Semi-Transparent Objects & Refraction

Recently a user on our forum asked: "I placed a semi-transparent shower curtain in my model, but it rendered like glass. What can I do to fix this?"

The reason semi-transparent, “soft” objects do this is because IRender nXt, by default, treats all transparent objects in SketchUp as glass which reflects light while distorting objects behind the glass.

Most transparent objects in SketchUp models are glass, so the default is to render them as such. There would be a similar problem with semi-transparent drapes, or other transparent objects that are not glass.

Index of Refraction

There are ways to reduce or eliminate this effect by lowering the Index of Refraction to 1.0. The Index of Refraction determines how much the light and appearance of objects behind the glass are distorted when passing through the glass. The solution is to right click on the material in SketchUp, load the “Edit Material Wizard” and set the Index of Refraction for the object to 1.0. (A vacuum is defined as having in Index of Refraction of 1.0)

See: Refraction

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