Material Fundamentals: Procedural Textures in Blender 4

Name: Material Fundamentals: Procedural Textures in Blender 4
Rating: 4.7 (164 reviews)

Build a strong foundation in material creation using procedural methods

Created byCanopy Games, Erindale Woodford, Michael Bridges

Last updated 3/2025

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Navigate the Shader Editor and speed up workflows with essential shortcuts
Build procedural materials from scratch using Blender’s math and texture nodes
Set up and manipulate PBR and custom shaders for greater material control
Bake textures for reuse outside of Blender and optimise for different render engines

Course content

3 sections • 50 lectures • 7h 41m total length

Section Introduction0:50
Navigate the shader editor in Blender 4, master procedural textures like noise and Voronoi, and build glass shaders with liquid visuals using math nodes in Eevee.
Setup Blender For Shader Work2:53
Introduction To The Shader Editor12:19
Useful Shader Shortcuts14:10
A First Material7:30
Understanding Values In Shaders6:54
Learn how shader values rely on texture coordinates to inject spatial information, exploring uv coordinates, rgb channels, u and v axes, and color management for visualization.
The Texture Coordinate Node15:55
Explore the texture coordinate node in Blender, test each socket: generated, normal, UV, object coordinates, window coordinates, reflection, and position, and learn how local and world coordinates drive procedural textures.
The Math Node Part 19:32
Explore basic arithmetic in Blender's shader nodes, using the math node to perform add, subtract, multiply, divide, clamp values, and absolute for symmetry, illustrated with a gradient and texture coordinates.
The Math Node Part 28:38
A Screentone Shader16:55
Create a screen tone shader in Blender that yields a comic book style texture reacting to lighting, using window coordinates, Voronoi textures, and a mapping node.
The Mix Color Node14:50

Introducing The Kitchen Scene2:32
Learn how to build a kitchen scene in Blender 4 using a nondestructive workflow and procedural textures, applying modifiers—screw, weld, solidify, and subdivision surface—to craft a bowl and more.
Creating PBR Shaders17:18
Learn to build a PBR shader in Blender 4 by wiring image textures for color, roughness, normal, and ambient occlusion into a Principled BSDF, using mapping and UV adjustments.
Manipulating Procedural Textures10:19
The Bump Node10:06
Use a bump node to add orange-peel texture to the bowls and plates, achieving a painted exterior and smooth interior with a controllable noise-based height map.
Randomising Color Per Object7:16
Apply procedural textures to assign random colors per object in Blender using the Object Info random value, White Noise Texture, and Color Ramp, while keeping roughness and bump consistent.
Assigning Materials4:49
Eevee Limitations8:02
Explore Eevee limitations in rendering glass with ray tracing, transmission, and denoising, and compare with cycles to reveal how screen tracing affects visibility through glass.
Liquid Inside A Glass9:08
Demonstrates faking glass in Eevee for Blender 4 using transparent and glossy shaders with Fresnel and RGB curves to reveal liquid inside a bottle.
Creating A Tile Pattern12:31
Learn to create a tile pattern shader from scratch in Blender, using procedural textures, noise texture, texture coordinates, gradient, and ping-pong operations to control grout, scale, and corner rounding.
Making The Tile Shader11:28
Create a procedural Blender tile shader by adjusting tile scale and grout with greater than and color dodge. Refine with bump, map range, invert, and rgb curves to add depth.
Random Color Tiles5:04
Create random color tiles in Blender using a white noise texture and node controls for tile and grout colors, with 4d seed to adjust distribution and compare with brick texture.
Creating Group Nodes13:22
Use group nodes to organize and reuse a procedural tile texture in Blender 4. Expose inputs for scale, rounding, grout, and colors, and enable cross-project use of the tiles group.
Reusing Node Groups5:51
Learn to reuse tile node groups in Blender by appending from another file or marking them as assets in a library, then drag them into new projects.
Baking Textures16:11
Extra Challenges And Wrap Up5:36

Section Introduction0:59
Erin introduces procedural textures in Blender 4, teaching noise and Voronoi shaders and math nodes to create textures from scratch for materials and liquid inside a container, transferable to Cycles.
Welcome And Where To Find Support0:52
If you need any help consider joining these:
Our Discord server here: www.canopy.games/p/discord
Our Facebook group here www.canopy.games/p/facebook
Remember to share your work as well, we are lookming foward to seeing you progress.
Setup Blender for Shader Work2:31
Setup Blender for Shader Work
How to enable the Node Wrangler addon.
Introduction to the Shader Editor10:04
Introduction to the Shader Editor
How to navigate the Shader Editor.
What node types are available.
What different socket colours mean.
Useful Shader Shortcuts10:21
Useful Shader Shortcuts
Basic actions in the shader editor. > + Pan with MMB > + Zoom with Scroll Wheel > + Add new nodes with CTRL + A > + Duplicate nodes with SHIFT + D or CTRL + SHIFT + D
Some common Node Wrangler shortcuts. > + View a node with CTRL + SHIFT + LMB > + Lazy Connect two nodes with ALT + RMB > + Cut noodles with CTRL + RMB > + Create a reroute with SHIFT + RMB
And more..
A First Material6:43
A First Material
How to create and edit a shader in the Shader Editor.
How to modify a texture using the ColorRamp node.
Understanding Values in Shaders5:30
Understanding Values in Shaders
How values are represented as colour and the limitation of colour (especially with negative values).
The Texture Coordinate Node15:14
The Texture Coordinate Node
Understanding what each socket of the Texture Coordinate node offers.
The Math Node Part 18:23
The Math Node Part 1
How the Math node works.
Understanding specific functions:Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide, Absolute
The Math Node Part 28:47
The Math Node Part 2
How the Math node works.
Understanding specific functions: Minimum, Maximum, Greater Than, Less Than, Fraction, Modulo, Ping-Pong, Snap
A Screentone Shader12:44
A Screentone Shader
How to manipulate texture coordinates with a Mapping node.
How to use a Shader to RGB node to introduce lighting information into a shader.
The MixRGB Node11:50
The MixRGB Node
How the MixRGB node works.
Understanding specific blend modes: Mix , Darken, Multiply, Color Burn, Lighten, Color Dodge, Add, Linear Light Difference
Introduction to the Kitchen Scene2:39
Introduction to the Kitchen Scene
How a non-destructive workflow has been used to create the scene using modifiers.
Creating PBR Shaders10:45
Creating PBR Shaders
How to set up a PBR material with multiple image maps.
How to manipulate values such as roughness inside the shader.
Manipulating Procedural Textures8:34
Manipulating Procedural Textures
How to use a Map Range node.
How to use a constant falloff with the ColorRamp node.
The Bump Node10:39
The Bump Node
How to set up the Bump Node.
How to assign materials with the Solidify Modifier.
How to link materials and modifiers with CTRL + L.
Randomising Colour per Object6:54
Randomising Colour per Object
How to get a random value with the Object Info node.
How to create a palette with a ColorRamp node.
How to randomise values with a White Noise node.
Assigning Materials6:05
Assigning Materials
How to assign multiple materials to a single object.
Liquid Inside a Glass12:09
Liquid Inside a Glass
How to create a custom glass shader that allows for liquid inside a container with Eevee.
How to use the Fresnel and RGB Curve nodes.
Creating a Tile Pattern12:30
Creating a Tile Pattern
How to create our own patterns from scratch.
How to work with the Vector Math node.
How to build useful controls into your procedural shader.
Making the Tile Shader14:44
Making the Tile Shader
How to go from a greyscale pattern to a full shader.
How to use RGB Curves to create custom tile profiles.
How to build randomness into a procedural shader.
Creating Group Nodes11:12
Creating Group Nodes
How to create and navigate Group Nodes.
How to generate and manage sockets.
Baking Textures15:17
Baking Textures
How to optimise the baking process:
Set Render Samples to 1 unless specifically baking lighting information.
Set the Tile Size to match your texture resolution.
Ensure the texture you bake to is the active node.
Extra Challenges and Wrap Up5:55
Extra Challenges and Wrap Up
Well done on getting this far!
Extra challenges to help consolidate the lessons so far.
If you haven't yet, I'd love to see your progress.
Any feedback? Let us know.

Requirements

No prior shader experience required—ideal for beginners
Blender 4.4 installed and ready to go
Basic understanding of Blender’s interface is helpful but not essential
All assets are provided—just bring curiosity and creativity

Description

Introduction to Procedural Textures

This course has been fully remastered for Blender 4.4, bringing it up to date with the latest features and workflows. The updated version is available now and free for all existing students.

The materials we use in a scene – how they react to light and how they interact with one another – play a crucial role in storytelling. However, stepping into node-based procedural workflows for the first time can be daunting.

In this course, written by Erin Woodford and presented by Mike Bridges, you’ll be guided from the basics of navigating the Shader Editor through to building a fully procedural shader from scratch, including the maths involved. The course is project-based to ensure skills are applied immediately, and you’ll receive extra challenges along the way to reinforce what you’ve learned. All necessary assets are included so you can focus entirely on the content.

You will learn how to:

Navigate the Shader Editor
Use shortcuts to speed up your workflow
Understand how texture coordinates and values are processed in shaders
Set up an image-based PBR texture
Create procedural surface imperfections
Build custom glass shaders for added flexibility
Manipulate built-in procedural textures like Voronoi and Noise
Create textures from scratch using maths
Bake textures to images for use outside Blender

By the end of the course, you’ll have the foundational skills to explore your own ideas and create custom materials suited to your projects.

About the instructors:

Mike Bridges has been teaching Blender professionally since 2014 and has helped tens of thousands of students become confident in 3D. As co-founder of Canopy Games, he delivers in-depth Blender courses covering topics such as low-poly modelling, geometry nodes, and the grease pencil. He also shares practical Blender tutorials on YouTube.

Erin Woodford has over 12 years of Blender experience and began working professionally as a 3D artist and educator while completing their degree. Their work spans stylised TV, photoreal product rendering, and architectural visualisation, with a core focus on procedural workflows and education within Blender.

Join our community
For course help, support, and to share your work, be sure to join our Facebook group and Discord server.

Who this course is for:

Blender users ready to dive into the world of procedural materials
Beginners intimidated by node-based shading systems
Artists who want more control over how their materials behave and look
Anyone looking to level up their material creation skills through hands-on projects

Material Fundamentals: Procedural Textures in Blender 4

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Project Setup (NEW CONTENT BLENDER 4.4)11 lectures • 1hr 50min

The Kitchen Scene (NEW CONTENT BLENDER 4.4)15 lectures • 2hr 20min

Introduction (Blender 3.3) - Being Removed May 202524 lectures • 3hr 31min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: