[Shader] Chilli shader

Hi there!
I’m making a scene, in which I will have a chilli pepper present, and so I try to create some realistic shader for it. But I’m lacking experience with cycles’ shaders, so I ask for your help, advice and experience!

Here I am so far (so far from perfect actually…) .BLEND FILE HERE


and node setup


And I’m going for this (if possible) (Hi-Res)


The displacement of the mesh is achieved with displace modifier with clouds texture in it…
I have tried quite a few things (color ramps, fresnels, camera facing…) but - probably because my lack of skills - I can’t seem to achieve the look I want…

Could you please lend me a hand with this? Thank you fellows!

displacement is way too high !
and an HDRI map to get more glossy

happy cl

Thanks for your suggestions… I added a .blend file so you could experiment with the node setup as well. Thank you!

Your bump map is too uniform and “perfect” IMHO, rather like something that was made in a factory than something grown and natural. When I look at your reference image, I think I see different patterns:

  • A linear one that runs perpendicular to the length of the pepper, almost like growing rings on e. g. a carrot…
  • …and on top of that a more erratic, “cloudy” pattern.

Here’s my quick shot at something similar in Cycles (needs fine-tuning, of course, and might need to be toned down a notch):



Wow man! Thanks! Gonna try your setup! By the way, how did you make the top green material? thanks! :slight_smile:

Anyway, here’s my progress so far… still looks fake though…


and node setup


also - .BLEND FILE

did a very quick one to get more glossy may be too much !
but need to add an HDRI map like studio15 that i use in file!


contrast_scene2.blend (676 KB)

play with roughness very little or loose glossy !
but glossy is too strong here

have fun

happy cl

modified you post #6
added an hdri map
lower layer weight
added another mix shader with glossy


happy cl

I guess it now looks a bit too glossy :stuck_out_tongue:

what about using some SSS (sub surface scattering)? seems like a good candidate.

TBH, that’s just an image of a cooking cucumber, UV mapped to the stem and then spiked with a noise texture as bump map…:wink:

What an idea!! thanks man :smiley:

Yep might be, but unfortunately I have no clue how to do it… could you help me? :slight_smile:

I am pretty clueless when it comes to using SSS in cycles, sadly, but some one will know what to do.

So after couple of hours literally, here’s what I have… :stuck_out_tongue: What do you say (just focus on the red part… the top is just a placeholder green diffuse shader)
(BTW I learned more about making shaders than than ever :stuck_out_tongue: … Painfully, but I guess permanently)


and node setup


Aaaand .BLEND FILE :slight_smile:
What do you say?

you can make it old too ! LOL


happy cl

Here’s my first draft. Needs work. The wave texture bump lines are too sharp.


So glad to see your interest! :slight_smile:
Anyway, what would you say on my latest progress?
Also I ask everybody to post your node setup along with your contribution :wink:

Another improvement!

  • Discovered how to use bump nodes a bit :stuck_out_tongue:
  • Smallest displacement made bigger according to reference photos
  • smaller light source…
  • small node tweaks here and there…

Node setup


and .BLEND FILE

Please share your thoughts!! :slight_smile: THX

The bump looks very good.
I think the actual colour could do with a little more attention
At the moment the colour on the shaders is fixed
e.g. apply a very small amount of colour variation using a noise + colour ramp


{only lores render in 3d view}


Nice shader!

Martin