falloff challenge! faking stretch metal opacity

I’ve got a task here that I initially thought was easy as pie. But it turns out it’s not?

I’m trying, to without building geometry or displacing, simulating the fact that a fine meshed strech metal sheet looks more or less transparent depending on the viewing angle.

Is the following doable: have a vertically oriented surface have one value when viewed from above, and one value when view from below? I was hoping I could do it with falloff, but I can’t figure it out.

Not a v-ray specific problem. I’m just hoping someone here has an idea that could help me :slight_smile: Cheers!

An image of the effect you’re trying to create would be helpful.

Edit: Above/Below can be done with the falloff texture in axis mode, just like you would make a mask that way for depositing dust only on up-facing surfaces.