I can create simple materials and textures with nodes (viz, Glass, Metals, Brick, Checker )… But I have seen people using tens , or even hundreds of nodes to arrive at a fantastic material/texture. How does one know what nodes and in what sequence to add to finally arrive at a complex material/texture look?
Please share your ideas or workflows so that it becomes extensive not just for me, but for many amateurs like me.
Start by analyzing the material you want to create. Are there patterns? Is there any specular reflection? (of course there is, but how much and where?) Is there any translucency, transparency, grime? Does any part of the material glow or absorb light?
Each aspect you can see in the material may need a whole suite of nodes to duplicate it properly. Then research how to recreate each aspect of the material that you can see.
It is really about close and accurate observation rather than technical skill in selecting nodes, although that also plays a big part in actually making the material, once you have figured out why it looks the way it does.
Thank you for the direction… will try to work that way…
Sometimes you just have to take time outside a project and experiment, experiment, experiment. Slap a few blender monkeys into the 3D stage to be some willing subjects, apply mats to them, and go nuts with your nodes in the compositing room. Occasionally you’ll get some combos that are interesting, and take notes. Once you catch on, you’ll start getting ideas on what to use in your real projects later on.
Outside of experimenting, make use of the internet. Plenty of blogs and forum posts in regards to Blender mats. Sometimes people find interesting ways to arrive at solutions you haven’t thought of yet. (And even if it’s something you think you figured out, somebody still might have a quicker or easier way.)