Despite how well I follow the video the results never really are the same at times, I suppose it's the version differentiation with respective changes that may be the underlying cause. Here's a shot of how the gradient between white and black never switch to "grayscale" in the color-ramp. Not to mention the gizmo in the end becomes VERY dark for unknown reason.
https://i.imgur.com/S8wHNdq.png
https://i.imgur.com/QS7b54j.png
I hate being stuck on the smallest of things.
I'm also confused to why the scratch texture needs its normals linked to several BSDF nodes instead of just one.
Okay I think I managed to correct it, I don't know how or why it works but yeah it's correctly represents what the video shows.
But I'm still confused to why connect the same normal map unto several BSDF.
The ability to plug in unique normal maps per BSDF node gives us flexibility as artists. For example, in rare situations you may want a diffuse BSDF to have a normal map while a glossy BSDF does not, like a clear-coat effect.
The best example to demonstrate this is "figured" wood. It's a natural phenomenon occurring in wood grain that produces a 3-dimensional illusion. It looks like the grain is wavy but it's actually perfectly smooth/flat to the touch. Watch the first 15 seconds or so of this video to see what I mean.
To create a figured wood material with Cycles, you would plug in a wavy normal map into the diffuse BSDF and then mix a glossy BSDF on top without that normal wavy map to achieve the figuring effect.
Ah so you mean if I had a Glossy BSDF with wood texture (context) it'd have appear like glass instead of a finish? So by using Diffuse the illusion is retained?
Or did I misread your reasoning?
oohem To clarify my example, a figured wood texture goes into the Diffuse color with a wavy texture going into the diffuse normal socket. That will make it appear wavy but not shiny. Then mix a Glossy BSDF with a solid white color at maybe 0.1 for the mix factor and no normal input. That combination of normal-bumped diffuse + normal-free glossy can produce that kind of figured wood effect.