Gold Test

I was doing a test with gold materials, here were my results:http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/7687/goldtest1.png
http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/1840/goldtest2.png
Any tips on how to make better gold?

Any tips on how to make better gold?

A better environment would make a big difference. The defining factor in gold is how it reflects light. You are giving the gold a single color, low light environment. Try using an env map and adding some more light.

Ugh, forum error caused double post…

Also, the ingots aren’t beveled right? They need to have smooth edges to be realistic. Ingots don’t have sharp edges, they have smooth edges which reflects light.

Thanks for the crits.
Here’s the new one, with a bevel and a multicolored environment:
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9985/goldtest4.png

Set the diffuse color to black, set the reflection color to “gold”, I prefer to actually use this color for my gold >>>#D4AF37<<<. Turn the reflection all the way up, use a tiny bit of fresnel and reduce the gloss by a small fraction. You also may not need ANY spec, depends on your scene. When it comes to metalics, I usually try to stick with the metalic object reflect a real world picture, simply because there’s more stuff to reflect.

Your material worked beautifully! That’s what I’m going to be using from now on.
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/9201/goldtest6.png

Glad it’s working for ya, took me a little reading on how metal refracts and what not to figure it out. Works great though.