LEGO Materials in Blender Cycles

Hi guys! I was helping out with le717’s Blender LDraw Import Script by making Cycles materials for every type of brick. Well, I didn’t want to just keep them private, so I’ll share them with you. 🙂

Solid Plastic

This Node Setup will produce a Solid Plastic brick.

Diffuse: Diffuse color should be the color you want your brick to be.

Glossy: Glossy color should always be white. This simulates the plastic effect.

Transparent Plastic

You may think that a simple Glass Node will work for Transparent Plastic. You are right, it will work. But it will produce a very dark brick, because it does not cast transparent shadows. This quick Node Setup will produce a good effect for a transparent brick with translucent shadows.

Glass: Glass Node Color should be the color you want the brick to be.

Glossy: Glossy color should always be white.

 Chrome

For a Chrome LEGO brick, (such as Mr. Gold 😉 ) you can use this nifty Node Setup.

Diffuse: Diffuse color should be the color you want the brick to be.

Glossy: Glossy Color should always be the same color as Diffuse.

Metalic

This will show you how to make a Metalic material. Metalic bricks are not shiny like Chrome because, obviously, they haven’t been chromed.

Diffuse: Diffuse color should be the color you want the brick to be.

Glossy: Glossy color should be the same color as Diffuse.

Speckle

For Speckled bricks (such as the Troll’s Helmet), you can follow this Node Setup.

Diffuse: Diffuse color should be the color you want the brick to be.

Glossy: Glossy color should be dark gray. (HEX code #555555 )

Diffuse 2: The second Diffuse Node determines the color of the speckles. It is usually white.

Pearlescent

Here is a Node Setup for Pearlescent colored bricks.

Diffuse: Diffuse should be the color you want the brick to be.

Glossy: Glossy should be the same color as Diffuse.

Glitter

Transparent Bricks with Glitter on them are not used often. When they are used, here’s a node setup to help you.

Glass: Glass should be the color you want the brick to be.

Glossy: Glossy should always be white.

Diffuse: Diffuse should usually be white. This is the color of the glitter on the brick.

 Milky

Milky bricks are those bricks that have a milky color, such as glow-in-the-dark bricks. Here’s a node setup on how to create Milky Bricks.

Diffuse: Diffuse color should be the color you want the brick to be.

Translucent: Translucent color varies depending on what color your brick is. If you have a light color brick, keep it white. If you have a darker color (like black or blue) turn it to a medium-dark gray (HEX code #333333 ).

Rubber

For a rubber material (like LEGO Exo-Force hair or tires) this Node Setup should work.

Displacement

Of course, a little bump map doesn’t hurt any. 😉

These are basic material setups. If you are looking for more photorealism, please check out my tutorial.

Also, if you are unsure about what color to make your brick, try the official color lists from LDraw, Bricklink, or Peeron.

LDraw | Bricklink | Peeron

If you want to download the .blend file with all of these bricks, you are free to! These are LDraw Bricks, so you are free to do whatever with them. Credit for the shaders is not necessary, but if you will, I would appreciate it. 🙂

If you like them, please Like the post and leave a reply! If you have any improvements or anything else to say, please say so in the comments! 😀

-rioforce