Panda exports .X files. But it looks like it only makes BMPs out of your textures?
BMP supports alpha but it's only on/off alpha IIRC. You should try .DDS format instead, which is Microsoft's texture format so it will work with .X files.
If you choose DXT5 compression, that should do what you want. And 3ds max can read DDS files. Question is... does Panda see DDS files or not. Who knows? Worth a try.
Scroll down on that site and you'll see it bundles together a few tools. Actually, their screenshots are in reverse order, they don't match the headlines, ha! The left one belongs to the tool on the right, and vice versa.
It looks like your exporter does convert to DDS for you, if you enable that option. I wonder that options there are in that DDS dropdown?
How is the model 2-sided? For the best results, it's best to manually create backfaces, rather than using a checkbox or material setting.
If the backface was created automatically it could have been assigned a different material, one without transparency. Unlikely but hard to see how else your problem occurred.
But for the window/wall example, you generally use a different material for anything with alpha blending, so the window would be a separate material from the wall, and the wall would never have a rendering problem. The biggest reason to do it this way is for faster rendering... alpha blending is (relatively) slow to render, so the less surface area that uses it, the better.
For your example, either make it with three separate objects, or cut into your model where the intersections occur so you can order the triangles properly, or the best thing is to just avoid these kinds of situations entirely.
There are other solutions too, depends on the renderer. Alpha-to-coverage is a common one.
For the wall, make it like a real wall, with an inside and an outside, and a sill all the way around the window opening. No transparency in its material. Then for the glass, place a 2-sided plane inside the opening, and use a transparent material on the plane.
Texture map controls how transparent the surface will be, per pixel. Material/shader controls the kind of transparency... alpha test, alpha blend, alpha to coverage, etc.
You have to change your geometry if the sorting is bad. Some games avoid this with special sorting code (see UDK), but most games assume the artist will avoid it manually, with careful placement of transparent meshes. So yeah, it can get confusing.
I have a question.
I am using Vray, Maya, and photoshop.
The area of my Alpah'a, that should be transparent is but only when the plane is single.
When my plane with Alpha texture, is over lapping a duplicate I get Black in the Transparent area.
Any solution's?
Replies
BMP supports alpha but it's only on/off alpha IIRC. You should try .DDS format instead, which is Microsoft's texture format so it will work with .X files.
Do you have Photoshop? Nvidia makes a plugin for Photoshop that saves in DDS format.
https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-adobe-photoshop
If you choose DXT5 compression, that should do what you want. And 3ds max can read DDS files. Question is... does Panda see DDS files or not. Who knows? Worth a try.
It looks like your exporter does convert to DDS for you, if you enable that option. I wonder that options there are in that DDS dropdown?
If the backface was created automatically it could have been assigned a different material, one without transparency. Unlikely but hard to see how else your problem occurred.
http://wiki.polycount.com/TransparencyMap#Sorting_Problems
But for the window/wall example, you generally use a different material for anything with alpha blending, so the window would be a separate material from the wall, and the wall would never have a rendering problem. The biggest reason to do it this way is for faster rendering... alpha blending is (relatively) slow to render, so the less surface area that uses it, the better.
For your example, either make it with three separate objects, or cut into your model where the intersections occur so you can order the triangles properly, or the best thing is to just avoid these kinds of situations entirely.
There are other solutions too, depends on the renderer. Alpha-to-coverage is a common one.
Texture map controls how transparent the surface will be, per pixel. Material/shader controls the kind of transparency... alpha test, alpha blend, alpha to coverage, etc.
You have to change your geometry if the sorting is bad. Some games avoid this with special sorting code (see UDK), but most games assume the artist will avoid it manually, with careful placement of transparent meshes. So yeah, it can get confusing.
Best idea is to try it yourself.
I am using Vray, Maya, and photoshop.
The area of my Alpah'a, that should be transparent is but only when the plane is single.
When my plane with Alpha texture, is over lapping a duplicate I get Black in the Transparent area.
Any solution's?