How to Render: communicating form and rendering a wide range of materials by Scott Robertson

How to Render: communicating form and rendering a wide range of materials Reviews

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  Natik

  This looks like the only mass market book on the subject so it's also the best! The section on curved reflections, the Fresnel effect, and general shading are pretty rigorous (though the shading needs more rigor). Unfortunately it's geared toward digital artists so they speak of various photoshop effects instead of paint pigments. The second half of the book is basically random stock photos for some reason.
  
  If you want to teach yourself the subject, I'd pair this book with "Presentation Techniques" by Dick Powell, which is really for industrial designers but it has extra info on reflectivity. I'd also look up the website "huevaluechroma.com" by David Briggs, which has the shading info with a proper level of rigor (although also unfortunately biased towards digital artists)
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  Shaz

  Very in depth book on how to make forms look 3D and how to render different materials and reflection. I would recommend this to beginners even if it is a bit complex because it will give you some info on the "science" of drawing/painting and demystify things a bit for you.
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  Lucas Street

  This book is the bible for people wanting to up their digital painting/ rendering abilities. Ive improved so so much just from a quick pass through first read. Gonna start going over it again and coming through it soon.
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  J-P Nihtinen

  A must have