Metals (raw, painted, chrome, gold/brass/copper)

Render raw, painted, chrome, gold, brass, and copper metals with distinct reflectivity, value shifts, edges, and surface finishes.

What it is

Metal surfaces use strong value changes and reflected light. Crisp value shapes and highlights help them read as reflective materials with solid forms.

Raw or brushed metal shows stretched reflections, slight grain, small value shifts, and elongated highlights. Painted metal follows the behavior of its paint layer, with broader highlights and simpler reflections. Scratches and worn corners can expose sharper, brighter metal beneath.

Chrome reflects its environment across the form, with hard transitions and small bright highlights. Gold, brass, and copper reflect the environment with warm color shifts in their darks and lights. Their strongest highlights approach white with a slight warm cast.

Why it matters

Metal-specific value ranges, edge sharpness, and reflected environments separate metal from plastic and other materials. Weak control can make chrome read as gray rubber, gold as yellow paint, or reflections as random stripes.

You can check it when

• ✓Paint a sphere or cube in chrome, gold, and brushed steel. Each material reads distinctly without labels or texture cheats.
• ✓Show reflections that follow the form, with curved areas warping the environment and flat planes keeping reflections straight. Check that painted-metal wear exposes a different metal with hard, bright edges.

Related skills

• Reflectivity at glancing angles (Fresnel effect)
• Matte/rough vs. glossy/polished
• The edge spectrum (hard, soft, lost, found)
• Bounce/reflected light and ambient occlusion
• Temperature (warm/cool relationships; temperature shifts across form)
• Weathering (rust, dirt, dust, scratches)
• Differentiating materials through value, edges, reflections, and texture