Hi.
I was wondering, how would I be able to make everything in my scene look like it were made of paper and cardboard?
Thanks in advance!
I think that I’d start by creating objects that are basically two-dimensional: as a series of planar objects that are slightly in front and behind of one another, and basically all on a plane that is perpendicular to the camera. And, I would pretty-much try to work out the entire scene without actually texturing anything, until I could see exactly what sort of visual effects would actually be mandatory in order to “sell the shot.”
Then, I would consider what characteristics of paper/cardboard I was looking for. Color? Translucency? The peculiar look of the stuff that’s “in the middle of” a piece of cardboard? The surface texture of the stuff? And then, just how close is the camera going to be, and how crucial are the various potential surface characteristics going to be in “selling the shot?” There are lots of things that you could do which really won’t have much impact, and just a couple of really-key ones that will make a difference in your shots.
Every material comes down, first and foremost, to its base color and then its specular color, then the texturing which, for the most part, affects its specular color. Surf the web to find good photos of “paper as you want it to look,” then find a way to meaure pixel RGB-values straight from those photos. Get “just those two” factors as great as you can, first.