half-mirror (semitransparent mirror)

[kh]

Is it possible to render a half-mirror (semitransparent mirror) in Keyshot?
If it is possible, please let me know the material settings.

[Erik Williams]

Mirrors are a bit tricky due to the exact geometry needed to create the reflections and if you are looking to magnify anything.
In general, you would want to use an aluminum.
You can render 'half' the geometry by selecting the 'region' icon in the top tool bar and cropping it so that only half the mirror is rendered.

Let me know if this works for you.

Best Regards,

Erik Williams
Luxion Customer Support

[kh]

Thank you.
But I'm not a pro version user, so I can't use region rendering.

[Anindo Ghosh]

My method of rendering a semi-silvered mirror is:
* Create mirror body (with parallel planar faces, or concave, convex, whatever)
* Assign "Glass (basic) White" material
* Add a label to the glass, label-type Metal, color grey
* Add a medium grey color to the opacity of the label - Simply create a plain grey image and assign that to opacity.

Modifying the color of the metal determines the brightness of the reflections, while modifying the grey of the opacity determines the transmission versus reflection ratio of the mirror.

In the attached example, it is a skinny cube, the label metal color is 55% greyscale, and the label opacity is set to 40% grey. You can see the reflection of the window and bookshelf, as well as see the furniture through the semitransparent mirror.

I hope this is what was required by the OP.

 

[RRIS]

My method of rendering a semi-silvered mirror is:
* Create mirror body (with parallel planar faces, or concave, convex, whatever)
* Assign "Glass (basic) White" material
* Add a label to the glass, label-type Metal, color grey
* Add a medium grey color to the opacity of the label - Simply create a plain grey image and assign that to opacity.

Modifying the color of the metal determines the brightness of the reflections, while modifying the grey of the opacity determines the transmission versus reflection ratio of the mirror.

In the attached example, it is a skinny cube, the label metal color is 55% greyscale, and the label opacity is set to 40% grey. You can see the reflection of the window and bookshelf, as well as see the furniture through the semitransparent mirror.

I hope this is what was required by the OP.

Afaik we don't have a color node in Keyshot, so the image texture method works well. However, you can also use a gradient node (just make sure the start/end colors are the same value). This has the benefit that you can adjust the value more easily. Another option would be to use an image texture and combine that with a color adjust or color to number node.

[Anindo Ghosh]

"use an image texture and combine that with a color adjust or color to number node."

When using the Material Graph, there is no need for an image texture for the opacity: I just used a color-to-number node with the "output from" and "to" both set to 0.4 for all input values :-) Adjusting the grey is just a matter of changing those two fields.

However, for non-Pro licenses, I believe the material graph is not available, hence a grey image for the opacity.

[Erik Williams]

Anindo is correct, the material graph is not available in the HD license.
A KeyShot Pro license may work best for what you are trying to do.
For a list of what is available in KeyShot Pro vs. HD, you can go to https://www.keyshot.com/product-comparison/ for more details.

Best Regards,

Erik Williams
Luxion Customer Support

[RRIS]

"use an image texture and combine that with a color adjust or color to number node."

When using the Material Graph, there is no need for an image texture for the opacity: I just used a color-to-number node with the "output from" and "to" both set to 0.4 for all input values :-) Adjusting the grey is just a matter of changing those two fields.

However, for non-Pro licenses, I believe the material graph is not available, hence a grey image for the opacity.

Ah gotcha, I had missed that bit of information