Refraction

This page gives some basic details about the Refraction Color Channel and how it is used in compositing.

Overview

The Refraction color channel stores refraction information calculated from materials, such as glass or water, that refract objects behind them in the camera's view. This means the brightness, coloration, etc. of the refractions can be adjusted without the need to re-render.

Any material in a scene that has a value set for its Refraction parameter generates refraction information that can be seen in this render element. A surface with no refraction values set in its material(s) contains no information in the render element and therefore render black.

The Refraction channel is a key component in the main Color Channel and can easily be used to control the refractions in the Beauty composite.

The Refraction color channel itself is already a composite of the Raw Refraction channel multiplied by the Refraction Filter channel. When finer control over refractions is needed in the composite, add these additional two channels to the output along with the Refraction color channel.

UI Path

||Node Editor|| > Add > Render Channels > Color Channel > Type > Refraction

Common Uses

The Refraction color channel is useful for changing the appearance of refractive elements in a rendered image, by using a compositing or image editing application. Below are a couple of examples of possible uses.

Refraction Render Element