Cycles Materials

In Cycles, the process of building materials is quite different. You can use the Node Editor with Blender Render to achieve complex materials, but Cycles only allows for the use of really basic materials if you’re not willing to use nodes. Don’t worry; for now, we’ll keep it simple. Inside a Cycles material, you’ll find the Surface panel, which includes various types of surface shaders.

Diffuse: Creates a basic material with only color on it, but no shine, reflection, or other special properties

Glossy: Makes the material reflective and shiny

Emission: Makes the material emit light into the scene

Transparent: Lets light pass through the material

Glass: Simulates a glass surface

Mix: Mixes two different shaders to achieve a more elaborate effect on the material

There are many surface shaders; these are just some of the main ones. Each one of the shaders has different parameters to control how light affects it, such as color and roughness, for example. Accessing nodes makes it easier to create complex and custom materials by combining the effects of some of the shaders above and using textures (you’ll learn more about this in Chapter 10).