Recommendation: NSDT scene editor helps you quickly build 3D application scenes that can be redeveloped
If you don't want to go through all the steps in this tutorial, you can download the matlib (.mat) files for 3D Studio Max from the link at the bottom of this tutorial.
Note: Click the thumbnails in each step to view larger screenshots that include the viewport and relevant parts of the user interface.
Step 1 Create a new sphere and place it in the center of the perspective viewport with a radius of 30 and a segment of 40, move the sphere up on the left viewport as shown in the screenshot. Open the material editor (select from the render menu or press M) and assign the first material to the sphere and rename the material to Gold 24k.
Step 2 In the Material Editor, click the "Standard" button (next to the name "Gold 24K") and choose "Raytracing" from the list. Change the Shading Type to Bollinger.
Step 3 Set the diffuse color to RGB 70, 40, 0.
Step 4 Set the Specular Color to RGB 255, 240, 215. Set the Specular Level to 100 (for now) and the Glossiness to 65. In a finished scene with lighting and other objects in the environment, you might want to set the specular level to 0 and have the glowing objects create specular reflections in the golden objects.
Step 5 Click the empty square button next to Reflection Color, choose Falloff from the list, and click OK.
Step 6 Set the second color (click the white box) to RGB 255, 200, 100. Set the Falloff Type to Fresnel and set the Refractive Index value to 15.
Step 7 Press the "Background" button to reveal the colored checkerboard and get a better idea of how it will look in the scene.
Step 8 Now click on the "Go to Parent" button and scroll down to the "Supersampling" section of the material. Enable the Enable Samplers option and choose a maximum of 2.5 stars, or Hammersley if you have a fast computer.
Step 9 Next, let's make some changes to the environment, since gold doesn't look good on a black environment. It needs something like another object to reflect. Choose Environment from the Rendering menu and set Background Color to white. Close the Environment dialog.
Step 10 Add a Ground Plane with Length: 1000 and Width: 1000 on the top viewport.
Step 11 Open the Material Editor again, select the material below Gold 24K, and rename it from "7 - Default" to "Ground Plane". Click the small empty square button next to the diffuse color, choose Inspector from the list, and click OK.
Step 12 sets the tiling of U and V to 9. Set the W Angle to 45.
Assign the material to the plane object you just created (Plane01). You can do this by dragging the material to Plane01 in the viewport, or by clicking the Assign Material to Selection button in the Material Editor. Click the Show Map In Viewport button to display the material in the viewport.
Step 13 Rotate the perspective viewport and zoom in on the ball as shown in the screenshot. Press F9 or F10 to render the perspective viewport and check out the result.
We used the default lighting settings in this render, but if you added lighting yourself and want to make it more realistic, lower the Reflection value to at least 40 (in the Material Editor the Gold 24K material's Maps rollout column section).
Step 14
Silver looks similar to gold, so we can easily change the gold 24K material to silver. Open the Material Editor, drag and copy the Gold 24K material onto the material next to it, and change its name to Silver.
Change the diffuse color to RGB 197, 198, 200.
Step 15
Set the Specular Color to white (RGB 255, 255, 255).
Set the Specular Level to 90 and the Glossiness to 50.
Step 16
Scroll down in the Material Editor and open the Maps section. Change the Reflection Level to 70 and click the Map #X (Falloff) button.
Step 17
Change the second color of the Attenuation map to RGB 228, 229, 231 and the Index of Refraction value to 10.
Assign the material to the Sphere object by dragging the material to Sphere01 in the viewport, or by selecting the sphere and clicking the Assign Material to Selection button in the Material Editor.
Step 18
Press F9 or F10 to render the perspective viewport and check out the result.
Step 19
Now for the last metal in this tutorial: copper. Copper is a bit brown/orange and less reflective than gold and copper. Open the material editor, copy the silver material to the material next to it, and rename it copper.
Change the diffuse color to RGB 225, 87, 51.
Step 20
Set the specular color to white (RGB 255, 214, 196). Set the Specular Level to 80 and the Glossiness to 40.
Step 21
Scroll down in the Material Editor and open the Maps section. Change the Reflection Level to 40 and click the Map #X (Falloff) button.
Step 22 Change the second color of the Attenuation map to RGB RGB 255, 214, 196 and the Index of Refraction value to 7.
Assign the material to the Sphere object by dragging the material to Sphere01 in the viewport, or by selecting the sphere and clicking the Assign Material to Selection button in the Material Editor.
Step 23 Press F9 or F10 to render the perspective viewport and check out the result.
As I mentioned in the introduction, the material may need to be adjusted slightly to suit your purposes. For example, try using reflective values. Add a scratch map if you want to make it more realistic.
This concludes the tutorial. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it contributed to your skills and knowledge.
Here you can download the matlib files that contain the gold, silver, and copper materials used in this tutorial .
Original link: 3Ds max material production tutorial: Create gold, silver and copper metal materials (mvrlink.com)