Material and shader tips

Canden Picard

So, I have gotten the same statement like 3 times "Your stuff looks like early 90's. Which I dont really take as an insult because I dont know a whole lot about shaders / render plugins / Material techniques. SO what are some must have tools for a modeller like me. If I want to go for that sci-fi photorealistic look. Also I can never seem to get my materials right. ANy good resources?

eld

people can do some really sick realistic stuff with just the diffuse/normal/spec combo, without any fancy rendering techniques.

post an example and then people can tell you exactly where you need to go with it

Canden Picard

Well, This model inparticular is just basic materials. I can never seem to get the gun metal look right. Just as an example.

Xoliul

I'd forget software rendering if I were you. Just go realtime, I think it's easier and fatser if you use the right tools.
For that gun specifically, this might help you:
http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/3d-art/create-beautiful-realtime-renders-using-the-xoliul-viewport-shader-in-3ds-max/

Keep in mind it depends on the quality of your textures as well.