Procedural Semi-Transparency Colours

Started by WAS, July 18, 2018, 05:24:19 PM

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WAS

Is there a way to obtain semi-transparency with procedural colours? A image map can obtain this, but I can't seem to do it with PFs. The colour always picks up a certain brightness and is solid from there straight down to the pixel level. Glass doesn't work with shadows as it creates a solid shadow layer.

I'd like to do some procedural shadows based on water, but this doesn't seem possible in any aesthetically pleasing way.

Here is a rough draft with a image map and hidden card at water level for caustic shadows.

bobbystahr

Quote from: WASasquatch on July 18, 2018, 05:24:19 PM
Is there a way to obtain semi-transparency with procedural colours? A image map can obtain this, but I can't seem to do it with PFs. The colour always picks up a certain brightness and is solid from there straight down to the pixel level. Glass doesn't work with shadows as it creates a solid shadow layer.

I'd like to do some procedural shadows based on water, but this doesn't seem possible in any aesthetically pleasing way.

Here is a rough draft with a image map and hidden card at water level for caustic shadows.

You can get a cool effect by applying that caustic map as a luminosity only function to a Child Surface layer of your ground/sea floor with good control of the intensity
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist

WAS

Yeah I have already done that but unfortunately it has more problems than shadows. No scale in terrain drops, and no light directions. Makes you water appear pretty flat

Matt

#3
If you can do it with an image map shader, it should be the same with a procedural shader. What's the difference between your two setups? What shader is creating transparency - is it a Default Shader or something else?

Matt
Just because milk is white doesn't mean that clouds are made of milk.

WAS

#4
Quote from: Matt on July 19, 2018, 05:36:49 PM
If you can do it with an image map shader, it should be the same with a procedural shader. What's the difference between your two setups? What shader is creating transparency - is it a Default Shader or something else?

Matt

I'm using the default shader which I guess is hard on both the image map and proc, just gives two different effects where the image map appears as it does when you enable alpha with the image map shader itself, where the proc appears just as it does in the default shader preview. Now I'm just confused.

You ask if I am using the default shader. Is there any other method to obtain alpha on a proc setup for a card surface? I can't disable a colour channel for the setup since it starts with a disp to scalar to get the waves displacement colours.


WAS

Example of the working image map up close

Matt

I don't understand what you're saying. How did you get it to work with the image map shader, and what is different about the procedural setup?

Just because milk is white doesn't mean that clouds are made of milk.

WAS

#7
I'm not sure how to explain it, then. If you use a image map, you have semi-transparency. If you don't, you don't. The shadow colour produced even looks stronger than the strongest whites on a image map  (blacker/darker shadows).

Image Map = Smooth Shadows
TG Colours = Jagged Solid Shadows


WAS

#8
Ok so I scaled up the shadows (just to look at them) and there is actually semi transparency, but it doesn't seem to be read the same as a image map (there is less semi transparency of grays than the image map) but the reason it just looks so wrong is the shadow darkness, with proc colours the absolute shadow darkness is near black.

Attempting a secondary colour adjust to change white level, see if this helps.

Ehh... Do to to the fact the semi-transparency falloff is so short with proc colours, I can't adjust the white level without it all just going completely transparent. So either get hard black shadows or none. Actually, this is possibly just takes playing decimal places.

Sorry for bother you Matt!! The difference in colour interaction through me through a loop.