<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAdding Blender Materials to an Object<\/h2>\n\n\n\n On our object we obviously need to add two materials<\/strong> – one to the handle and one to the screwing part. So let’s review two possible situations<\/strong>. One – is when your scene is made of different independent objects. And two – when the whole thing is a one object that needs two or more materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the first case everything is quite easy. First of all – select the part<\/strong> that you want to add a material to, then go to the Material Properties<\/strong> in the Properties Editor and click the big +New button<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nEasy as that – you have created a material<\/strong>. You can see that it is created if at the top there is something like \u201cMaterial.001\u201d and below are a lot of different settings, like here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you just select the other part<\/strong> of the object and do absolutely the same thing<\/strong>. It should add the Material.002. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nNow for the other case, when everything is connected<\/strong>. You need to do the exact same thing with selecting the object and creating a New Material. This will create a single material for the whole object<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThen you need to change to the Edit Mode at the top right of the viewport[Tab] and select all of the geometry<\/strong> of the part that you want to have a separate <\/strong>material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWith this selected proceed to the Material Properties, on the right side click on the plus button to add material slot<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThis will add a new slot. You need to again press on the +New button to add a material<\/strong> with this slot selected. Then you can assign this material to the selected geometry<\/strong> by using the Assign button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nBlender Shaders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n As part of this Blender Materials Tutorial let\u2019s talk about the materials<\/strong> themselves. When you select a material, you see all the settings below it. Those are the settings of the current shader. The default shader that is created automatically is the Principled BSDF. But let\u2019s start with looking into other shaders<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe first option in the Surface settings of a Material is the Surface. Here you can choose amongst all the shaders that are available in Blender<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nI will not go into each one of them and explain how they work. A good example to try would be the Emission Shader. You need to change to the Material Preview Shading<\/strong> to see the changes to the Material that you make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThough some shaders can work exclusively in the Cycles<\/strong> rendering engine. And the Material Preview Shading utilizes the real-time renderer – Eevee. So consider changing between the Shadings to test everything out properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nEmissive Shader in Eevee<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nEmissive Shader in Cycles<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Few more good examples are the Glass BSDF<\/strong> and Velvet BSDF<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nI recommend you to try all the available shaders<\/strong> out and to try changing the settings that they have. Just as the training and for the knowledge. But we will turn back to the default Principled BSDF shader.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBlender Principled BSDF Shader<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Principled BSDF is the most used shader in the Blender<\/strong>. That is because it is the most flexible one<\/strong> and you can create most of the simple stuff using only it. And, as you may notice – there are a lot of settings available for it. A bunch more than any other shader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nSo let\u2019s look into them. But to not extend this article for too long – we will introduce only the most important, interesting and used ones<\/strong>. This does not mean that other settings are useless. They just can be too advanced for now, or too situational. <\/p>\n\n\n\nStarting with the Base Color<\/strong> – it is the most obvious one and one of the most important settings. Fairly simply to use: just click on it and select the color, its brightness and saturation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nNext is the Subsurface Scattering settings<\/strong>. They are a bit on an advanced <\/strong>side, but I could not miss them out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIt is the effect when light comes through the object and scatters by interacting with it<\/strong>. Sounds really difficult, but in reality you meet such materials everyday and one example – especially. This example – is your own skin. When you glow a strong light on it – you can see the light coming through your body<\/strong> and exiting from the different angles creating a red glow. That is – Subsurface Scattering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nNext is Metallic <\/strong>and it is quite obvious how it works – makes objects look like they are made out of metal<\/strong>. Used in the combination with Roughness setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nRoughness <\/strong>– Decides how rough your object is. Absolutely rough objects(1) do not reflect lighting at all and not rough objects (0) – reflect the surrounding perfectly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nBy combining the Metallic and Roughness<\/strong> settings you can create a really reflective material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nTransmission <\/strong>is quite self-explanatory. It is for controlling how much lighting transmits through your object<\/strong>. So if you create a light source on the one side of the transmissive object – you will see the light exiting on the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAnd the last important setting is Emission<\/strong>. It is really similar to the Emission Shader<\/strong> that we already tested. But this one is right in the Principled BSDF, so you can change all the other settings of your object, such as its Roughness and Metallicness in addition to making it emissive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nMatching Blender Materials to an Object<\/h2>\n\n\n\n After we learned the Principled BSDF\u2019s main settings is the time to try and create materials for our object<\/strong>. As I already mentioned – there would be two materials. Let\u2019s start with the handle.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUsually modern screwdrivers are made out of rubber or plastic<\/strong>. But in my case it seems that the screwdriver is not that modern, so I guess the wood materia<\/strong>l would fit the best. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFor wood material first of all I change the Base Colo<\/strong>r to be similar to wood. So something brownish, maybe with a tint of red.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThere is no Subsurface Scattering<\/strong> in wood and it is definitely not Metallic<\/strong>. Roughness<\/strong>: wood can be a bit reflective, but on the old screwdriver it would be too worn out, so not that reflective. Emission or Transmission<\/strong> is definitely not needed here. So the result is like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nChanging it to rubber<\/strong> would be really easy – basically just change the color and that is it. Lower Roughness a bit too, as rubber can be a bit reflective<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAnd Plastic <\/strong>would be just like rubber, but a lot less rough(reflective).<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nNow for the screwing part<\/strong>. This one is a lot easier and there are not a lot of possibilities. These parts are made of metal, so Metallic <\/strong>goes to 1 right of the bat. Then you lower the Roughness <\/strong>to something that would suit this part. In my case it should not be too reflective, so like 0.4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAnd that is basically it. You can experiment <\/strong>with the Roughness and color a bit. Make it look like some different metal. Maybe even golden:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nOr, as it is the old screwdriver – you can try to make it look a bit rusty<\/strong> by changing the Base Color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAnd basically we are done. We have created two different materials<\/strong> for our object, so it now looks like a screwdriver with a wooden handle and metallic screw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n