alpha channels problem in MAX

pincushionman · Post by **pincushionman** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 3:59 am

I'm using 3DSM 5 to model, and I can't get applied materials to have transparency:

That should look like a truss. I'm using a .tif file with an alpha channel, and when I create the material, I have "image alpha" checked under "alpha source". Does anyone know what I'm not doing right?

-pincushionman

pincushionman · Post by **pincushionman** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 12:55 am

Okay, I didn't exactly solve the problem, but I remedied it...had to use a separate opacity map (like I'll have to do for VS anyway) and it's only effective in the render, not the viewport (dam*). I still think I'm doing something wrong, since there are options for alpha information in the material editor.

Post by **ace123** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 8:26 am

pincushionman wrote:had to use a separate opacity map (like I'll have to do for VS anyway)

You don't want an extra opacity map. The image format should let you have one.
png should allow you to store an alpha map insde the image file. Vega Strike uses those, so that is the perferred weay to do it.
But if max forces you to have them separate, than save one copy for max to work and then later change it to the png file.

Also, materials should be allowed to have alpha channels. If max doesn't let you add them, then open the finalized xmesh, then go to the materials lines, and edit the alpha line yourself.

pincushionman wrote:I'm using a .tif file with an alpha channel

For the finalized version you will need to change to png and not tif because vega strike can't use tifs.

Also, another thing you might want to be careful about s that you want reversed polygons on the inside so that the texture can bee seen from both sides. IFrom the picture it doesn't look like you can see the texture on the other side.

Post by **hellcatv** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:04 am

he can also turn off backface culling
<Material cullface="false">

that will allow materials to be seen from both sides
though lighting may not be desirable thus technically ace123 is right

pincushionman · Post by **pincushionman** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 5:47 pm

Not using .png yet because Photoshop doesn't do .png transparency correctly. I'll have to find something to convert the textures when I finish them.

Doesn't have to look exactly right in MAX anyway, as long as it looks right in VS. Thanks for the help, though.

-pincushionman