Recommendation: NSDT scene editor helps you quickly build 3D application scenes that can be redeveloped
Although this tutorial is based on 3ds Max, the same setup works for many other 3D products. Note: Click the thumbnails in each step to view larger screenshots that include the viewport and relevant parts of the user interface.
Step 1 Since this tutorial only shows how to create a glass material, you will need to add the object to the scene yourself. This can be anything from the simple chess pieces we use (download chess pieces here ) to complex high detail models that you create.
Step 2 Press the M key to open the Material Editor (or choose Material Editor from the Render menu), and rename the first material to Glass.
Drag materials to objects in the scene to assign them.
Step 3 Set the material's ambient and diffuse colors to black. And set the Specular Level to 275 and the Glossiness to 45.
Step 4 Click the empty square button behind the opacity and add a falloff map. Set the Falloff Type to Fresnel (click here to see additional screenshots).
Go up one level, go back to the Glass material, and select Glass from the dropdown menu (it says Map #3, see other screenshots.
Step 5 Now, with the main glass material selected again, scroll down in the material editor and add a new raytrace map in the refraction slot. Set the Refraction Level to 80.
Step 6 To get reflections and colors smooth, not grainy, you have to enable supersampling for the glass material (just above the Maps rollout. Enable the option Enable Sampler and choose a method from the list. In most In some cases, the Max 2.5 Star can do a good job, but if your machine can handle it, you can try other methods that may give better results.
Step 7 You can now press F9 for a quick render, but it won't look quite like glass yet. First, you need to make some changes to your scene and environment. Remember that glass is almost completely transparent and can only be seen through the reflection of surrounding light and objects.
Let's start by adding a ground plane. Assign it a wood material from the library (we used the default Wood_Ashen). Make sure the plane is large, as shown in the screenshot.
Step 8 Next, let's make some changes to the environment, since the glass needs something to reflect. You can add objects and sky etc yourself, but for the purposes of this tutorial an environment map will do. From the Render menu, choose Environment (or press 8). Click the big blank button below the environment map and choose Background_Mountains (or any other background) from the Mtl library.
Step 9 If you render your scene again, you will find that it will look very different, really "like glass". However, there are ways to make it more realistic. You can start by enabling the double sided option for the glass material. This will allow us to see the interior of the model. Click the thumb to the right for more information.
Render again, and note the differences, if any. The results don't always look good, depending on the model.
Step 10 Let's try another trick that I like to use to make the glass more realistic, although it makes the glass object hollow (this is fine for many glass objects, and is often even required). Select the object and press Ctrl-V (select Duplicate and click OK) to clone. Apply the Push modifier to the clone and set the push value to -0.5 (try other values after rendering to check which works best for your model).
Step 11 In the material editor, duplicate the glass material and name it Glass International, make sure the "2-Side" option is enabled for the Glass International material but disabled for the Glass material. Assign the glass material to the clone, making sure to assign the original glass material to the external model.
Step 12 Render again (F9 or F10) and notice the difference. You should end up with something similar to the image on the right. Actual results depend primarily on the geometry of the model and its environment. Experiment with different backgrounds and see the results.
Original Link: Create Realistic Glass Material in 3ds Max (mvrlink.com)