# how to: Realistic crystal ball (Curved transparent glass surfaces)

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-to-realistic-crystal-ball-curved-transparent-glass-surfaces/406005>\
**Category:** Rendering\
**Tags:** unreal-engine, Lighting, UE4, question\
**Created:** [October 2, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-to-realistic-crystal-ball-curved-transparent-glass-surfaces/406005 "2017-10-02T18:25:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_a88582741](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_a88582741](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_a88582741)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-to-realistic-crystal-ball-curved-transparent-glass-surfaces/406005/1 "2017-10-02T18:25:06Z")

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Hi guys!,

I’m trying to recreate a scene and here is the result

 ![215509-highresscreenshot00003.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/a/8/6/a861fe396a736ee73e9d52521698a7b4f89936a8.png)

I used a opacity to make the material transparent, but i guess that i’m going in wrong way, cause the real crystal balls look like there:

![215510-22214877-10210719253634436-587721349-n.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/8/9/7/8978f0d8a777241266cf62ab6efacbd39e5f8d40.png)

Wich way should i take to achieve a curved glass refraction+reflection?

Thanks for your time.

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**Author:** ![Karlaws](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Karlaws](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Karlaws)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 11:54am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-to-realistic-crystal-ball-curved-transparent-glass-surfaces/406005/2 "2017-10-06T11:54:01Z")

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![215858-m-glassrefrac.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/5/a/d/5ad6b0f696395c5c2f2006fca5780eaf6df759e9.png)

Try something like this for a simple implementation, and play around with settings in the Material Instance until it looks nice. If you want something more controlled, try using separate Fresnel nodes with separate scalar parameters for both Opacity and Refraction; in addition to that you can also try using the Fresnel\_Function rather than the Fresnel node.  
Hope that helps.

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**Author:** ![The\_player\_1029](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@The\_player\_1029](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/The_player_1029)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/how-to-realistic-crystal-ball-curved-transparent-glass-surfaces/406005/3 "2026-09-28T15:16:09Z")

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But it’s only screen space.