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Glass shades

Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 10:46 pm
by dvsone1440
I am often trying to render a light shade that has transparency... Often the shade is glass. I know that light blowing through glass really creates a lot of issues with length of time to resolve. What is the best strategy for transparent shades with light behind them to not kill render times and not create artifacts? Are sss shaders the answer? If so solid ones or single sided?
Currently I am trying to render a drum light shade that is very thin veneer wood so I want the light to come through the wood texture.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Derek

Re: Glass shades

Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 11:15 pm
by JDHill
If this is in an architectural setting, with the light not being especially close to the camera, I'd probably turn the wood texture into an MXI and use it as an HDRI emitter assigned to the shade geometry itself. Depending, it may also be necessary in that case to put some type of emitter in the center of the fixture -- but perhaps not. For an artistic shot, I'd most likely use single-side SSS on the shade.

Re: Glass shades

Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 11:32 pm
by dvsone1440
Great. I am going to try both of those on a test model and see what happens. Thanks again JD