9

Diffuse Level 1489
Controlling opacity using the Opacity setting (left) or an
opacity map (right).
Procedure
To reduce a material’s opacity:
• Change Opacity to a value less than 100%.
The material becomes more transparent. An
object that is fully transparent (0% Opacity) is
nearly invisible except for the light it reflects
(the specular highlights).
To preview transparency in the sample slots,
viewthesampleobjectagainstabackground.
Click the checkered Background button (page
2–1433) totherightofthesampleslots.
Transparent materials render more realistically
whenyouturnon2-Sidedinthematerial’s
Shader Basic Parameters (page 2–1466).
Inter face
Opacit y —Sets the opacity/transparency of the
material as a percentage. The effect is best
previewed against a pattern backg round (page
2–1433) inthesampleslot.Youcancontrolopacity
falloff (page 3–984) in the E xtended Parameters.
Clickthemapbuttontoassignamaptothe
opacity component. See Opacity Mapping (page
2–1503). This button is a shortcut: you can also
assign opacity mapping in the Maps rollout (page
2–1474).
Diffuse Level
Material Editor > Standard material > Anisotropic,
Multi-Layer, or O ren -Nayar-Blinn Basic Parameters rollout
> Diffuse Level group (unlabeled) or Advanced Diffuse
group
DiffuseLevelcontrolsthebrightnessofthe
material’s diffuse component.
Note: TheBlinn,Metal,Phong,andStraussshaders
do not have Diffuse Level control.
Adjusting diffuse level
Procedure
To adjust the diff use level:
• ChangethevalueofDiffuseLevel.
Thematerialgrowslighterordarker.Lowering
the Diffuse Level dims the material’s diff use
color without affecting the specular highlight.
Diffuse Level is intended primarily so you can
create a map (page 2–1499) that ma kes portions
of the material very dark.