I always wondered if there was a website that had a list of pre-made materials that could be used as reference. For example, if a person was using nodes to try to make realistic water but was having trouble, they could visit this site which has a picture of a complete node tree to make water. The list would go on; wood, gold, etc. I know half the fun is making the tree itself but I heard that good programmers and modelers are lazy. They use what is already made to their advantage. Is there a website out their which houses materials or is there actually something like that within Blender?
There is a website called blendswap.com
And on there, I just searched “materials” and this is what came up: http://www.blendswap.com/search?term=material
I think that is exactly what you are looking for. The site basically lets user upload different blends, and other people can download them and use them for themselves. When I searched materials, lots of blends came up that had pre-made materials in the blends.
Hope that helps.