In designing custom jewelry, offering clients the most realistic representation of their designs is increasingly important. As technologies evolve and photorealism is more achievable than ever, the tools offered to CAD designers has lagged behind, and the features and textures available through Matrix Gold with the Cycles engine have only proven to be a slight improvement from what was previously offered in Matrix 9.

Aware of this problem, I’ve created a separate asset library through Blender, a free rendering and 3d design program that utilizes the same rendering engine. This library has been created with the goal of making it fully integrated with Matrix Gold as the rendering controls of Rhinoceros are further developed. In the meantime, I’ve developed a straightforward template and method for quickly creating realistic renderings through Blender. This template includes the full asset library, environment, and camera presets, and is built to be as organized and approachable as possible.