What The Phong!?

[valerostudio]

Do any of you guys use the Phong shader? If so, in what cases do you prefer it over Blinn? Ward from what I understand is for metals and should be used lightly because of increased render times, correct?

[thomthom]

I haven't played around with the shaders in V-Ray. When I used 3ds max many years ago I was messing about with it - but I can't remember what I used them for.

[valerostudio]

Did some testing using the FormFonts tester ball to compare the 3 shaders and their affect on render time. Phong seems to render faster and blur reflections a bit less. Ward, from what I am told, is good for metals but render times are much longer. Blinn seems to be good for materials where you want really blurry reflections.

All renders are setup with a fresnel reflection at .85 Glossiness with 12 subdivs.

---

---

---

[andybot]

nice - thanks for the test samples. I guess I've used a shorthand comparison to keep them straight in my head: Phong = plastic; Blinn = wood (lacquered); Ward = metal.

[holmes1977]

Cheers for the tests. Ive only used WARD out of all those shaders.

[solo]

[thomthom]