Rendering layered product

[ironwood]

I am working on a render and I have a question about the best way to approach materials and building a part of my scene (see attached pic). It is a product where they take a number of different kinds of materials, everything from blades of grass, branches, lace, silk, etc. and place it between two layers of acrylic, epoxy, plastic etc. The plastic effect that I want is one that is transparent (fine texture/not smooth), but has transparency between the layers. So simply, it has plastic, then the material (transparency layer - blades of grass, branches, etc.) then plastic again (or space/gap) and then a thin film or backing so that it can't be seen through (but is still slightly transparent).

I currently have a plane that has transparency that looks okay, but when I place glass or plastic in front and behind it, it looks dark. I have a gap between them, which I think is supposed to help and I have my ray traces up higher.

Any feedback would be great. Thanks.

[TGS808]

If you are using KS6 try changing the lighting preset to Product, Interior or Full Simulation. If you are in KS7 try Product or Interior. In KS6, just making the change to Product is usually enough to get rid of that dark look (where it should be transparent) that you are describing.

[3dpraxisstudio]

Good work, guys. Very nice atmosphere

[mattjgerard]

This should totally be doable, From the construction side, build your model as close to the real work as possible. I see the layers in this order from front to back-

thick acrylic->thinner layer with the willow branches applied as a transparent label or texture->thick acrylic->thin sheet with cloudy plastic with a noise generator in the texture or bump channel

Then lighting will be key, enough backlight to get the silhouette look you are going for, might be a combination of HDRI lighting and practical lights. The mix of cloudy plastic, HDRI and light objects will be a killer on render times, so the region render will be your best friend.