Fresnel Example
The Fresnel example illustrates how to add and adjust a fresnel effect on a 3D model.
The fresnel effect affects how materials reflect light at different viewing angles. Imagine the water on a lake. If you look down at the water from straight above, you can see through the water, but if you look from a lower angle, the reflections are stronger.
Running the Example
To run the example in Qt Design Studio, go to the Welcome screen and select the example from the Examples tab.
The 3D Scene
The example project consists of a basic 3D scene with the following components:
- A 3D model.
- A directional light.
- An HDR image used to light the scene (image-based lighting).
The Material
The material on the 3D model in this example is a principled material with a clearcoat.
Clearcoat
A clearcoat is an additional specular layer applied to the surface of a material. The clearcoating is transparent and doesn't add any color to the material, but it affects how light interacts with the material.
You adjust clearcoat properties independently from the base material.
Fresnel Properties
The following properties affect how the fresnel effect renders. These properties are available both for the base material and the clearcoat layer. Adjusting the settings for the clearcoat has a bigger visual effect.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Fresnel power | Increasing the fresnel power decreases the head-on reflections (steep viewing angle) while maintaining the reflections seen from more shallow viewing angles. |
| Enable scale and bias | Takes the scale and bias properties into account. |
| Scale | Determines the rate of change in reflection intensity as the viewing angle varies. A large scale value results in a gentler transition between weak and strong reflections, while a smaller scale creates a more abrupt shift in reflection intensity. |
| Bias | Controls the offset for the fresnel power property and determines how quickly the reflection transitions from weak to strong as the viewing angle changes. A larger bias value shifts the transition point toward steeper angles. |
Adjusting the Fresnel Settings
To adjust the settings:
- In Material Browser, double-click Monkey Material.
- In Material Editor, find the properties under Clearcoat and Fresnel respectively.
Note: You see the changes live as you edit them in the 2D view.
Available under certain Qt licenses.
Find out more.
