Opacity

Opacity controls whether a material is opaque, transparent, or translucent. (A more physically accurate way to generate translucency is to use the Translucent shader.)

• Material Editor > Standard Material > Basic Parameters Rollout (Standard Material) for the Anisotropic Shader, Blinn Shader, Metal Shader, Multi-Layer Shader, Oren-Nayar-Blinn Shader, or Phong Shader shader > Opacity group (unlabeled)

Controlling opacity using the Opacity setting (left) or an opacity map (right).

Procedures

To reduce a material's opacity:

• Change Opacity to a value less than 100%.

  The material becomes more transparent. A fully transparent object (0% Opacity) is nearly invisible except for the light it reflects (the specular highlights).

  To preview transparency in the sample slots, view the sample object against a background. Click the checkered Background button to the right of the sample slots.

  Transparent materials render more realistically when you turn on 2-Sided in the material's Shader Basic Parameters.

Interface

Opacity

Sets the opacity/transparency of the material as a percentage. The effect is best previewed against a pattern background in the sample slot. You can control opacity falloff in the Extended Parameters.

Click the map button to assign an Opacity map. This button is a shortcut: You can also assign an Opacity map on the Maps rollout.