General Question Internal Transparency

[Interstellar Planet]

Is it possible to create a mesh that is transparent on the outside but gradually becomes more opaque on the inside? Is there any other way to achieve the same effect? I was thinking I could just make multiple "shells" with different transparencies but the transitions between them would not be very smooth.

 

[Hielor]

Can you better explain what exactly you're trying to accomplish, perhaps with an image?

 

[Loru]

Well - I don't see why not.

Here is 10 layered double sided sphere (each layer consists of 2 spheres - one with normals facing outside and one facing inside) with 0.2 transparency value in material definition. All spheres merged into single meshgroup.

 

[Hielor]

You might be able to fake it with a billboard texture somehow. Would look smoother from a distance, but up close it would look...like all billboard textures look.

 

[Interstellar Planet]

You might be able to fake it with a billboard texture somehow. Would look smoother from a distance, but up close it would look...like all billboard textures look.

What's a billboard texture?

 

[Urwumpe]

What's a billboard texture?

A billboard is a plane (rectangle, triangle, only matters that it is flat and has extents), that is always oriented perpendicular to the camera. So, no matter where you are going and looking, the billboard is always facing with the same side to you.

A billboard texture is thus a texture applied to a billboard, that is always facing the camera.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_(computer_graphics)#Synonyms

Orbiter creates particle effects and exhaust with billboards.

 

[orb]

Orbiter creates particle effects and exhaust with billboards.

+ Beacon and runway lights (and the Sun of course).

 

[Interstellar Planet]

How do you make one? I think it might solve my problem.

 

[Urwumpe]

How do you make one? I think it might solve my problem.

The simplest solution that I could imagine would be adding an exhaust texture for a thruster, that does not produce thrust.

 

[Interstellar Planet]

What do I do for planetary objects?

 

[Urwumpe]

What do I do for planetary objects?

For those, you would be better served with the atmosphere parameters.

 

[Interstellar Planet]

Sorry, but I'm afraid that won't work for me either. I'm trying to make something similar to the sun that is not affected by outside light sources.

 

[Urwumpe]

Sorry, but I'm afraid that won't work for me either. I'm trying to make something similar to the sun that is not affected by outside light sources.

What kind of object are you trying to produce?

 

[Interstellar Planet]

I'm trying to make a planet that looks like a star, but I would also like to know how to make a billboard texture in general.

 

[Urwumpe]

I'm trying to make a planet that looks like a star, but I would also like to know how to make a billboard texture in general.

Well, in general, you are in the hands of the graphics client department. Those people decide, what results in billboard sprites or what is solved differently.

And for making a planet, that really looks like a star, you would really need some changes to Orbiters standards.

You could use the night light effect to make a planet look more uniform, but a complete lack of shading would be impossible currently.

 

[Interstellar Planet]

Thanks for the help ,but I guess I'll have to stick to my original idea.

 

[Kendo]

I may be talking out the top of my head here, but can you use / or make a very large beacon?