4

I am trying to make a material that is translucent at the surface and opaque in the middle. How can I control the gradient?

I would like the gradient to correspond with the mesh; i.e. not simply radiate from the origin or something like that. (If my model was a tree, the leaves and bark would be translucent while the branches and trunk, under a couple inches of bark, would be opaque.)

For reference, I am trying to replicate this glacial ice:

enter image description here

gandalf3
  • 157,169
  • 58
  • 601
  • 1,133
splic
  • 1,724
  • 2
  • 17
  • 26
  • http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/8130/controlling-volume-density is similar to what I'm asking but the answers were unclear. – splic Jul 31 '14 at 01:18

1 Answers1

8

The absorption node seems to be what you are looking for.

enter image description here

You can also add surface shaders on top of the volume shaders, for example:

enter image description here

gandalf3
  • 157,169
  • 58
  • 601
  • 1,133