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Smooth black aluminum appearance

Question asked by Zach Bjornson on Mar 7, 2016
Latest reply on Mar 11, 2016 by Kevin Schlaepfer

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Hello! I'm trying to get some parts to have a smooth, black anodized aluminum appearance. I've tried quite a few of the appearances in the library but they are either shiny or speckled.

Satin finish aluminum and matte aluminum look like this, with a speckled texture:

Polished aluminum is smooth, but even if I reduce the specularity I can't get the highlight to look more like anodized aluminum. (Rather, the "specular amount" is having zero effect on the rendering.)

The appearance contributed here: Make Black Anodized Aluminium in SW09 and working in PV360? also has a bit of texture to it:

Is this how those appearances are supposed to look?
Does anyone have any suggestions for getting a nice satin finish? Thanks!

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Scott Ellery Mar 8, 2016 9:56 AM

This can be tricky in PV360 , have you tried SolidWorks Visualize out?

you have much more control of your appearances in Visualize than in PV360, plus if you are using PV360 you can already get Visualize for free from the customer portal and activate it with your SolidWorks license, as long as you are on subscription.

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Kevin Schlaepfer Mar 8, 2016 11:11 AM

- First turn off the unsharp reflection or set a very low value

- Set reflection to 30-40% and glossiness to 50% at the begining

- Choose a roughness map (like you see in my example on the top aluminium rotated around the center, and the rest rotated metal with a black colour)

- Fly around the object and try to find out the value of roughness and unsharp reflection you need

Like that you should go on until you get the final result. For testing take a more complex object then a cube.

Here you get an inspiration what materials can be created in Photoview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-AUg_m23fM

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Zach Bjornson @ Kevin Schlaepfer on Mar 10, 2016 7:58 AM

Thank you Scott and Kevin. I'm in the middle of updating my subscription so it will be another day or two until I can try out Visualize. Upgrading from SW2014 to SW2016 and using Photoview 360 actually made a big improvement alone. Looking forward to trying Visualize. Kevin, are the renderings in your video from Photoview or Visualize?

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Kevin Schlaepfer @ Zach Bjornson on Mar 10, 2016 8:04 AM

In this movie every rendering is done with Photoview (from SW 2012 up to SW 2015).

I'm also looking forward to try Visualize... but I'm not sure if I can realise the same complex animations like in Photoview.

But for still pictures I will try it for sure because of the good results I've seen in other discussions.

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Rob Rodríguez @ Kevin Schlaepfer on Mar 10, 2016 1:48 PM

Currently Visualize animations are limited and don't have the same capability as SW/PV360.

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Kevin Schlaepfer @ Rob Rodríguez on Mar 11, 2016 2:44 AM

Hi Rob

Thanks for the answer... then I have to stay with my hope that one day in future there will be Visualize fully implemented in the Solidworks to get all benefits together.

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6 Replies

Scott Ellery Mar 8, 2016 9:56 AM
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Correct Answer
This can be tricky in PV360 , have you tried SolidWorks Visualize out?

you have much more control of your appearances in Visualize than in PV360, plus if you are using PV360 you can already get Visualize for free from the customer portal and activate it with your SolidWorks license, as long as you are on subscription.
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Kevin Schlaepfer Mar 8, 2016 11:11 AM
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- First turn off the unsharp reflection or set a very low value
- Set reflection to 30-40% and glossiness to 50% at the begining
- Choose a roughness map (like you see in my example on the top aluminium rotated around the center, and the rest rotated metal with a black colour)
- Fly around the object and try to find out the value of roughness and unsharp reflection you need

Like that you should go on until you get the final result. For testing take a more complex object then a cube.
Here you get an inspiration what materials can be created in Photoview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-AUg_m23fM
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- Zach Bjornson @ Kevin Schlaepfer on Mar 10, 2016 7:58 AM
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  Thank you Scott and Kevin. I'm in the middle of updating my subscription so it will be another day or two until I can try out Visualize. Upgrading from SW2014 to SW2016 and using Photoview 360 actually made a big improvement alone. Looking forward to trying Visualize. Kevin, are the renderings in your video from Photoview or Visualize?
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  - Kevin Schlaepfer @ Zach Bjornson on Mar 10, 2016 8:04 AM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    In this movie every rendering is done with Photoview (from SW 2012 up to SW 2015).
    I'm also looking forward to try Visualize... but I'm not sure if I can realise the same complex animations like in Photoview.
    But for still pictures I will try it for sure because of the good results I've seen in other discussions.
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
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    - Rob Rodríguez @ Kevin Schlaepfer on Mar 10, 2016 1:48 PM
      Mark Correct
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      Currently Visualize animations are limited and don't have the same capability as SW/PV360.
      Like • Show 0 Likes0
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      - Kevin Schlaepfer @ Rob Rodríguez on Mar 11, 2016 2:44 AM
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        Hi Rob
        Thanks for the answer... then I have to stay with my hope that one day in future there will be Visualize fully implemented in the Solidworks to get all benefits together.
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
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Smooth black aluminum appearance

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