Feature Request - Glossy Parameter

[sjefen]

I would like to see a parameter that allows us to change the glossiness of a shader. Something that looks like reflection, but it doesn't reflect anything other then light I think. This would be great for mountain rock for example. Give them a little shininess . I think it would help reducing rendertime a lot compare to reflection as well.

Regards,
Terje

[PorcupineFloyd]

Have you tried a regular reflection but with ray trace reflections turned off?

[sjefen]

No. Will that do the same trick?
Anyway... that is not an option for individual shaders.

Regards,
Terje

[neuspadrin]

Anyway... that is not an option for individual shaders.

On the reflective shader there is a "Ray traced reflections" checkbox on each one

[PorcupineFloyd]

It should work well for your needs. It looks good for wet sand, ice or even fresh vegetation (very low settings on grass leafs make all the difference).

[neuspadrin]

I usually like to use it as wet ground, as a very soft layer on top of some shoreline.  Gives it a glossy feel without the insane reflection.

Afterall, thats what gloss is basically.  Shiny, but low reflection.  You could also use it on rocks to make it look like gold specs inside them.  Or for wet rocks.  Etc etc. 

[dandelO]

If you only want the glossiness from the reflective shader(not ray-traced), you'd probably be better using the specular channel of a default shader. The reflective shader only renders this same specular output when ray traced reflections are unchecked.

The 'default shader' also has extra options to control the specularity, that the reflective shader doesn't as default; Reflectivity image/function, specular roughness image/function.

[attachimg=#]

[sjefen]

I don't understand.
Doesn't the "Specular" option in the "Default shader" reflect? or does it only make the glossy effect that I'm after?

[TheBlackHole]

I'm pretty sure it only makes highlights.

[PorcupineFloyd]

My experience tells me that it only makes highlights and doesn't add much to a render time (I usually set this parameter between 0.1 and 0.2 for scenes with lots of grass or other vegetation).

[Oshyan]

Correct, "specular" is not the same as "reflective".

- Oshyan

[dandelO]

I found the quote from Matt about this:

Greg,

A reflective shader following the default shader will work fine. The reflective shader adds a reflective coating to anything that comes before it. Just have the default shader feed into the main input of the reflective shader.

If you decide not to use ray-traced reflections for speed reasons, then there is no real reason to use the reflective shader. The default shader's specular settings are the same as a reflective shader with ray tracing disabled.

Matt