and then mix shader' drop it on the connection coming out of the glossy shader then move the connection to the bottom shader input now press shift a and select shader and then glossy connect it to the top shader input and set the color to black we're going to control the factor input use an appointee 'no satra butte and a couple of math nodes so press shift a and select input and then geometry then press shift a again and select converter and then math set the math type to multiply then press shift a and select converter and then math set the math type to subtract now connect the pointyness output to one of the multiply inputs then connect the multiply output to the top subtract input then connect the subtract output to the factor in put these two mouth nodes will allow us to scale the point in as output as a starting point set the multiply and the subtract value to 25 now you can see that the lower areas of the metal are darker I'll zoom in so you can see this better if you increase the multiply value the dark areas will lighten up I'm going to use a value of fifty point six now let's work Stone material so click it to select it we'll start by changing the diffuse color so click the white color and set the hex value to 1/5 BB e 2 I'm going to make more room to work lawsy shader so press shift a and select shader and then mix shader' drop it on the connection coming out of the diffuse shader then press shift a again and select shader and then glossy connect it to the bottom shader input keep the color set to white and change the roughness value 2.0 to now press shift a and select input and then layer wait connect the facing output to the factor input this will control how the diffuse and glossy shaders are blended together the surface areas that are angled away from the camera will use more of the glossy shader than the surface areas that are angled toward the camera now set the blend value to 0.15 now let's mix in another color to make some dark veins in the stone so press shift a and select shader and then mix shader' drop it on the connection coming out of the diffuse shader then move the diffuse shader to the bottom input next press shift a and select shader and then diffuse connect it to the top shader input set the color to two one three zero one zero now we're going to use a noise texture along with some math nodes to control the factor input so press shift a and select texture and then noise texture then press and select converter and then math then duplicate the math node two times so press shift D to duplicate then shift D again set the first math node to multiply set the other two math nodes to subtract now let's connect these nodes so connect the noise textures color output to one of the multiply inputs we're using the multiplication node to scale the noise texture set the value to five now connect the multiply output to the top input of this subtraction node also connect the multiply output to the bottom inputs of this subtraction node the to subtraction values should be set to half of the multiply value which in this case is 2.5 the top subtraction node is used to offset the noise texture so that it will be centered around zero the bottom subtraction node inverts the noise texture and also centers at around zero if you connect the bottom subtraction output to the factor input you can see what the inverted texture looks like if I connect the top subtraction output to the factor input then the colors will be reversed now we're going to combine the two subtraction node outputs use in another math node so press shift a and select converter and then math drop it on the connection coming out of the subtraction node then connect the bottom subtraction node to the other input and set the math type to maximum the output of this node will be the greater of the two inputs and it will look like dark veins running through the stone to sharpen this effect will add another math node so press shift a and select converter and then math drop it on the connection coming out of the maximum node set the math type to power then set the bottom value 2.3 now we're going to adjust the pattern of the veins this can be done by changing the noise texture scale and detail values I'm going to set the scale value to 3.2 and the detail value to 16 if i zoom in you can see that the veins are very thin to make them a little thicker increase the top subtraction value to 2.5 - now let's return to the default screen layout next we're going to adjust the depth of field to make the back of the Ring look a little bit out of focus to do this we'll start by defining a point in space where the scene will be in focus we can use an empty object for this so press shift a and select empty and then plane axes this object doesn't have any geometry it just represents a point in space now press 1 on the number pad to switch to front view now drag the empty up a little then press 3 on the number pad to switch the right side view and drag the empty to the side until it's aligned with the front surface of the Ring this will be the focus point now press 0 on the number pad to switch to camera view then to get a preview of how this will render click the viewport shading menu and select rendered next find the camera in the outliner and select it then click the object data button if it's not already selected and go down to the depth-of-field section now click in the focus entry box and select the empty that we added this will be the focus point we're going to use an f-stop value of 1 so click the aperture menu and select f-stop set the number value to 1 now the front of the ring will be in focus and the back of the ring will be slightly out of focus everything looks good now so we're ready to render the final image so click the render button then open a sampling section I'm going to set the number of render samples to 1000 the larger this value is the better the final image will look but the longer it will take to render now I'm going to save the project it's a good idea to do this before rendering in case something goes wrong during the rendering process now I'll click the render button if you want to stop the rendering process before it's done you can press the Escape key or you can click the X next to the render progress bar this is going to take a few minutes to render so I'll pause the video until it's done rendering is finished and this is the final image to save the image go to the image menu and select save as image or you can press f3 I'm going to name this image ring dot PNG if you want to return to the 3d view then click this menu and select 3d view to go back to the rendered image click the menu and select UV image editor well that concludes this video thanks for watching and please subscribe and leave a comment

Channel: tutor4u

Views: 232,735

Keywords: blender, 3d, pointiness attribute, focal length, depth of field, node editor, noise texture, cycles, cycles render, nodes, math node, blender version 2.76b, how to, tutorial, tutorials, 2.76, tips, tricks, beginner, intermediate, Blender (Software), 3D Modeling

Id: zqhi8q4EGZk

Length: 26min 7sec (1567 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 15 2016