luckybears opened this issue on Sep 01, 2012 · 30 posts
bagginsbill posted Sat, 01 September 2012 at 1:06 PM
I suspect the 85 node reference is to me.
My gold is not 85 nodes because it's gold. It's 85 nodes because:
It deals with automatically detecting Poser Pro render GC, and produce the same realistic results whether that is on or not. This makes it produce consistent appearance in Poser 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Pro, Pro 2010, and Pro 2012.
It deals with the Fresnel effect with maximum accuracy, without relying on the new Fresnel_Blend node. This makes it produce consistent appearance in Poser 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Pro, Pro 2010, and Pro 2012.
It deals with complex IOR, which means that the reflection color is not exactly a constant. This is a subtle point, and while you can get away without it, I am promising 99.5% accuracy in my shader, so it's there.
It has options for hammering effects.
It has options for brushed effects, horizontally and vertically.
It has options to be all other metals, not just gold, so there are quite a few things in there that are because it can be other than gold. Since these parameters need to be applied in multiple nodes (reflect, diffuse, specular) it becomes necessary to do additional node wiring so they can be set only in one place. If you're willing to edit the same parameter, such as color, in five or six places, then you don't need so many nodes.
It has options for overlaying paint which may be peeling.
It has options for rust.
It has options for a patina of age.
It has options for different buffed finishes.
It makes consistent highlights both from lights and from bright objects, no matter what you do to the parameters.
etc.
I understand you want to believe a simple one is adequate. It sure is.
I can make a perfectly adequate, usable gold in three nodes. But, nobody would know how to adjust it, so it would pretty much be an adequate gold with one finish, no patina, no hammering, no inlays, no paint, wouldn't work the same in Poser 7, etc.
Sorry I don't do "adequate".
Please don't take offense, but what I notice in your image above is that absolutely nothing looks even the slightest bit realistic.
As a result, I'm forced to ask: What point are you making?
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)