Maya alpha channel help

Jalechah

hey guys i need a bit of help. In Maya's hypershade the texture has an alpha map (which is what i want) but when i apply it to a plane the see through part is not see through.
I thought it was just the viewport but when i render it it's still the same.
any1 know how i fix this???
I have other objects in my scene that are using alpha maps just fine.
I've also tried using a transparent TGA file but the problem is still there.
(im using a student version on maya2012)
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TactMasterZero

i would also like to know why mental ray does not render alpha maps, but does it render if you use maya software render?...

54Strat

First, make sure the tga is 32bit.

Then I'd look to see if you've got the shader set up correctly, i.e. the .outTransparently isconnected to the .transparency.

My workflow uses a lot of drag and drop; so I drag my 32bit TGA from a windows explorer (or XNView in my case) straight onto the hypershade's work area, create a lambert, still in the work area I middle mouse drag the texture onto the lambert and select 'default' for the connection type. Then middle drag the shader from the work area and drop onto the mesh.