Solidify a UV sphere that has a part transparent material? Here is my problem:


I have a fluid simulation of a circular blob of water, and then a UV sphere encasing it. The UV sphere has a material that includes a diffuse and transparent node factored together by a Black and white image of the earth.

When I went to add a solidify modifier to make the 'land' touch the fluid but since the mesh is a UV sphere, not an actual sculpted piece of earth's terrain, the solidify modifier does not work. Any Ideas?

Image Texture Used: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=images&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwi66Yiqso_KAhUI5iYKHd2aCVIQjRwIBw&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blenderguru.com%2Ftutorials%2Fcreate-a-realistic-earth%2F&amp;bvm=bv.110151844,d.eWE&amp;psig=AFQjCNHObkXmNdYPEyyqGqGSLzfAi0-0hg&amp;ust=1451970653008360
I found a solution:

First resize the UV sphere so it is a little bit smaller than the surface of the water and UV unwrap it. (Since I am using a distorted map of the earth that is meant for a sphere, sphere projecting the image will work perfectly.)

Second add a subdivision surface (more subdivides=better resolution) and a displacement map to the sphere. Lower the displacement strength down to .1 or .2 and Set the Texture Coordinates to UV:



Next add a new texture in the displacement modifier and edit the texture under the texture panel. Open the black and white image (Black=Transparent, white=terrain) of your choice and adjust the brightness to the desired amount. (Brightness changes how much terrain pops out.)



Finally, change the material to have a mix shader of diffuse and transparent, factored by the same black and white image used for the displacement:



Result (Not the best result but does work):