Quick and Dirty Intro to Node-based Shaders

Good feedback, thank you. I've been trying to make everything as visual as possible since the target audience is artists, right? Tha said, I am also trying to explain the math underpinning everything because knowing how it all works under the hood is incredibly important.

FWIW I think the node based approach used in C3D and mental mill is derived from many earlier products (e.g. shake).

I'll use these explanations as a starting point and try to illustrate how every node is used (if I can figure it out myself ;-) ). As I write the docs I'm finding some bugs too :)
 
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Ok I made a quick copy of the Material Nib in Illustrator. I'm pretty sure it used the standard Lucida Grande Apple HIG font. I matched the drop shadow to the standard Apple HIG settings too, but I think the one in Cheetah has been adjusted to be lighter. This box can be adjusted to show any of the Shader Nodes Palettes. I just placed a basic gradient orb in there that can be replaced by an actual image representing the material. Use it if you think it might help. If not though, no worries! :cool:
 

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I would like to get a better understanding of the math nodes. Can anybody point me towards some materials to help me with this. I only have a grasp of simple geometry. 2D angles and volumes pretty much. Can anybody think of a worthwhile read/view to help understand how these mathematical functions work in 3D?
 
There's the decorated pig thread.

But really if you understand or can look up the functions math nodes are easy. The problem is understanding how color, 3d space, and vectors are represented mathematically. E.g what does the number 10 "mean" when used as a color? Or the vector (.5,.5,0) as a normal? This stuff is not easy to explain.
 
domeboy said:
Node Editor notes as pdf

PodPerson's notes to date can be downloaded as a pdf here:

Node Editor Notes

Thanks all!
Click to expand...
Is this still available? I tried the link but got timed out. Is it somewhere is it up to date? I'm struggling to learn the nodes and how to use them, besides wasting hours trying this one and that one. Right now I'm trying to get some reflection off the PBR metallic
Thanks..
 
PBR is reflective by default - that´s why there´s a "Roughness" input property.
PBRdefault.png

Cheers
Frank
links.png

PS: all the links in the folder I tried are dead.
 
There are newer guides by Allegorithmic (Wes McDermott) and Marmoset that describe a PBR workflow in detail.

The mathematic node workflows are pretty similar for a lot of different apps. Although some of the terminology and options may be slightly different. If you can find a detailed guide on C4d, Blender, etc. on material nodes, a lot of that info will probably carry over to C3d.
 
uncle808us said:
Is this still available? I tried the link but got timed out. Is it somewhere is it up to date? I'm struggling to learn the nodes and how to use them, besides wasting hours trying this one and that one. Right now I'm trying to get some reflection off the PBR metallic
Thanks..
Click to expand...
I have copied and formated PodPerson's Node Editor as part of my Cheetah3d Manual in PDF form effort. It is available in DropBox at:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jmpkrk5ul42b3ld/Node Editor.pdf?dl=0
 
I’ve been working sporadically on the new version of my book (which includes all my stuff on nodes) and have nearly got it into shape to put online for free (in essence, using bindinator’s documentation system) I’m planning in making its content open-source on github, so if you have things you want to improve you can fork it or make pull requests, or raise an issue, etc.

The bit i haven’t figured out is how to roll it up into an ePub. (Also, i’ve written a script that builds a searchable index which should run about 1000x as fast as Apple’s help system.)

I’m also considering rolling it into c3dbuddy (which is probably easier than grokking the epub spec).
 
"I’m also considering rolling it into c3dbuddy (which is probably easier than grokking the pub spec)."
Yeah 3DBuddy use it all the time.
I vote for that, if you're taking votes.;)
Either way I look forward to it.
I think I would use the node system more often if I could see the materials on the object in the Main window. That holds me back.
 
I notice in the write up for Calibre that it can convert HTML into ePub. As I understand your bindinator, I think Calibre could be worth investigating.

I use it for converting ePubs (not protected) into PDF, for printing out into hard copy.;)
 
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