Refraction
Refraction refers to the bending of light as it passes through a transparent surface in a Ray Trace renderer such as IRender nXt .
The image on the left shows the effects of Refraction on a thick piece of glass. (The glass on the right was marked, incorrectly, as Thin, and does not product much refraction)
- Index of Refraction
- The Index of Refraction determines how much the light and appearance of objects behind the glass is distorted when passing through the glass.
- A vacuum is defined as having an Index of Refraction of 1.00
- Here are some standard values you can use for other materials:
- Ice - 1.31
- Water - 1.33
- Acrylic glass - 1.49
- Flint glass (pure) - 1.60
- Sapphire - 1.76
- Diamond - 2.42
This model is rendered in SketchUp, with no refraction from the transparent glass.
This is the same model run through
IRender
. Notice how the stone wall is refracted as it passes through the thick glass.
The Index of Refraction is set in the Material Wizard
