Model luminous 3D surfaces with these texture tips

If you’re new to CGI, you may feel that there are far too many 3D art tools to choose from in a dizzying array of software. In this article I'll aim to break everything in CGI down to the very basics, so that every artist can be armed with the knowledge of which tool is best. Let’s explore materials and shaders by looking at luminous surfaces.

Lighting is one of the key skills to master in CG, and learning what each of the light types can do really helps artists mimic the real world in their CG scenes. The issue is, not all lights are… lights. A lot of objects emit light, a classic example being the rear of a firefly. So how do CG artists re-create emissive objects? They do it through the use of luminous effects within the material itself.

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Mike Griggs

Mike Griggs is a veteran digital content creator and technical writer. For nearly 30 years, Mike has been creating digital artwork, animations and VR elements for multi-national companies and world-class museums. Mike has been a writer for 3D World Magazine and Creative Bloq for over 10 years, where he has shared his passion for demystifying the process of digital content creation.

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