Edge Opacity / Center Transparency

crazy homeless guy · October 10th, 2008

Has anyone tried to use Ambient Occlusion in the opacity slot before? I am creating a handful of diagrammatic renderings. I want the shapes to have stylized look where they are more transparent at the center, and more opaque at the edges.

The attached image shows one of the series of diagrams I am working on. I want to take any of those shapes, and apply this look to it, where it is more opaque on the edges, and less opaque / transparent in the center area.

crazy homeless guy · October 10th, 2008

Actually, I don't think AO will work. Neither will Gradient Ramp.

Chad Warner · October 10th, 2008

Which renderer are you using? With vray you can use the vray dirt map and invert the normal on the material, which should work to your liking.

crazy homeless guy · October 10th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Warner

Which renderer are you using? With vray you can use the vray dirt map and invert the normal on the material, which should work to your liking.

Oh ya, I guess that would be important. I am using Mental Ray, so no go on Vray Dirt Map. Perhaps I can find a MR Dirt Shader though.

jucaro · October 11th, 2008

Why not use a falloff map? The effect you are trying to achieve is almost, if not the same as the method used in making X-Ray, and electron microscope imagery effect. Its a reversed falloff. Think of velvet?

shaneis · October 11th, 2008

There is this X-Ray shader for Max on highend3d...

http://www.highend3d.com/3dsmax/down...ader-3947.html

The author's notes say it's tested to Max vers 9, it might be worth trying out.

Here's the direct link to the author's website...

http://dl3d.free.fr/download_shaders.php

crazy homeless guy · October 12th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaneis

There is this X-Ray shader for Max on highend3d...

http://www.highend3d.com/3dsmax/down...ader-3947.html

The author's notes say it's tested to Max vers 9, it might be worth trying out.

Here's the direct link to the author's website...

http://dl3d.free.fr/download_shaders.php

This sounded promising, it gave me no errors when Max loaded, but when I placed it in the material editor, it didn't work properly. As you can see from my attached jpeg, the middle of the sphere previews solid, and transparent as shown on David Lanier's website.

Also, when it rendered it was a charcoal color, and not the purple shade that is set as the default.

crazy homeless guy · October 12th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by jucaro

Why not use a falloff map? The effect you are trying to achieve is almost, if not the same as the method used in making X-Ray, and electron microscope imagery effect. Its a reversed falloff. Think of velvet?

I tested the fall off method. It works great on non square objects, such as the sphere shown in the attached image, but it doesn't work well on the parallel and perpendicular surfaces. I assume this is because the fall off is the same across the entire surface.

When I chamfered the edges, it became more interesting, but not enough to pull off the look.

MrCAD · October 13th, 2008

Lets see if this kinda effect helps..I made a small scene in max 9..

Meher

jucaro · October 13th, 2008

perhaps this?

October 10th, 2008	#2 (permalink)
crazy homeless guy Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,916 Name: travis schmiesing	Re: Edge Opacity / Center Transparency Actually, I don't think AO will work. Neither will Gradient Ramp. __________________ travis schmiesing

October 10th, 2008	#3 (permalink)
Chad Warner Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Savannah, GA Posts: 1,446 Name: Chad Warner	Re: Edge Opacity / Center Transparency Which renderer are you using? With vray you can use the vray dirt map and invert the normal on the material, which should work to your liking. __________________ _____________ Chad Warner www.bluelimestudio.com

October 11th, 2008	#5 (permalink)
jucaro Moderator Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Singapore Age: 32 Posts: 614 Name: Juan Carlos Rosalejos	Re: Edge Opacity / Center Transparency Why not use a falloff map? The effect you are trying to achieve is almost, if not the same as the method used in making X-Ray, and electron microscope imagery effect. Its a reversed falloff. Think of velvet? __________________ MD8 Design Solutions X3MFX Interactive Design Agency DE MAX Design PTE LTD

October 11th, 2008	#6 (permalink)
shaneis Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 696 Name: Shane Neal	Re: Edge Opacity / Center Transparency There is this X-Ray shader for Max on highend3d... http://www.highend3d.com/3dsmax/down...ader-3947.html The author's notes say it's tested to Max vers 9, it might be worth trying out. Here's the direct link to the author's website... http://dl3d.free.fr/download_shaders.php Last edited by shaneis; October 11th, 2008 at 03:56 AM.

October 13th, 2008	#10 (permalink)
jucaro Moderator Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Singapore Age: 32 Posts: 614 Name: Juan Carlos Rosalejos	Re: Edge Opacity / Center Transparency perhaps this? __________________ MD8 Design Solutions X3MFX Interactive Design Agency DE MAX Design PTE LTD

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