alpha map for surface shader??

ddk230

Hi guys, im making a very simple environment for my school assignment. i'm painting most of the buildings, so i'm using surface shader. But i need one surface shader to be transparent (alpha), but i cant get around to it!

i used various methods (layered shader, targa, etc) but it just doesnt seem to work! when i render it its the same black background, doesnt seem transparent at all, not when rendered nor in the viewport!

does anyone know how to get alpha maps to work with surface shader? thank you in advance :O !

MikeF

i'm assuming you're using maya?

if so, try just putting it into a Lambert shader with incandescence cranked all the way up while you work on the texture. Then if you need to render anything, just take your finished diffuse texture and plug it into the incandescence channel

ddk230

yup im using maya, but im a little slow. what do i put into incandescence? is there a specific image type i need to be using for this (jpg, tif, or targa)?

sorrryy im so confused at the moment . could you elaborate a little more? it doesnt seem to be working at this point

MikeF

set the incandescence to full white (just using the color picker) while you're working on things (for viewport previewing) then when you are done with the texture, plug it into the incandescence channel just like you would the diffuse.

i usually stick with .png

ddk230

thank you for your reply! but it still doesnt work, the white backdrop doesnt disappear. i saved the file as png but no transparency in the render view nor in the view port..

would you know how to do transparency in surfaceshader? i specifically need surface shader because i don't want the material affected by the lighting (like a painting)?

ddk230

http://imgur.com/FgQOg

just for a better idea of what i need to do. it just won't show as transparent