I’m still pretty new to Blender…here’s a project that I’m working on right now. I need a little motivation and help 
Click on the image to see a larger version.
I’m struggling to make a realistic wood texture using procedurals. Are there any good tuts that I could try?
Good job so far, one thing about wood is that you should increase the noise on that, use the rings noise button then toy around with the turbulence and noise size.
Try reducing the specularity on the screen.
hey what’s romans 12:9? good laptop…I like it. I don’t like using procedurals for wood. I usually use photos and a bumpmap that i make from the gimp for that. kind of my “thinking man anim” post in WIP. Looks good though. Try turning down spec. Probably could use a bumpmap too. Good Work.
Romans 12:9 is probably from The Bible. Good job on the laptop. Looks very good. Mabye you should try adding a lamp or something else to the scene to make it look more complete.
how is the screen attached to the bottom?
Heh…it’s not yet. It will be though, I just got distracted by the surroundings momentarily. I still have quite a bit of work on the laptop to do.
Romans 12:9 is indeed from the Bible. It’s kind of the verse that my wife and I use as our motto. Anyway, I made that wallpaper a long long time ago, so I thought I’d use it as the wallpaper on my blender laptop 
I’m going to try to stick to procedurals for the wood for now…but I might end up using an image. Thanks for the tips so far!
I want a magical floating screen too! 
Just joshing.
I agree that the wood needs a bumpmap. It looks a bit too smooth right now. A bumpmap on the wall might be good too; it also looks very smooth. Making the table more rough will definitely help though. Unless you’re going for a sort of “countertop” table, but it looks to me like it’s at a normal “dirty” table, and as such needs some roughness.
I also agree with Ic3Cold; it looks really empty. Having some stuff around it will help the image even if the laptop isn’t complete. But if you want to have the laptop all done, that’s okay too.
You did a good job with modeling the laptop so far though, but you have quite a bit more to go. Mostly just little details like lights and buttons… and lettering on the keys…
I would also reduce the specularity on the screen… And on the keys…
I think I’ve implemented all of your suggestions, except for the bump map, which I haven’t had a chance to look into yet. Here’s what I’ve got.
[click to enlarge to 1280x1024]
I’m trying to learn lighting as I go too. How am I doing? Any more suggestions for the scene?
AAAgh, you’ve got woodworm.
The original wood looked better. What you just need to do with the wood procedural is to scale it down (in the map to section) and darken the colours. It looks like you used a noise texture.
Also, the laptop is too blocky. PC laptops are like that but they don’t have edges that’ll cut your fingers. There is a bevel tool under the menu when you press w that will round the edges or experiment with subd surfaces.
As for lighting, the old one was also better IMO. It’s a bit bright for indoor lighting now.
The keys look like they’re slanted wrongly too but I don’t know if your keyboard is like that.
PS who’s that sexy gal on your desktop? I’m sure I saw her in a Girls Gone Wild vid. Hehe just kidding. 