I decided to try modelling a ‘complete’ set of rpg gaming dice. I have fun making everything the right size, and bevelling out the edges.
This is a rendering of the whole group of dice together. I think the part I like best about the dice models is that I made the materials so well. There is a base shader that is the main material, and one material for the numbers.
Each face in these polygonal models that has a number on it is a blend of the two materials. There is a set of b/w bump maps that also act as the blending function for the two materials. The practical upshot of all of this is that I can change the look and feel of a whole die by changing only two materials instead of, as in the case of the d20, 21 shaders. If I were just using textures, I would have to redo the whole set of textures for each set of materials.
To see a dramatic change of materials, click the image to follow the link to a very different result. The change between these sets of materials took about 5 minutes at most.
On a totally different note, I like the soft shadows from the left side light. For contrast, I left the top light casting hard shadows. (If you’re unfamilar with the terms, look at the edges of the shadows from each light)
