Refraction Problem

[Adam Trachtenberg]

Are the two spheres you’re using the exact same size? If so that can cause problems. If I was you I’d use one sphere with two materials. Use an alpha with the second material (continents) and drag it onto the sphere so that the tag is to the right of the other texture tag.

[Josh Crews]

Wow. Actually that fixed the problem I was having with the refraction, because the spheres were the same size.
And using one sphere with 2 materials was a great suggestion as well. It’s working much better, and much easier to work with.
I’m very close to getting it now.
The only problem left is that I still cannot get my transparency dark and my colors vibrant at the same time.
Here’s where I’m at:

This is globe with transparency and with no color, everything is good here:

When I add color, notice how the countries on the back of the globe are no longer as dark:

Just to clarify, I have one sphere, I have a material with alpha applied to it for the countries, and another material applied for the globe that has color, transparency, and reflection.

Here’s what I’m trying to recreate:

I can’t seem to get the same glossiness/reflectivity and bands of color like this.
Thank you so much for you help Adam. You’re a life saver.

[Adam Trachtenberg]

I would try using a third material to get the back side of the continents darker. Duplicate the continents material and make the color darker. Then drop it on your object and set the texture tag’s “Side” parameter to “Back”. Then set the “Side” parameter of the original continent material to “Front”.

For the banding effect, you might try using the Posterizer shader in the color and/or transparency channels. Put a colored gradient in the posterizer’s texture slot.

[Josh Crews]

Man, that did it!! Nice one Adam. You have no idea how much you helped me. Thank you so much!!!

[Adam Trachtenberg]

We aims to please. 🙂