The Ward and Westin specular plugin shaders (already in A:M) can be used for those pie-cut shaped specular highlights we see on LPs, 45s, CDs, DVDs, metal knobs,... anything with a concentric groove or polishing pattern.

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this demo also used the "Glossy" specular shader for the non-grooved vinyl parts of the record, but it's only visible in that glint on the very edge of the disc.


One tricky point... the center point of the Ward (and Westin) specular pattern is located at the bone that the mesh is attached to and is not defined by any particular circular arrangement of the splines.

Good to know. Last year I DID a record animation and could have used this knowledge.... well, I still have the record/player model and will review it with this sweet shader, thanks Rob!

The Ward shader's longer-than-wide specular can also be used for certain turned metal finishes.

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Edit: remember that you need to have "Plugin Shaders" ON in the your Render Options for any plugin shaders you have in your models to be used.

i have to admit i don´t know what most of the shaders are for... i´ve tried them all once, but if you don´t know what they are good for it´s kinda hard to figure out... ok, some are very clear, like skin, velvet or glossy... but there are some shaders i didn´t know what to do with... like the ward specular shader thanks ... is there anywhere a complete documentation on those shaders?

Not for A:M, but...

Many of these "plugin shaders" have standard CG names and are based on established practices.

So you can search for Minnaert or Phong or Pharr Skin on the web to get some general discussion and see what other apps do with them.

Also search this forum as Yves may have posted something when he coded them

That's good stuff Robcat. Thanks for turning me on to it.

Robert:

I downloaded your project file, enables the ward shader in both the model and the choreography but cannot duplicate your render? What am I overlooking?

Eric, did you turn shader ON in the render options?

I believe the problem was that I set specular values in the can surface. When I rolled them back to not set, it worked. I really like that shader. Thanks Rob.

Now I got the bug to make realistic looking condensation on the can. What I have is not looking too good.

I thought I could use "Fluid" to sweat some drops on the can surface but i coudln't get them to appear ON the surface. Even with 0 velocity they would be off it.

You might have better luck with Blobbies.

I updated my spinning record above to now have semi-realistic color-fringed highlights. These would probably be more appropriate on a CD but i had the record set up already.

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This is done by making one light a specular only light and sweeping it's color thru the spectrum and slightly turning it during the course of a multipass render.

Very nice!

very cute..me likee

After looking at a CD closely, I see that the highlight spectrum can go both ways. Some faint ones go in the direction I show, but stronger ones stretch from center to edge.

I'll have to think a bit on how to duplicate that.

Not much to do with what your doing ,but I thought it looked good on the clothing

Those are tight pants! How does she even get into them?

hoo hoo - that would be a great animation exercise - it usually involves quite a bit of jumping and pulling and legs flying all over the place

What you never heard of liquide pants.I remember in the sixtees when I got my first Livi's and you had to wear them in the bath to shrink them ,now theye came out tight lol but what a great pare of strides .lasted for years