Reflective windows?

Mr. Bean

Hi,

It feels like half my questions are about making objects reflective

I have some windows and I want to make them dark and reflective. What's the best way to make a material that will do this? They don't need to reflect actual stuff, it would be best if it was simply dark but reflects the light.

It's not a video game model, so I don't want to just paint a motionless texture onto it. If anyone's ever seen Spider-Man 3 the game then they'll know what I'm aiming for.

I use 3ds Max, and I have tried Mental Ray's A&D materials, but none of them were exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks!

THE 5

When you say spiderman 3, you mean something realy simple like that?


Just put a bitmap into the reflection-map slot of a default material.
In the "Coordinates" rollout tick "Environment" and sellect (prefearably) "Spherical Environment" from the dropdown list. Then turn the reflection strength down to whatever you need.

Mr. Bean

THE 5 wrote: »

When you say spiderman 3, you mean something realy simple like that?

Yes, exactly like that!

What kind of bitmap did you use? Any picture, or are certain colors in the bitmap preferable?

Also, what color is the diffuse for the material you used?

That picture you posted is EXACTLY what I was hoping for, so if I could mimic that it would be fantastic.

Thanks a ton for the response and help!

THE 5

In the past I spent quite some time seraching for spherical environment maps, just by googling. I think you should be able to find some, even HDRI ones are out there! Some Sites sell them but also offer plenty free, low-res examples, these should be enought for your purbose, at least for me they are sufficient

I used a simple .jpeg picture of a cloudy 360° Skymap.
The Diffuse is pure black 0,0,0.

Tut:



EDIT:
do you need to reflect other objects too, like that?

Mr. Bean

Great, trying it out right now

THE 5 wrote: »

EDIT:
do you need to reflect other objects too, like that?

No, the first image you posted in your first post was perfect, where it reflects the light but not any objects.

I think this is going to work, but I'll test it out really soon to make sure.

Mr. Bean

Brilliant, it worked!

Thanks a lot, 5!