Simple plastic is easy to make with ShapeShifter. This plastic is a smooth surface without any environment maps, and can be easily adjusted to create a range of other materials.

Load up the file 'ringmask.psd'. This file contains the ring from which the selection set to create the material samples was generated.

If you loaded the ringmask file, you can Ctrl/Cmd-Click the layer with the ring to select it. If you didn't, create a new selection for the bevel.

Before you launch ShapeShifter, make sure you have selected a new layer. This will create the bevel without anything behind it. If you have something, say the black ring mask in the background, you might find the edges of the object appear blocky after you apply. This is because the edges are antialiased, and if something is beneath them the antialiasing will appear odd.

When you launch ShapeShifter, you will be presented with the default settings. These settings need to be adjusted for the effect we want. Most of the adjustments will take place in the Environment panel where we can change the type of material and the properties of the tinting. If you wish, you can load in the Green Plastic Preset from the tutorial's preset file. The rest of this tutorial assumes that you don't do that.

Note: Depending on the selection you have when launching, you may need to adjust the Bevel Scale in the Main Shape panel to prevent it bevelling too far. Ideally, you want a bevel that looks like a rounded shape and does not 'meet' in the centre causing sharp ridges.

The Environment panel is used for setting the surface properties of the bevel. This plastic is extremely simple, and relies on two properties only: Colour and Plastic type.

The Colour thumbnail in the Environment panel is used to set the basic colour of the surface. We want a green type of plastic here, so using that thumbnail, click and drag to select a yellow/green of mid brightness. To make sure that we don't see things from beneath the plastic, set the 'Mix Tinting Color' slider to full, this makes sure that the only colour we see is that in the thumbnail.

Plastic and metallic surfaces differ in how they reflect light and how their highlights appear. A highlight on a plastic surface appears white regardless of the colour of the plastic, while a highlight on a metallic surface takes on the colour of the metal.

• To make sure that our plastic looks plastic, click the 'Metal/Plastic' button above the Colour Thumbnail in the Environment panel until it says 'Plastic'.

The only other slider we need to worry about is the Internal Reflections slider.

• Make sure the Internal Reflections slider is set to 0. Internal Reflections are used in transparent bevels, solid plastic does not have them.

We're now ready to move on to lighting.

Lighting can completely change the type of plastic you are creating here. If you use sharp highlights, you can get a highly polished look. If you use diffuse highlights you can get a more rubbery look. These steps produced a hard, polished surface.

• If you have lights already, delete them by selecting them in turn and hitting the Delete key. If the Ambient Glow slider is set above 0, set it back to 0. This gives us a completely black bevel, ready for new lights.
• Add a new light and set it as follows: Light Brightness at 55%, Highlight Sheen at 0%. It doesn't matter what the Highlight Spread or sharp/diffuse type is because the highlight is turned off.
• Place this light directly over the centre of the lighting preview. This gives us a general light that is cast over the entire object.

We've got the basic light there, now we need to create some highlights.

At this point, we may have areas of the bevel that are not fully lit, probably those areas that face down left and up right. To deal with that we can add general lights that cast no highlight but add to the overall brightness of the surface.

• Add a new light and set it as follows: Light Brightness at 24%, Highlight Sheen at about 0%. The other settings do not matter as we have no highlight.
• Move this light to the bottom left to light that corner.
• With that light selected, click the 'Add Light' button, a copy of this light will be added to the preview.
• Move this new light to the top right to light that corner.

This basic plastic can be adjusted easily by playing with colour and lighting. The simple material could also be expanded using a Bump Map to give it some more depth.