feeblemind

Transparency and light refraction within a transparent material are key parameters in order to get a realistic rendering of a material like solid glass. This tutorial doesn't help with getting caustic spots, which is beyond the reach of the actual version of Blender without using an external renderer like Yafray.

For Blender: 2.48a - French version available

Read "Tutorial: transparency"

In the past, Blender used EnvMaps (environmental maps) in order to simulate the reflectiveness of objects. But this way was quite difficult, needing the use of Empties (null objects) and layers when a simple reflecting plane was needed. Fortunately, including Raytracing into the renderer eased the whole process and helped to achieve a greater realism.

For Blender: 2.48a - Version française disponible

Read "Tutorial: reflections"

Simulating rain for still images or for animation is a frequent topic from beginners. This tutorial will try to show a simple way for getting good looking results.

For Blender: 2.48a - French version available

Read "Tutorial: Making a rain effect"

This short tutorial aims at showing you how to give many different materials to the same mesh (up to 16 different indice)

For Blender: 2.48a - Version française disponible

Read "Tutorial: Material indice"