Practice: Lighting & Materials

In order to get better at anything, one must practice. This 3D stuff isn’t any different. I wanted to work on some material stacking in Cinema 4D & Redshift and had a model of skis that I just downloaded. Sounded like a good combo to me so I went with it. Carbon fiber looks rad and visually impressive so I thought I would give it a shot. About 10 minutes in I realized how important lighting is when showing carbon fiber so this turned into a lighting practice session as well. Once you get the reflectiveness high enough it becomes more about light placement and camera angle more than anything else.

I’ve posted this pic elsewhere and got mixed reviews. Some say “WOW! Great reflections!” while to others say that they look painted on. What do you think? Comment below and if you have tips for carbon fiber, let me know!