Textures and shaders are the key to a great looking animation. The difference between stunning looks and mediocrity can be as simple as the way your objects bounce virtual light back at the camera. Here's a good real-world analogy. When I visited the set of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 in 1997, I got a chance to check out the prop shop. A lot of the phasers and other gadget props were just made out of wood, and in some cases, foam! The key to get them to look like metal fabrications of magic was simply a paint job. If you approach your 3D world the same way, the usefulness of high attention to detail in your textures is as plain as day.
In this chapter, we're going to discuss the principles of good shading in 3D. We're going to talk about all of the parameters of shading in Element 3D and how to think of them in terms of the real world. Finally, we're going to get the objects that you just created all textured up and ready in Element 3D.