Path Tracing Through Acrylic: A Photorealism Journey on Render Network — Blender Conference 2025

"Path Tracing Through Acrylic: A Photorealism Journey on Render Network" by Raphael Rau at Blender Conference 2025 What happens when you combine a passion for mechanical keyboards with the challenge of rendering translucent acrylic, all whilst diving into a new 3D software? Join Raphael "Silverwing" Rau as he walks through his complete workflow for creating a product presentation that pushes both artistic vision and computational limits, completing an entire project within a single week. Using the upcoming Encore Keyboard Series 3 as the hero product, this classroom explores the intersection of photorealistic lighting and complex material behavior. Raphael will demonstrate his approach to tackling these computationally intensive scenarios in Blender Cycles, from initial material setup through lighting design to final render optimization, translating hard-won Cinema 4D insights into the Blender ecosystem. The session will showcase how cloud rendering transforms the workflow with distributed computation on the Render Network, making ambitious projects accessible to artists regardless of their hardware limitations. We&explore practical techniques for managing complex translucent materials while maintaining that "indistinguishable from a photograph" quality Raphael is known for. – #BCON25