Using NK Data via Phong NK Preset (New for 1.03)

The Phong NK v2 provides a list of NK Materials for users to quickly generate physically accurate real-world materials such as silver, copper, aluminum, gold, or compound materials like zinc selenide (ZnSe), water (H2O), or iron silicide 1 (FeSi2El1).

You are then allowed to assign various metal appearances for your models without spending times adjusting their material settings in iClone.

Please also refer to the web site for the details of NK data by clicking here.

  1. Create an object and select it in iClone.
  2. Open the iClone Indigo Render Settings panel.

    Note:

    By default, the object will be applied with the Auto-convert shader for version 6.0 and Auto-convert v2 for version 6.03 or above.

  3. Click the Assign Indigo Shader button to open the corresponding panel.
  4. Apply the Phong - NK to the object by double-clicking on it.

    Note:

    Double-click material application only, works in version 6.03 or above.

  5. Select a desired element from the NK data drop-down list in the iClone Indigo Render Settings panel (The default preset is ag for silver).

    Note:

    The items in the drop-down list are commonly-used metal elements or compound materials.
  6. Optionally adjust the Exponent or Fresnel values to change the appearance based on the chosen element.

    Note:

    • Exponent: The surface smoothness of an object. Higher exponent will create more mirror-like surfaces.
    • Fresnel: The overall strength of the environmental reflection.
  7. Render the project with Indigo.

    Result with default Exponent and Fresnel values (1000, 1)

    Exponent = 10000
    Fresnel = 1

    Exponent = 1000
    Fresnel = 0.1

Advantages of using NK Data

By using the NK data, you may then create realistic metal textures for your custom objects without modifying their materials in iClone.

Objects without any material modifications in iClone

Rendered result in Indigo using NK Data presets

Gold Bars: Au (Gold)
Coins: Ag (Silver)
Safe: Cu (Copper)

Disadvantages of using NK Data

Using NK data will completely override previous material settings inside iClone.

Objects with material settings in iClone

Rendered result in Indigo using NK Data presets

Cans: Al (Aluminum)
Plate: Pt (Platinum)
Trophy: Ti (Titanium)