View Single Post
Old June 1st, 2008   #2 (permalink)
Claudio Branch
Veteran Member
 
Claudio Branch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Arlington, Texas
Age: 43
Posts: 819

Name: Claudio Branch


United_States 


Default Re: What's a good method to get glass to reflect the environment?

Quote:
Originally Posted by SandmanNinja View Post
I'm wanting to put reflective windows in there, but if I use A&D Glass (I've tried all three), the building becomes see-through.
Your building has not become see-though. It appears that way because of the uniformity of the image you have chosen to use in your environment slot. If the surface were truly see-though, then you would see the lattice work on the backside as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SandmanNinja View Post
Can someone please advise me on a good way to get glass to reflect but not be like a mirror or point out where I'm going wrong?
Reduce the amount of reflectivity on your material and add a noise modifier to your materials' bump slot. Play with the settings until you get some subtle distortion on the reflections. Most buildings with glass surfaces show this type of distortion because their surfaces are not completely flat.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SandmanNinja View Post
Do I need more 'environment' to reflect? Like other buildings and such.
Try using different images to see how their reflections affect your buildings' surfaces.

You can get quite sophisticated with the environment slot. Try using a hi-res photo for your background, the HDR for it's light/shadow contribution and perhaps even a third image that only appears in the reflective surfaces of your buildings.

The advantage of this approach is alot of flexibility and more creative control.

Last edited by Claudio Branch; June 1st, 2008 at 08:03 AM.
Claudio Branch is offline   Reply With Quote