The following chart provides Diffuse and Reflection Color values that help you create realistic metallic shaders with V-Ray for Houdini:
Name | Base (diffuse) color | Reflection color | Metalness | Base color (web) | Reflection color (web) |
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Red | Green | Blue | Red | Green | Blue | |||||||||
Silver | 0.996078 | 0.996078 | 0.992157 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | fefefd | ffffff |
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Gold | 0.984314 | 0.901961 | 0.670588 | 1 | 0.980392 | 0.764706 | 1 | fbe6ab | fffac3 |
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Copper | 0.972549 | 0.811765 | 0.760784 | 0.996078 | 0.905882 | 0.847059 | 1 | f8cfc2 | fee7d8 |
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Aluminium | 0.960784 | 0.964706 | 0.964706 | 0.960784 | 0.980392 | 0.988235 | 1 | f5f6f6 | f5fafc |
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Chromium | 0.772549 | 0.772549 | 0.772549 | 0.568627 | 0.556863 | 0.690196 | 1 | c5c5c5 | 918eb0 |
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Lead | 0.831373 | 0.831373 | 0.85098 | 0.74902 | 0.752941 | 0.819608 | 1 | d4d5d9 | bfc0d1 |
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Platinum | 0.980392 | 0.972549 | 0.933333 | 0.996078 | 0.992157 | 0.976471 | 1 | faf8ee | fefdf9 |
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Titanium | 0.988235 | 0.976471 | 0.917647 | 0.996078 | 0.996078 | 0.980392 | 1 | fcf9ea | fefefa |
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Tungsten | 0.968627 | 0.92549 | 0.886275 | 0.984314 | 0.945098 | 0.854902 | 1 | f7ece2 | fbf1da |
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Iron | 0.952941 | 0.945098 | 0.921569 | 0.94902 | 0.960784 | 0.956863 | 1 | f3f1eb | f2f5f4 |
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Vanadium | 0.980392 | 0.952941 | 0.898039 | 0.996078 | 0.984314 | 0.94902 | 1 | faf3e5 | fefbf2 |
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Zinc | 0.945098 | 0.941176 | 0.937255 | 0.960784 | 0.968627 | 0.976471 | 1 | f1f0ef | f5f7f9 |
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Nickel | 0.952941 | 0.937255 | 0.886275 | 0.960784 | 0.960784 | 0.929412 | 1 | f3efe2 | f5f5ed |
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Mercury | 0.898039 | 0.898039 | 0.898039 | 0.878431 | 0.909804 | 0.941176 | 1 | e5e5e5 | e0e8f0 |
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Cobalt | 0.847059 | 0.831373 | 0.811765 | 0.803922 | 0.803922 | 0.815686 | 1 | d8d4cf | cdcdd0 |
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*The RGB values are relative representations. For a better result, use the hex (web) codes from the table.
You can try the values with the following test scene: Download Test Scene
The Index of Refraction (IOR) plays an important role when creating a physically based material and has to be considered as part of the shader. For metallic materials (having Metalness value of 1) it is automatically calculated from the Diffuse and Reflection colors: see the Artist Friendly Metallic Fresnel paper. For materials with Metalness < 1, the Fresnel IOR parameter from the interface is taken into account.
The site RefractiveIndex.info is a great resource for understanding the proper IOR of different materials.
Useful information on metallic surfaces can be found at the Journal of Computer Graphics Techniques site.
For detailed information on the Metalness parameter, go to Understanding Metalness Chaos blog post.
Examples
Below are some examples and their settings.
Diffuse color (0.7725, 0.7725, 0.7725), Reflection color (0.5686, 0.5568, 0.6901), Glossiness 1
Chromium
Diffuse color (0.9843, 0.9019, 0.6705), Reflection color (1, 0.9803, 0.7647), Glossiness 1
Gold
Diffuse color (0.9529, 0.9372, 0.8862), Reflection color (0.9607, 0.9607, 0.9294), Glossiness 1
Nickel
Move the slider to see the example renders.