Shaders and Textures in Model making
Shaders are wildly used to produce lightning and shades in 3D modeling. It is a set of parameters applied to a 3D model allowing to adjust light, opacity, reflectivity, shading and a lot of other parameters. Shaders are often applications available in a standard 3D modeling package.
Texturing or mapping is another method of adding realistic look to a 3D object. You can overlay a two-dimensional image or even a real photo of a texture on the surface of your 3D model. This process is known as texture mapping and allows to achieve a high level of details of an object.
For architectural model makers, to make a 3D model look realistic it is recommended to set appropriate parameters in Shader application and to overlay suitable Texture.
Extracts from 3D Ace