Shading In Blender 

A Step By Step Guide For Complete Beginners

What is Shading?

In Blender, shading is what makes your model look real, or stylized, depending on what you’re going for. Shading controls things like the color, shininess, and roughness of your object. This guide will help you understand how to apply different materials to separate parts of your model. Let’s say you are working with a plane for example and you want the body of your plane to be one material and the wings to be another.

Getting Started: Setting Up Blender for Shading

Before we jump into shading, let’s make sure everything is set up:

  1. Open Blender: When you first open Blender, you’ll see the default scene with a cube in the center. If your object (like the plane you modeled) isn’t loaded yet, go ahead and open it by clicking on File > Open from the top-left corner of the screen and finding your model.

  2. Switch to Shading Workspace: Blender has several workspaces, and to work with materials, we want to switch to the Shading Workspace.

    • At the top of your screen, you’ll see a horizontal list of options like Layout, Modeling, and so on. Click on Shading.

    • This will split your screen into two main sections: the 3D Viewport (where you see your model) and the Shader Editor (where we’ll build the materials).

Step 1: Entering Edit Mode to Select Parts of Your Model

In Blender, you have to tell it which part of your model you want to apply materials to. First, let’s enter Edit Mode to select specific faces on your model:

  1. Select Your Object: In the 3D Viewport (the part where your model is displayed), right-click on your model to select it. Your model should now be highlighted in orange, meaning it’s selected.

  2. Switch to Edit Mode:

    • Press the Tab key on your keyboard, or click the dropdown menu in the top-left corner of the 3D Viewport (it should say "Object Mode" by default) and select Edit Mode.

    • Your model will now display its wireframe with points, lines, and faces.

  3. Select Faces on Your Model:

    • In Edit Mode, we can select individual faces. Press the number 3 on your keyboard to activate face select mode (you’ll see three small icons on the left for vertex, edge, and face selection; the face option is the last one).

    • Click on any face of your model (e.g., a wing of your plane). If you want to select more faces, hold down the Shift key while clicking other faces.

Step 2: Creating a New Material for Selected Faces

Now that you’ve selected some faces on your model, we need to give them a material:

  1. Go to the Material Properties Panel:

    • On the right side of your screen, you’ll see a sidebar with several icons. Click on the Material Properties tab (it looks like a small red sphere).

    • Here, you’ll see any materials your object already has (it might be empty if this is your first time).

  2. Add a New Material Slot:

    • You’ll notice a + button just above the list of materials. Click it to create a new material slot.

    • After adding the new slot, click New to create a new material. You can name it something like “Fuselage” or “Wing” depending on which part you’re working on.

  3. Assign the Material to the Selected Faces:

    • Once the new material is created, click the Assign button (just below the material list). This applies the material only to the faces you selected.

Step 3: Using the Principled BSDF Shader

Now that you’ve applied a material, it’s time to customize how that material looks using the Principled BSDF shader. This shader is a powerful all-in-one tool that lets you control things like color, roughness, and metallic effects, all in one place.

  1. Open the Shader Editor:

    • The Shader Editor is located at the bottom of the screen in the Shading Workspace (the lower section with the nodes).

    • You’ll see that the Principled BSDF node is already there by default, connected to a Material Output node.

  2. Customize the Material:

    • Base Color: The first thing you’ll want to change is the base color. In the Principled BSDF node, click the white color bar next to Base Color. Choose a color that suits the part of the model you're working on.

    • Roughness: This controls how shiny or matte the material looks. Drag the slider left for a shinier surface (like polished metal) or right for a more matte look (like rough plastic or fabric).

    • Metallic: If the part you’re shading is metallic (like a plane’s fuselage), drag the Metallic slider up to increase its metallic quality.

  3. Preview Your Changes:

    • To see how your model is looking, switch to Material Preview mode by clicking the small sphere icon at the top right of the 3D Viewport. Now you’ll be able to see your changes live as you adjust the Principled BSDF settings.

Step 4: Repeating the Process for Other Parts of the Model

If you want to assign different materials to other parts of your model (like giving the plane’s wings a different look), here’s what to do:

  1. Select New Faces: Go back to Edit Mode, select the faces for the next part of your model (like the wings).

  2. Add a New Material Slot: In the Material Properties panel, click + to add another material slot, then click New to create a new material.

  3. Assign and Customize: Click Assign to apply this new material to the selected faces, and then use the Principled BSDF shader to customize it as you did before.

Step 5: Rendering Your Shaded Model

Once you’re happy with the materials on your model, it’s time to render it:

  1. Switch to Render View: To see how your final model will look with lighting and shading, switch to the Rendered View in the top right of the 3D Viewport (it’s the last icon that looks like a ball with shadows).

  2. Render Your Image: Once everything looks good, press F12 on your keyboard or go to Render > Render Image at the top of the screen.

Congratulations! You’ve now successfully shaded your first model in Blender using different materials and the Principled BSDF shader.

Final Thoughts

Shading in Blender might seem intimidating at first, but by following these simple steps, you’ll be able to add realistic or stylized materials to any model. This technique of separating mesh faces and using the Principled BSDF shader will form the foundation for more advanced texturing and shading as you progress. Keep experimenting, and have fun!