Octane is also capable of creating “non-photorealistic” images, and the toon material is one way to do this. You can almost look at the layered material as custom coding your own shader, without the speed hit (or the learning curve.) If you have a need for a more sophisticated look, try to get it with the Layered material first before resorting to the slower-evaluating nodes. However, the Layered material was introduced recently, and it allows you to effectively “custom build” the material you want, via Material layer nodes. LayeredĪs noted, the rest of the other nodes offer more capability, but at the price of speed. There are some additional tuning options, such as Fake Shadows, that you can use to get even more speed out of specular. Like the other original types, Specular also evaluates once per pixel and can be used as a contributor of the Mix Material. SpecularĬlarity is what you get with the specular material, as it gives you transparent surfaces. For metallic objects, use the Metallic material instead, as it offers more options to help dial in the look of realistic metallic surfaces. Like diffuse, it also evaluates once per pixel and can also be used as a contributor for the Mix Material. If you need shiny reflections, Glossy is the way to go. It evaluates once per pixel and can be used as one of the two contributing materials of the Mix Material. About as plain as you can get, this material is best used when you don’t need shininess or transparency.