2010 - Rendering - Transparent Materials Based on Generic?

[saeborne]

Hi All,

I'm trying to create transparent materials, based on the "Generic" material types. I'm trying Generic, because I can't get it to look right by using a "Glazing" material. The "Generic appears to have more options for transparency, translucency, and reflectivity. It would appear that I would have more ability to fine tune the appearance.

When I apply the settings (please see the attached jpegs), the fins appear transparent in the shaded views. However, they are still opaque in the rendered views. has anyone else encountered this issue? Anyone have any suggestions or work arounds?

Thanks in advance.

[saeborne]

By the way... I tested this similar situation in Revit 2011. Everything works there. I can't upgrade this project yet, because our Structural Engineer is not ready to upgrade. Grrr.

[muttlieb]

Hi All,
I'm trying to create transparent materials, based on the "Generic" material types. I'm trying Generic, because I can't get it to look right by using a "Glazing" material. The "Generic appears to have more options for transparency, translucency, and reflectivity. It would appear that I would have more ability to fine tune the appearance.

For some reason, the Generic Material in 2009 & 2010 does not seem suited to make transparent materials. I would start with a Glazing or Glass material.


When I apply the settings (please see the attached jpegs), the fins appear transparent in the shaded views. However, they are still opaque in the rendered views. has anyone else encountered this issue? Anyone have any suggestions or work arounds?

I'm guessing the shaded views are set to *not* use Render Appearance for shading (checkbox found under graphics tab of material). If you do not use this setting, you can set the transparency of the material in shaded views independently of the Render Appearance.

[saeborne]

Thanks for the reply. I'm having a great deal of difficulty controlling the transparency based on the glazing or glass materials. I really need to be able to dial the transparency, translucency, and self illumination parameters.

I'm glad to hear that I'm not going crazy though.