Preface

One of the most advanced 3D packages on the scene, Blender now has a powerful new tool to allow its users to achieve even more astonishing results: the Cycles rendering engine. Cycles is based on an accurate lighting model and realistic shaders. It is also blazing fast thanks to the fact that it can take advantage of modern GPUrendering capabilities. Cycles is definitely a modern and effective tool that every Blender user wants to know in order to get the best results. Blender Cycles: Lighting and Rendering Cookbook will take you a journey through the new great Blender rendering engine Cycles. We will start with understanding the fundamental concepts of this rendering engine, and use them to learn the creation of any kind of lighting, material, texture and setup. At the end of the book, both beginners and more advanced users will not only be able to create virtually any kind of shader and lighting, but will also be able to find and experiment with new techniques on their own. Thanks to the logical way in which the topics are presented in the book readers will be able to create their work without additional tutorials just using the knowledge they will master by reading this book.