Arch-viz essentials

Arch-viz essentials is a collection of must have tools and shaders that will speed up your workflow and help you create better and more detailed renders without the heavy load on your PC.

Why should you use procedural materials?

• Infinite resolution
• Faster workflow
• Highly customizable
• Faster rendering

As a 3D artist specialized in architectural renders I always look to add detail and to get the sharpest and most realistic render and to do that you need either very high resolution and realistic textures which eat up a lot of memory or you can use procedural materials. 

FAQ

• Can you use it outside of Blender? -> Yes, you can bake the textures in Blender and export the images to another program.
• How to set it up? -> Simply download the blender file and put it in the a new folder then enable blender addon called "node presets" and point to the folder where you saved this file and next time you use Blender and want to create the material using this shaders simply press shift+a and under template you will find this shaders. This method is best used for tools, as for the shaders all are marked as assets and work both ways.
• Can default values be changed? -> Yes, all the values are set for the most realistic look but that doesn't mean you can't play outside of that, under shader editor simply expand the node tree and press "n" to get side toolbar and under "group" change the default values to your liking. Keep in mind that changing this might break the effect.
• Will there be future updates? -> Yes, as I make new materials I will update the library.

Shaders and materials

Procedural asphalt with cracks and pebbles

Glass with fake caustic effect which can be exaggerated with multiplier value. The effect works with glass color so by changing the glass color you change the color of the caustics. Why still use this instead of the new caustics? -> This way glass interacts with all the lights and based on their intensity while new caustics is limited to one. Keep in mind that in order to look and work like on picture object needs to have thickness.

Galvanized steel

Brushed steel with IF node implemented to control the orientation (x/y/z) of brushing.

Dark marble with dust particles on top.

White (calcatta) marble.

Concrete with cracks and holes.

Plaster.

Leather.

Architectural glass that allows all the light through and semi transparent curtain, (plaster on walls).

Tools and surface imperfections.

Edge detect node great for edge wear.

Surface scratches on Suzanne and soft dust on the background plane great for floors.

IF node that helps you mix choose which texture/color is used. Value controls which of the colors is in use, for instance to get the color green simply input any value 1.5>x<2.5 If you need more than 5 simply expand the node and add another greater then node and if you need less, adjust the maximum input value. This node is used for instance to change between 3 directions (x,y,z) in brushed steel node.