Quote - For example, you may have a wood grain pattern that you got from a photo, or you may have done it with procedural math. The photo pattern will probably be more interesting visually. But in either case, you must use a realistic Fresnel reflection, taking into account the right amount of blur, with conservation of energy, or it will not look like real wood, even if it's a photo of wood!

I agree on that when you mean lacquered wood, but when you have a simple sheet of untreated plywood, a photo and a diffuse or clay shader will do.

best regards,

Bopper.

Duh - what is going on here? Do I have to spell out every exception before I make any point? LOL

Materials with close to zero specularity are the only ones that do not require some kind of special treatment. You can plug that photo directly into Diffuse_Color and you're good.

As soon as you need specularity, the Poser Surface alone fails.

Has anybody ever asked me for how to make a shader for raw lumber or a clay pot or paper? No. It's not difficult. I talk about difficulties, not simplicities, in my shader threads.  It's not very interesting teaching people what they already know.

I get asked all the time about skin, metal, metallic skin paint/makeup, glossy lips, water, glass, leather, paint, finished wood, plastic bottles. None of these work well without nodes in Poser.

---

Renderosity forum reply notifications are wonky. If I read a follow-up in a thread, but I don't myself reply, then notifications no longer happen AT ALL on that thread. So if I seem to be ignoring a question, that's why. (Updated September 23, 2019)