projecting transparent images on terrain

Started by mhaze, April 22, 2012, 10:06:05 AM

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mhaze

I'm trying to project an image onto some rocks using a tiff with alpha channels and getting nowhere fast, any tips advice ideas etc gratefully received. Mick

mhaze

Problem solved had to use a separate alpha image as a blend shader to the colour image!!!!!! not intuitive! or documented and has taken me all afternoon to figure out. Sometimes doing the simplest of things in TG is a mega pain! rant over.

Dune

Perhaps if you'd had taken it through a default shader, it might have worked. That reads alpha channels.

EmDee1

Another transparancy question:
I want to make 2 spheres: one small and a (transparant) large one. I want to get the small one surrounded by the transparant larger one.
For both spheres I use a default shader. But when I set the opacity in the default shader for the large sphere at 0.49: I can't see the sphere at all, when I set it on 0.50 (or higher) the sphere is back, but with no transparancy....How to arrange this?

mhaze

Hi Dune no luck with the default shader, not only did it not show the transparency but it switched off the rest of the landscape colouring!

jo

Hi,

Quote from: mhaze on April 22, 2012, 10:25:52 AM
Problem solved had to use a separate alpha image as a blend shader to the colour image!!!!!! not intuitive! or documented and has taken me all afternoon to figure out. Sometimes doing the simplest of things in TG is a mega pain! rant over.

What nodes were you using to do this?

Regards,

Jo

mhaze

#6
Firstly I tried a simple image map node and got a strange background of black and grey striped triangles instead of transparency.
Then I tried a default shader same result but all other landscape colouring turned off.  Main landscape colouring plugged into input.
Then I used two separate image maps one for colour and one B/W image for transparency - same results.

Finally plugged B/W image into blendshader of image map and then into a surface shader child input this worked.

In all case used a separate camera to position image map

I now have another problem the image is far too bright I can sort of control it with the gamma settings but it is not ideal.

And can we please have greyscale/partial/graduated transparency, please, please, please

Dune

You could also try multiplying your color image with a constant color (both blue nodes). Or use the adjust color saturation (blue) node....

I tried the default shader and you're right, you can't get rid of the black, even if you color adjust it (inverse the black into white and use that as blending shader for the surface shader that you put the default as child into, sort of).

mhaze

Cheers Dune will try using the blue colour nodes

bobbystahr

#9
Quote from: mhaze on April 22, 2012, 10:06:05 AM
I'm trying to project an image onto some rocks using a tiff with alpha channels and getting nowhere fast, any tips advice ideas etc gratefully received. Mick
is this thread I answered some time back any help...seems a similar situation

Re: Add Decals to Terrain...you'll have to search cuz it just posts my search instead of the thread
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist

mhaze

Can't  find much other than a file in the maze thread which sadly doesn't deal with the issue I'm having.  However I have a solution just an unexpected one.  Thanks anyway Mick

bobbystahr

Quote from: mhaze on April 24, 2012, 04:51:53 AM
Can't  find much other than a file in the maze thread which sadly doesn't deal with the issue I'm having.  However I have a solution just an unexpected one.  Thanks anyway Mick
please post your solution....there are never too many solutions to these types of issues and I confess I'm more than a bit curious....
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist

mhaze

I plugged the image into a surface shader child input then plugged a B/W alpha image into the blendshader of the image shader.  In the image shader effects tab, tick Alpha as opacity and create transparency make sure transparency key is set to1.

bobbystahr

Quote from: mhaze on April 24, 2012, 11:16:44 AM
I plugged the image into a surface shader child input then plugged a B/W alpha image into the blendshader of the image shader.  In the image shader effects tab, tick Alpha as opacity and create transparency make sure transparency key is set to1.
coolio, yet another approach...thanks for sharing....
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist