by itsallgoode9 » Wed Aug 09, 2017 10:09 am
itsallgoode9
Wed Aug 09, 2017 10:09 am
Imagine working in Photoshop if you could only make 2 layers interact at a time...
Basic stuff like you're showing is not a problem, but it gets messy and hard to read with complicated materials. The 2 material mix material setup as a the default way to combine materials adds zero benefit over a layered system, it only needlessly complicates graph nodes; there is nothing in your graph node that couldn't be achieved in a layered setup, all the while, reducing two of your mix material nodes, effectively cutting your node graph in half.
The first image I attached shows one of my material graphs for a project at work. All the nodes circled in red are mix nodes piped into other mix nodes. The second image shows how the same material would be laid out if it were a layered material approach. In the layered setup, it can clearly be seen that there are 5 of materials. If another artist were to work on my project, they could see that immediately , without needing to decipher anything . With the mix material setup, there is no way to figure out exactly what is going on without tracing your through the entire graph from the topmost node.
A layered approach reduces nodes needed AND keeps all of your material nodes in the same space visually, making it easier to read.
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Intel i7-3930K, 64gb RAM, Asus X79 Deluxe mobo, 2x EVGA 780 6gb (for rendering), 1x PNY quaddro k4000 (for display)
Windows 8.1 x64, Maya 2014, Octane Render v2