Transparency tutorial needed

[mrbisonm]

I have been searching for something similar and couldn't really find anything on that subject clear enough for me to understand, although it seems so darn simple.
I would like that someone could please help me understanding to make a textured object like a simple wall (example) transparent in gmax. I found  something about opacity and changed the settings etc, but never anything changed on my model, staying as solid as before and only once the program crashed, don't know what I clicked on....

So, please explain in a step by step way how to make a textured wall transparent like glass. Thanks in advance,

Fred

[jmyers2043]

hey Fred

but never anything changed on my model, staying as solid as before and only once the program crashed,

Oh man! Don't want to make gmax crash.    Okay. A box half way inside another box. I'll use a stone wall texture. Material #3 is set at 50% opacity. BTW - Material #2 is the exact same block texture but without any opacity.



The test render shows the larger box with the semi opaque texture applied. the small box sits half way inside the bigger box. Note the shadow being cast on the small box. Also note the gmax perspective window does not look opaque at all. You have to do the render to see the final result.




I did Johnny Rotten's Restaurant this past sunday. It has two layers of 'glass'. One has the opacity set to 10% (almost invisible) the other layer of glass has a reflection image. The reflection layer has no opacity. 

Reflection



Perspective view of both layers of glass. The reflection seems to be hidden behind the transparent layer of glass.



This is what it looks like. The outside transparent layer is renamed 'niteglass'. For obvious reason. The reflection shows up through the transparent 'niteglass' in the day view.





Good Luck

- Jim

[mrbisonm]

Thanks Jim, but...........I don't understand how you make it, because we seem to have a different place or page where we get our texturs. Mine looks like this:



But with patience and 4 hours again of trying this and that, I finally found a way how to make things transparent. I didn't know that we have to choose our textures from the button right next to opacity) to get textures transparent. I thought before we texture the regular way and then we make the texture transparent, this doesn't seem to work for me, but like I said, clicking on all kinds of things either crash the program or help me understand it a little better...
Thanks.
So here is what I ended up with...



...seems to be working fine.

Thanks for the genius idea of double glassing, looks good, but the problem is that I don't know how to make nitelites yet neither....don't laugh there, ya hear....lol
It will probably become one of my next questions since I started BATting a Observatorium and I would like to have it  lit inside the spacedoors. But that's another story.

Thanks Jim, much appreciated again.

Fred

[cogeo]

The Opacity Edit-Box (the one with the spin control next) in the Material dialog sets a uniform opacity for the entire texture. Instead, opacity can also be set by using an opacity mask, ie a B/W bitmap. Then this can either be a separate image file, or instead taken from the texture's alpha channel (if your texture contains one). The Alpha Source radio-button control in the Map dialog determines where the opacity mask is read from.

[mrbisonm]

The Opacity Edit-Box ..... an opacity mask, ie a B/W bitmap. .........texture's alpha channel .........The Alpha Source radio-button control ........Map dialog..........opacity mask .......

Holy Moses.....lol...what language is this? Sorry  cogeo, I have no idea of what you're talking about and neither could I ever find this in my program. Maybe my BATs look good enough toknow these kinds of things, but most of it is pure luck to stumble on details, than anything else. I am the kind of guy that clicks here and there and if it works, well thatis just fine for me. I don't know if I could do it again though if it comes out good....lol.  If I would say something "professional" like this above about my line of work, then you would say the same, I'm sure.
I don't know gmax that much and I don't think I want to neither.... As long as it is transparent to me, that's all it counts.
Thanks for the effort and it surely sounds effective and convincing. 

Fred