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Vadym B.
Inspiring
April 7, 2026
Question

transparency in 3D models created in Blender

  • April 7, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 103 views

I created a 3D model of an iPhone in Blender, and I can't figure out what format what export settings it should be in so that it appears as I drew it. I don't see the transparency of the glass on the cameras, there is also no noise on the case, the color of the panels and materials are also not what they should be.
Tell me what I'm doing wrong? 3D mode in AE - advanced 3D.

    2 replies

    thepixelsmith
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    April 7, 2026

    What file format did you export as from Blender? 

    Vadym B.
    Vadym B.Author
    Inspiring
    April 8, 2026

    glb. I also tried obj, but then the figure was displayed "torn" and not solid.

    Nishu Kushwaha
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    April 7, 2026

    Hi there,


    Thanks for reaching out. I can definitely investigate this. Do you mind sharing the 3D model that you exported from Blender and the Blender project file for testing? Feel free to share them via DM.

    In the meantime, you can apply Substance materials to the objects inside After Effects. Here's how: https://adobe.ly/4sigraU

    Looking forward to your response.


    Thanks,

    Nishu

    Vadym B.
    Vadym B.Author
    Inspiring
    April 7, 2026

    Blender project Thanks for the reply, Nishu. I think I'm using the wrong settings when exporting. But which ones? I don't know because I'm just starting to learn Blender, and I know almost nothing about export settings.

    jefubbudu
    Inspiring
    April 10, 2026

    Procedural (generated) materials cannot be transferred between any software, at all, for the most part. If you use USD filetypes, the softwares have a way to tell each other what to do, but whether the other software has the ability to try to do that thing, or is designed to do it when told is another issue entirely.

    The issue you have, though, is probably that AE doesn't support that material. I.E. it doesn't know what to do when handed a translucent material. Glass materials are handled through effect tricks last i tried, though you'll want to try using a transparent shader, a glass shader, using a PNG material with alpha, etc. Just to make sure. This is the art of making passes. With an alpha pass and a normal pass you should have what you need to approximate glass without properly rendering it.

    Also, for the procedural stuff, you'll need to bake those materials into textures. It's not totally necessary, but also check out n-gons, becayse those can mess with materials too sometimes. try setting the materials to 500 or 300 scale. Even a 16k texture map might not be enough for such fine detail, and a normal map might be more dynamic.