Mapping node for Geometry Nodes
The Mapping node does not exist in Blender Geometry Nodes by default. However, we can build it ourselves.
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How to show parameters from Geometry Nodes inputs on a custom UI panel
Input parameters from Blender Geometry Nodes are automatically placed on the “Geometry Nodes” modifier panel in the “Properties” window on the modifier tab. However, this tab is not always open, and it is not always convenient to switch to it to adjust values. For quick access to the input parameters of Geometry Nodes, we can duplicate them on the custom panel in the 3D Viewport window.
How to show parameters from Geometry Nodes inputs on a custom UI panelRead More »
Using UV coordinates for working with mesh geometry
With the coordinates of the UV, we can manipulate not only materials but also the geometry of the mesh itself. We can connect the UV coordinates with the mesh geometry using “Geometry Nodes” in Blender.
Using UV coordinates for working with mesh geometryRead More »
Mixing materials by the UV coordinates
UV coordinates can be used for mixing materials directly on the mesh. This can be useful if, for example, the shape of the mesh is cylindrical or closed or the UV boundaries correspond to the boundaries of the mesh.
Ortho lighting
When the scene is lighted with “Spot” or “Point” light sources, the rays from such lamps do not propagate in parallel. This makes noticeable distortion, for example when lighting with textures.
The parallel ray’s propagation (orthogonally to its plane) we can get from the “Sun” lamp, but such light source does not support lightning with textures.
How to show all available nodes
We can get a list of all available shader nodes by their type.
To start, add any object to the scene, for example, a cube, create material for it, and delete all nodes. Here, in this material, we will display all the shader nodes available in Blender.
Blender EEVEE transparency blend modes – Multiply and Additive
In Blender 2.83 in the EEVEE render engine the “Additive” and “Multiply” modes that were present in Blender 2.80 were removed from the possible transparency blending modes.
But if you need to use these transparency blending modes in Blender 2.83, you can get them with nodes.
Blender EEVEE transparency blend modes – Multiply and AdditiveRead More »
How to randomly shift texture on objects
To shift the texture randomly on different objects, the easiest way is to change its location along any of the axes by a random value.
Random Per Island
In Blender 2.82 we can get a random index of UV islands in the Shader Editor through the “Geometry” node
Works only for the “Cycles’ render engine.
Simple way to manage the SSS radius
In Blender 2.81 with the “Vector Math” node we can simple regulate the subsurface radius:
Get Specular reflections from IOR
The official Blender documentation provides a method to get the “Specular” value for the PBR-material reflections if the “IOR” value is known. To get the “Specular” value from the “IOR” value, we can use the following equation:
It is not difficult to create it with nodes:
EEVEE Shadow Catcher
There is a convenient opportunity in the Cycles render engine to render an object with shadows on a transparent background using material with the “shadow catcher” option. There is no such material in EEVEE render engine, however, in EEVEE we can make our own “shadow catcher” based only on nodes.
Completed “EEVEE Shadow Catcher” material you can get from the BIS library.
Lighting with textures
In Blender Cycles using common lamps we can illuminate objects with any texture, not just a single color.
Add an object, for example – sphere, to the scene:
shift+a – Mesh – UVSphere
and set a simple diffuse shader to it.
Procedural gradients
Except for the “Gradient Texture” node, we can obtain a gradient factor by using some simple equations. Look for the mathematics with a spherical gradient sample.
- Uniform gradient
Can be created based on a downward-facing cone equation.
Texture pixelization
The simplest way to pixelate texture, procedural or not – get the color from the single pixel and fill the region with required width and height (resolution) with this color.
Here is the gradient texture with red – green – blue colors:
To pixelate it with the first step of resolution we can make some vectors manipulations.
Tiling procedural textures in Blender
Creating separate elements of procedural textures in Blender is quite simply – find the desired formula, rebuilt it using mathematical nodes, and as a result, get the desired shape. However, textures created this way have one feature – no tiling. Tiling – a cyclic texture duplication, most time is considered harmful, and professional 3D artists try to avoid texture tiling. But sometimes tiling is necessary, for example, when creating patterns or ornaments.
The procedural texture element is always created in a single instance. This is because all the mathematics that forms the actual procedural image is based on the initial data – coordinates that start from 0, spread out to infinity and not repeat. However, the same mathematics helps us to solve this problem.
Creating procedural textures in Blender
All procedural textures in Blender are based on math. Even such irregular structures as “Voronoi” and “Noise” are actually generated according to the mathematical formulas. An exact mathematical algorithm is sewed up into each base material node to obtain the desired image as a result.
We can not specify such algorithms in Blender in the usual mathematical format. However, among other nodes, Blender provides us the “Math” nodes – the wrap over simple mathematical operations. Using these nodes we can build complex mathematical algorithms yourself, generating interesting textures.
Rotating texture by nodes
In order to achieve the desired texture mapping on the object surface, we need a convenient tool for manipulating the texture coordinates. Especially for procedural textures mapped to the object without using UV-s.
The “Mapping” node combines tools for texture moving, rotating and scaling is suitable for most of the texturing tasks. But sometimes its power is not enough. Its major drawback is that it allows setting adjustment values only in certain fields within the node body. These fields have no inputs and cannot be connected to the other nodes.
However, we can implement the required functionality devoid of the “Mapping” node lack with the help of some other nodes. Let’s consider how to build a node tree to rotate the texture around the Z-axis of the object by a random value.
