Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
the base material and blends the current layer based on the mode. The layer modes available in modo are as
follows:
• Normal
• Add
• Subtract
• Difference
• Normal Multiply
• Divide
• Multiply
• Screen
• Overlay
• Soft Light
• Hard Light
• Darken
• Lighten
• Color Dodge
• Color Burn
These modes work very much like blend modes in Photoshop. The Opacity option is like a fader for the
Enable check box (think of it as the Opacity slider in Photoshop if the Enable option is like Photoshop's
layer visibility toggle).
Transparency
This setting handles the direct transparency of a surface. The Transparent Amount option sets the percentage
of light rays that can pass through the surface. Transparent Color controls the tint of the transparent material.
Transparent materials have little to no diffuse amount, so coloration needs to be done via the
Transparent Color option.
Absorption Distance sets the depth that a light ray has to travel into a surface before returning the Trans-
parent Color. If a surface is thinner than this value, the material will be lighter and less colored than the
Transparent Color. Thicker surfaces will look darker and more saturated. The default value of 0 mm will
always return the Transparent Color and will not vary based on the thickness of the model.
Every transparent object (besides air in a vacuum) bends light very slightly. The amount of bending is
called the
refractive index
. These are mathematical descriptions, and a list of many refractive indices can be
found with a simple Internet search. Modo has some common indices on file. These preset values for the
Refractive Index can be found by clicking the arrow to the right of the numeric field. When light is slowed
(bent) through a material, it can also be separated slightly into its component colors. This prismatic effect
shows a rainbow on refractions. This is a very nice effect that adds a lot of realism to transparent models,
but it should be used carefully because it increases render time significantly.
Many transparent materials do not allow light to pass evenly through the surface. Fogged glass is a good
example of this effect. Refraction Roughness gives the ability to blur the transparency of an object. Much
like roughness affects blurred reflections, a higher value here will make the effect more blurry, while a lower
value will make it less blurry. Refraction Rays controls the quality of the effect and, like many other options,
