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I've looked everywhere but answers I've found are not applicable to my version of Blender because a ton of settings seem to change or disappear with every new version.

I just want to make a transparent glass object in Blender using either Eevee or Cycles.

I used to use Blender several hours a day and totally stopped after v2.8/v3 changed everything and made the app unusable without spending more hours relearning everything. Now I can't even make a glass material.

I tried using Fresnel / Refraction / Glossy with a Mix Shader. I tried using the Glass shader. I tried using the Principled BDSF. Nothing works my object stays gray and opaque whatever I do. I'll probably go do this project in 2.7 but for next time I'd love to know how.

enter image description here

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Since you're using Cycles, a simple Glass BSDF is probably the best bet. If the object looks too "plain" (in rendered mode), I recommend using an HDRI for the world (environment) lighting.

[Glass BSDF with HDRI Lighting]:

Glass1

Alternatively, if you are using EEVEE, the regular Glass BSDF doesn't work so well, so you can approximate glass with this shader below. Don't forget to change your materials Blend Mode to something other than Opaque:

Glass2

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  • $\begingroup$ Tried your node setup, it's not working. imgur.com/a/nhL0Cmf - even the sphere in preview doesn't have transparency. I'd rather get to the goal I have without having to set up HDR lighting to keep my workflow simple and avoid weird looking reflections. $\endgroup$
    – MicroMachine
    Commented Dec 9, 2022 at 22:09
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, maybe I'm misunderstanding. Your issue is that even with a glass shader all you see is see a grey box? If you put something behind the box, there is still no transparency (you can't see it behind)? $\endgroup$
    – Christopher Bennett
    Commented Dec 9, 2022 at 22:37
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    $\begingroup$ @MicroMachine The sphere preview looks like you have the Blend Mode in your material still set to Opaque. Read the answer carefully, it says: "Don't forget to change your materials Blend Mode to something other than Opaque". So maybe try Alpha Blend. What I can't see in your screenshot: have you assigned the new material to any faces or have you just added it to the object? If it's not assigned to any faces in Edit Mode, they all use the first material. And about no HDRI lighting: well, a grey background will make glass always look boring. You need reflections etc. $\endgroup$
    – Gordon Brinkmann
    Commented Dec 9, 2022 at 23:20
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    $\begingroup$ Oh, and in Eevee don't forget to set a Refraction Depth in the material settings. In the question you said you wanted to make a glass object using either Eevee or Cycles, when you say the node setup didn't work for you, did you mean both or just Eevee? $\endgroup$
    – Gordon Brinkmann
    Commented Dec 9, 2022 at 23:33
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    $\begingroup$ Also, the sphere in the preview becomes transparent only when "Screen Space Refractions" is enabled in the material settings. $\endgroup$
    – Christopher Bennett
    Commented Dec 9, 2022 at 23:37

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