8

1078 Glossary
Omnif lector
A space war p (p age 3–1108) that deflects part icles.
Omniflectors are also capable of refracting
particles and generating spawned particles.
Threekindsofspacewarpsareintheomniflector
category:
POmniFlect Space Warp (page 2–74)
SOmniFlect Space War p (page 2–80)
UOmniFlect Space Warp (page 2–81)
See also
Dynaflector (page 3–1025)
Opacity Falloff
Real tr ansparent surfaces vary their opacity,
depending on t he angle of the material to your
point of view. For example, a bottle appears more
transparent at its center than at its edge because
you’re looking through more glass at its edge.
In the Extended Par ameters rollout, you can
specify the falloff of the transparency, based on
theangleofthefacenormalstotheview.Ifaface
is perpendicular to the viewer, the angle of its
normal is 0 degrees. If the face is edge-on to the
viewer, its norma l ang le is 90 degrees.
Falloffiseitherinwardoroutward:
In—Tr ansparency increases as t he nor mal angle
approaches 0 degrees and decreases as the angle
approaches 90 deg rees. This gives the appearance
ofahollowobjectsuchasaglassballorbottle.
Inward opacity falloff
Top: None
Bottom: 100%
Out—Transparency increases as the normal angle
approaches 90 deg rees and decreases as the angle
approaches 0 degrees. This gives the appearance
of a solid object such as a cloudy glass marble.
Outward opacity falloff
Top: None
Bottom: 100%
The falloff amount never makes the object less
opaque than the value of the Opacity spinner. For
example, if Opacity were set to 50, and Falloff set to
In, the inner portions would remain at 50 percent
opacity, and the Amt. spinner would change the
outer edges, u ntil they b e c ame opaque at 100.