[macitect]

Here is a very early WIP. I would really appreciate help with the sign under the front counter. I am trying to achieve a plane of frosted glass with the firm articulated by clear glass.

I want to get rid of the black outlines around the lettering and give the clear and frosted glass the same general tone. Please let me know if there is any other information I can provide to help you help me.



In this example the glass plane is 1/2" and the text is a series of planes on both the front and back. I've applied frosted glass material to the edges and the front and back planes and clear glass to the lettering. If that makes no sense perhaps an image of the SU model might help...

[tom]

You don't really need to model the letters. Instead keep the glass pane simple in geometry and apply a roughness map to indicate the clear parts. You can also do it with weight mapping using 2 bsdf, one frosted and one clear.

[macitect]

You don't really need to model the letters. Instead keep the glass pane simple in geometry and apply a roughness map to indicate the clear parts. You can also do it with weight mapping using 2 bsdf, one frosted and one clear.

Thanks Tom. Do you think that I will need to apply that to both front and back planes, or just to one?

[tom]

I'd like to think your glass as a box object having planar projection so it will receive the map on both sides automatically.

[macitect]

D@mn, you're genius!

I'll give it a go later on and report back. Thanks so much!

[Fernando Lino]

Usually this type of sign has a film to get the frosted glass effect and it is applied at one side.....if you want to have some reflectivity the film is on the back face.

[macitect]

Usually this type of sign has a film to get the frosted glass effect and it is applied at one side.....if you want to have some reflectivity the film is on the back face.

Thanks for the info, fernando.

I used Tom's advice and it works really well for what I need. I would post an example but I changed the material without realising before sending it for rendering last night. It is re-rendering now and I'll show the results later.

[macitect]

So here is the result. Have a lot more to do with this before final renders, but I am glad that this is "settled". I'll have to consider the lighting scheme to make sure that all 4 names are equally lit (any opinions on that welcomed!).



I set the material in SketchUp, but would prefere doing it in Studio in future. No matter what I did in studio the type was skewed and I couldn't get it straight. Any ideas on how I would correct that in Studio?

[tom]

In studio, you need to align the orientation of plane parallel to your object. Well, if that's the reason of skewed look.

[macitect]

In studio, you need to align the orientation of plane parallel to your object. Well, if that's the reason of skewed look.

I understand in theory, but don't know how to do that in studio. Do you mean play with the rotation of the projector, or is there a way to align the axes with the plane of glass?

Would you please clarify or point me to the page in the manual that explains this?

Cheers!
derek

EDIT: OK, I've just done it with the rotation parameters in UV Sets. But is there an easier way that requires less guess work? Or do I just accustom myself to this method.
Again thanks for all your help!

[tom]

Yes, I was trying to say rotating the projector manually and well, there's no easier way of doing that.

[jsf]

Try rotating the object to 0 degrees in all three axes (x,y,z), then place the uvw map. When finished rotate the object back into the position on the desk.

Hint: Make a copy of the object (the glass) for rotation and leave the original in place until you have successfully attached the uvw map. When you have repositioned the new object to it proper position on the desk delete the original object that had the skewed letters on it.

Hope that helps