Edges of an object transparent?

[Beeg]

Hello

how can i make the outer edges of an object transparent?
I want to do this with open meshes.

for example the object below:

thanks

[DNorman]

In the camera settings under lens turn up the clip start value. This is general for all objects (parts of any object that is under the clipping range will be clipped) I do not think you can do it on a per Object basis.

There is also a viewport clipping setting in the view menu (N key).

[Beeg]

you got it wrong

I wanted to do this for the material of the objects
it’s possible ?

the image object is an example object to apply the material.

thanks

[DNorman]

Ok, actually you can per object with the lightpath node.

If you want the effect to stay the same from all angles and viewing distances you would have to make a black and white mask to use as a factor of the mix shader (mix you shader with a transparent one.)

[Beeg]

I think you still don’t understand:

would be the object in the image with the center opaque and the edges transparent.

I wanted to keep the shape of the object, and have the edges smooth the transition to transparent.

as if it were an open loop edge recognition.

thank you again

[DNorman]

OK, you can use your setup (geometry border edge) as a factor in the “mix shader node” to mix a transparent shader with a principled shader.

[Beeg]

@DNorman

geometry border edge

I didn’t understand .
what is the node : geometry border edge

do you have a tutorial?

thank you so much

[DNorman]

Yes I am also confused but you posted it!
Did you make that geometry node up?

[Beeg]

no

it is from an image from the internet.

the node does not exist.

is there a way to create this function by the materials?

[DNorman]

@Beeg

the node does not exist.

Ha, ha it would be good if it did.
you will need an edge detect setup (in cycles it can be done with the bevel node, (you object will need thickness.
Look up “edge detect” there are a few methods. (for eevee it is more complicated)

Edit
Take a look at this:

Problem making a mask follow the shape of its plane

What you need is and “edge detect” setup. For cycles (your screenshots use cycles) it is best to use the bevel node. There are different ways to set this up, if you google edge detect there are many videos with different variations. In this one I used the bevel node and 2 vector math node (subtract and length). [EdgeDetect] For eevee the bevel node does not work. Google eevee edge detect. Here is one video I found: [Eevee edge mask or pointiness hack.]

[Beeg]

is it possible after configuring , bake the texture in cycles and delete the thickness to use in EEVEE ?

[DNorman]

Yes, what you really need to bake is the black and white mask (to mix transparent shader with principled) the rest can be setup in eevee.
If you are using flat shapes like your example you may find it easier to simply make the mask with gimp or PS.

[joseph (J)]

Are you looking for something like this?

Object outline as transparency mask

Welcome to BA [2022-06-02 11_56_58-Blender] You can do this pretty simply with a node setup something like this, if I’m understanding your goal correctly. Just change the Diffuse BSDF for your shader. Nice work on your watercolor shader by the way, it looks awesome! Another advantage of this method is that your outline will change with the camera, which really contributes a watercolor look: It looks a lot better shaded smooth, I just wanted to emphasize that this is just a …

[AgentTuron]

Hi there,

I’m not sure how much transparent you want it, but try a layer weight node maybe, either of the settings, and plug it as transparency.

With a color ramp and/or multiply math node you should be able to conrol the falloff and transparent-ness.

I’m not sure if that is the thing you are going for, but may be worth a shot

PS: I just realized it is not all edges, sorry about that. Maybe vertex painting for simplicity and a colour ramp? Using the Col as an attribute in the shader

[LordoftheFleas]

If you are ready to use geometry nodes, you can try the following:

1. Start with a mesh without any interior vertices:
   

   

2. Apply a node setup where you subdivide the mesh a lot: I added an additional triangulation to prevent messy results
   

   

3. Compute the distance to the edges of the original mesh and store in in the vertices
   

   

4. Use the attribute where you stored the distance info in the shader setup
   

   

You can bake the result to a texture and deactivate the geometry nodes modifier when you are finished.

procedural_edge_distance.blend (114.5 KB)

[Beeg]

thanks for listening

is it possible to do all photoshop layer effects through blender nodes?

do you have a tutorial?

[Okidoki]

Blender can do several layer effects which may be named differently than in some other app.
But the question will be where do you want to use it if nothing seems to be a proper solution for you yet.
Maybe we can speak about the type of your meshes ? Because there are already some missunderstanding because you want transparency towards the edges (not transparent edges), posting none existing nodes and now asking for a tutorial … for what subject? It’s going to get hard to help you if you aren’t more precise about you actual problem.

If your meshes are as simple as the first one you may consider some special UVs for tranparency control like so:

If they are more complex then @LordoftheFleas suggestion seems a good solution.

[rigoletto]

Maybe not usefull for your case but i want to mention beveling without changing the edges and apply an transparent material. With some vector calulations you might be able to make a gradient also.

bevel_material.blend (106.9 KB)

[Nick_Allan]

Another possibility you could try is the Line Art Modifier. You could define a line art outline, as thick as you desire, set the opacity to 50% and then hide your original mesh. Ie only render the Line Art. I’ve done something similar to this in a recent post here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CemgPX8q5Ol/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[LordoftheFleas]

Combining this with @Okidoki 's solution:

1. Start with some shape
   

   

2. Press I to inset (make sure your corners aren’t too sharp):
   

   

3. UV-Unwrap and reset:
   

   

4. select only the boundary, with one quad active, and choose “Follow active quads”:
   

   

This will align all of the UVs of the boundary in one direction:

5. place the UV of the middle polygon in the upper part of the UV region (>1)
   

   

6. Use the V of the UV-coordinates in the shader to create a gradient perpendicular to the edges:

(Here the UVs are not aligned correctly):

rotate the UVs in 90° increments (making sure their position is aligned correctly afterwards).
This is the end-result:

procedural_edge_distance_2_v01.blend (110.9 KB)