Thread by @pixelbeat

Hey, thank you y’all! Feeling incredibly lucky for all the reactions.

Thanks again to @jsngr & everyone at @diagram for let me play with this. Mad ❤️.

Here are my favs. And I’ll share some tips and the process, so you get a better idea. 1/n #b3d

Ok, first, these renders were made in fact with @Blender. #b3d is amazing, you should learn how to use it. Is powerful, is open source and multi-platform.

As @andrewpprice (Blender Guru), sometimes the you'll just need to stick to the Principled material.

2/n

The Principled BSDF is like a toolkit. Blender generalized the most complex scenarios on this versatile shader.

Tweak the IOR (Index of Refraction) to and see how light will changes directions.

By adding a color gradient to the lighting setup, I'm half way there.

3/n

When it comes to transparent materials, everything is about how much light are you providing to the scene.

You can add a global HDRI light and crank the Strength value.

4/n

You can expand the spectrum colors that are traveling thru your glass material, by adding colors to your light setup.

With an Emission shader, you can send color thru the beam.

Pippin' a gradient texture (here using @diagram's colors) and boom!

5/n

@diagram But you want to make your own stuff, right?
Most common approach is to recreate parts of the Principled BSDF by composing your own thing.

The Light Path node can conditionally help you break that workflow.

You can recompose a glass shader with multiple colored glass nodes.

6/n

Look, I'm a shader hoarder. Not long ago I learned that you can have multiple Material Output nodes inside the same material. #BlenderTrick

The one selected will be the one that Blender is gonna use.

This gives you a tremendous advantage to compare different directions.

7/n

These are 4 of my personal favs. 2 of them are paid and customized. 2 are based on the technique I just showed you.

So, how do I choose the right one? Think about the time it takes to produce something meaningful.

The complex the shader, the more light it needs.

8/n

You can tell Blender to halt the rendering process with a timer.

In 15 seconds, which one looks the best?

9/n

Same composition, same lighting setup. 15 seconds.

Which one would you pick, right?

10/n

Ok, last one... if I have to start learning Blender today, I'll stick to the Principled BSDF and later start recomposing and understanding to recreate a diffused glass material.

15 seconds. vs No Time Limit and 2048 samples.

The End✌🏻