did you know that you can control the size of specular ( eccentricity ) with a texture map?well you know now.

if you connect a black/white image into eccentricity you are controling the specular size with a texture.  belive it or not but this makes things easier and gives you control over the shader. 

white is eccentricity 1 and black is zero. with color you are controling the number.

it looks something like this right?

-less nodes

-more control

-more realistic

what do you think?

Less nodes, but you have less going on. You have to also modulate the reflectivity. In the little example two-Blinn shader, you showed both a change in eccentricity and a change in Specular_Color (via connection to a map) which means you were also modulating reflectivity.

I do agree with the general principle, but I'd go about it with a bit more math. I start with the premise of a control map defining less-more shiny. Then I translate less-more shiny into specific values of reflectivity and eccentricity, using math nodes.

If you plug a "shine" map into my VSS PM:Shine node, you would accomplish both eccentricity and reflectivity changes with one map.

Quote - Less nodes, but you have less going on. You have to also modulate the reflectivity. In the little example two-Blinn shader, you showed both a change in eccentricity and a change in Specular_Color (via connection to a map) which means you were also modulating reflectivity.

I do agree with the general principle, but I'd go about it with a bit more math. I start with the premise of a control map defining less-more shiny. Then I translate less-more shiny into specific values of reflectivity and eccentricity, using math nodes.

If you plug a "shine" map into my VSS PM:Shine node, you would accomplish both eccentricity and reflectivity changes with one map.

thank you for your post. but i dont think i understand what you mean.  

less shiny means also more strong reflection?

Shiny is not a technical term with a clear definition, but I know when somebody says one thing is shiny and another is not, they are combining two separately measurable quantities.

How blurry is the reflection? (eccentricity)

How bright is the reflection? (reflectivity)

More shiny means more bright, less blurry. More reflection, in a smaller space.

More dull means more blurry, less bright. Less reflection, in a bigger space.

In one of your shaders, you only modulated the blurr (eccentricity). In the other (the two-Blinn shader) you modulated both.