In this recipe we will create a generic plastic shader, adding a slight granularity to the surface:
Start Blender and load the file 1301OS_04_start.blend. It's a prepared scene with Suzanne (the monkey head primitive that is also Blender's mascot) leaning on a plane, a Camera, a Mesh light and an already set low intensity gray World.
Now, straight to the material creation:
- If not already, select Suzanne and click on New in the Material window under the Properties panel or in the Node Editor header. Rename the material
Plastic_green_soft. - Set Viewport Shading of the Camera view to Rendered.
- Switch the Diffuse shader with a Mix Shader node. In the first Shader slot select a Diffuse BSDF shader, in the second Shader slot select a Glossy BSDF.
- Change the Diffuse color to a bright green (R 0.040, G 0.800, B 0.190) and the Glossy shader color to pure white; set the Roughness value of the Glossy shader to 0.300.
- Add a Noise Texture node (press Shift + A and go to Texture | Noise Texture), then add a Texture Coordinate node (press Shift + A and go to Input | Texture Coordinate) and a Mapping node (press Shift + A and go to Vector | Mapping).
- Connect the Object output of the Texture Coordinate node to the Vector input of the Mapping node and the output of this one to the input of the Noise Texture node.
- Set the Noise Texture scale to
50.000. Add an RGB to BW node (press Shift + A and go to Convertor | RGB to BW) and a Math node (press Shift + A and go to Convertor | Math); connect the Noise Texture node's Color output to RGB to BW and the RGB to BW node's Val output to the first Value input of the Math node. - Set the Math node operation to Multiply and the second Value to
0.100; connect its Value output to the Displacement input socket of the Material Output node.
This is one of the simplest materials you can build in Cycles; it consists of a colored Diffuse component mixed at 50% with a white Glossy shader. A tiny Noise Texture, connected directly to the Displacement input of the Material Output node, adds a slight dotted bump effect to the whole material; this effect actually is optional, the shader is already very plastic-looking without the bump.