Topic: The glass is not clear

[Guest]

I'm struggling with the glass material in 2008.  It seems it just doesn't want to show clear (or clear-ish) for me.  I've got a 3D model of a plane that I downloaded and want to apply a glass-like (semi-transparent) material to the prop to give it the appearance of it spinning 'round really, really fast!  I've attached the DWG in question.  Is there a geeked setting that I'm overlooking?   

Thanks in advance!

[mjfarrell]

what is your material set to for
translucency and opacity?

[Guest]

I've had TRANSLUCENCY set to 100, 50, 0.... and OPACITY set to 100, 50, 0... and any combination of the two I could think of and nothing seems to be working.

[mjfarrell]

want these items to compare?
you did not set the material to force two sided did you?

Opacity (Realistic and Advanced Types)
Sets the opacity of the material. A completely opaque solid object does not allow the passage of light through its surface. An object with no opacity is transparent.
Set to 0

Reflection (Advanced and Advanced Metal Types)
Sets the reflectivity of the material. When set to 100, the material is fully reflective and the surrounding environment is reflected in the surface of any object to which the material is applied.

Refraction Index (Realistic and Advanced Types)
Sets the refraction index of the material. Controls how light is refracted through an object with a partially transparent material attached. For example, at 1.0, the refraction index of air, the object behind the transparent object is not distorted. At 1.5, the object is distorted greatly, as if it were seen through a glass marble.

Translucency (Realistic and Advanced Types)
Sets the translucency of the material. A translucent object transmits light, but light is also scattered within the object. The translucency value is a percentage: at 0.0, the material is not translucent; at 100.0, the material is as translucent as possible.

What they are trying to say here is that at 100 translucency there is a lot of light being scattered and your class materials will not appear clear. Use a small translucency number that is other than zero, and less than 30 to maintain clarity.


Try 50 to start here.

[mjfarrell]

OK,

It is your Material

This was blocked out @0,0,0 so you could replace the geometry with this one.
Or study the material attached and make one like it.

[Guest]

The biggest difference I saw between your material and the one in the DWG I posted was that there wasn't a section for ADVANCED LIGHTING OVERRIDE for the material in my DWG.

Anything else?


Besides some of the translucency/opacity settings...  Did you create a NEW material using a template or did you modify one of the existing materials?

[mjfarrell]

The biggest difference I saw between your material and the one in the DWG I posted was that there wasn't a section for ADVANCED LIGHTING OVERRIDE for the material in my DWG.

Anything else?


Besides some of the translucency/opacity settings...  Did you create a NEW material using a template or did you modify one of the existing materials?

new;  and I did nothing with the lighting over rides

no the big difference is the material type you started with....and mine is clear... 

[mjfarrell]

I have just slammed that material around pretty hard, and it will NOT become transparent.
You will want to start with Realistic Material and then the rest is User Defined, or you could start with one of the predefined 'glass' material templates. I think you already saw them.

[Guest]

The biggest difference I saw between your material and the one in the DWG I posted was that there wasn't a section for ADVANCED LIGHTING OVERRIDE for the material in my DWG.

Anything else?


Besides some of the translucency/opacity settings...  Did you create a NEW material using a template or did you modify one of the existing materials?

new;  and I did nothing with the lighting over rides

no the big difference is the material type you started with....and mine is clear... 

For the record... I didn't create the materials.  The DWG was originally a 3DS file that I imported.  And the rest, as they say, is history! 

But I do remember it working fine at home - there's probably definitely some differences between the install at home and the install here at work.  I'll have to do some more experiments at home with the drawing.

Thanks!

[mjfarrell]

OK

My curiosity is satisfied.

The Advanced Metal Material Template will approach transparent, although it is highly reflective.

The Advanced Material Template will not approach transparent.

Both Realistic, and it's Matalic Brothers will approach transparent.

[Guest]

The biggest difference I saw between your material and the one in the DWG I posted was that there wasn't a section for ADVANCED LIGHTING OVERRIDE for the material in my DWG.

Anything else?


Besides some of the translucency/opacity settings...  Did you create a NEW material using a template or did you modify one of the existing materials?

new;  and I did nothing with the lighting over rides

no the big difference is the material type you started with....and mine is clear... 

For the record... I didn't create the materials.  The DWG was originally a 3DS file that I imported.  And the rest, as they say, is history! 

But I do remember it working fine at home - there's probably definitely some differences between the install at home and the install here at work.  I'll have to do some more experiments at home with the drawing.

Thanks!

I imported the file (.3DS) last night at home and lo and behold, it works fine.  When I import the file at work, the glass is not clear.  So now to the next mystery... Why is clear at home but not at work?  What setting would affect this?!?   

[Krushert]

You do know that only the top half of the glass is suppose to be clear.

[Guest]

You do know that only the top half of the glass is suppose to be clear.

Depends on what's in it!   

[mjfarrell]

The biggest difference I saw between your material and the one in the DWG I posted was that there wasn't a section for ADVANCED LIGHTING OVERRIDE for the material in my DWG.

Anything else?


Besides some of the translucency/opacity settings...  Did you create a NEW material using a template or did you modify one of the existing materials?

new;  and I did nothing with the lighting over rides

no the big difference is the material type you started with....and mine is clear... 

For the record... I didn't create the materials.  The DWG was originally a 3DS file that I imported.  And the rest, as they say, is history! 

But I do remember it working fine at home - there's probably definitely some differences between the install at home and the install here at work.  I'll have to do some more experiments at home with the drawing.

Thanks!

I imported the file (.3DS) last night at home and lo and behold, it works fine.  When I import the file at work, the glass is not clear.  So now to the next mystery... Why is clear at home but not at work?  What setting would affect this?!?   

So are you running 3d studio at home, or is this autocad?
The issue is the way autocad handles the materials.

[Guest]

So are you running 3d studio at home, or is this autocad?
The issue is the way autocad handles the materials.

Nope... AutoCAD MEP 2008 at home and work.

[mjfarrell]

So are you running 3d studio at home, or is this autocad?
The issue is the way autocad handles the materials.

Nope... AutoCAD MEP 2008 at home and work.

OK, I'm working with C3D, and the materials behave as I described.
Any other material template than the one you started with will show the material as transparent. I played with this for some time, before reaching that conclusion.

[jnieman]

Was a solution solved or was it given up on?

I know Matt's on hiatus, but if I read this right, it appears to be a Mech. quirk only?

[mjfarrell]

OK

My curiosity is satisfied.

The Advanced Metal Material Template will approach transparent, although it is highly reflective.

The Advanced Material Template will not approach transparent.

Both Realistic, and it's Matalic Brothers will approach transparent.

I believe the above is or was the 'autocad' solution as some of the materials templates provided will not become transparent. (see list above). I don't think it is or was a MEP only issue.
And as you can see from the posted examples clearly I can make transparent materials.
However I could NOT make the material he started with transparent in C3D.