actually no i didn't use any bevels or embosses in my diffuse at all - for the wood its just some adjustments to my normal map i already adjusted the metal to be a little bit darker right after i made this post, didn't click in till after i uploaded the pic...... but i was planning on a spec map, just thought that was best…
i usual enjoy doing high poly models, or low - never enjoyed the time spent on the maps (normal/diffuse/spec/etc) but i want to change that and i figured i would start with a small prop : ) did the high and low, got what i think is a good solid baked normal map, but now im on the texture itself which i believe as always…
The metal should be much darker than the wood in terms of diffuse. Metal is pretty dark, you should let the specular map handle the brightness in the metal.I personally disagree with your assessment of the metal and wood contrasting well at this point.
what makes metal look like metal is its reflections. you should make a spec map for this and implement an hdri into your scene. also the wood is kinda uniformly brownish, add some color cariation into it. though it looks kinda blurry right now... looks like u put a bevel and emboss into your diffuse...
That is a good decision with the metal. Maybe you should start thinking of making a spec map soon. That being said, you could probably make your diffuse metal darker and have the spec map metal be a lot lighter to make that material pop. Also, it would be easier to see your work if you changed your render bg from black to…