Opacity problem with 3ds Max 2013

AlKoponen

I'm trying to create a transparent crystal out of standard cylinder shape in 3ds Max 2013. Problems occur when I apply any kind of opacity map for the object.

Seems like normals go crazy but they are fine when checked with backface culling. Transparency seems ok in the 3ds Max, but for example Marmoset Toolbag renders half of the object transparent and half not so.

Can anyone help me figure out what is going on?

_Archimedes_

I'm no expert but if you share the file I can take a look at it. What exactly does it look like in marmoset?

AlKoponen

Here is quick 360 of the object in Marmoset. There shouldn't be anything special about the file. I made new scene and the object from a scratch, texture is plain grey 32bit .tga with plain grey alpha channel.

I'm leaning towards some bug here although I'm not very experienced with the program yet and will do reinstall.

LaurentiuN

You should use max 2012 or 2014...2013 its pretty bug`d from what i know!

AlKoponen

So I tried it with fresh install of 3ds Max 2015 and it's the same thing. Standard cylinder shape with bare falloff opacity.

Is this what the object with polys highlighted is supposed to look like when(left side of the image) in the 3ds Max normally when opacity is applied? Am I doing something wrong here?

On the right side result in Marmoset Toolbag with gray 32bit .tga with gray alpha channel for translucency map. There is no difference if the object is imported as obj or fbx.

Eric Chadwick

This is a common problem with alpha blend.
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Transparency_map#Sorting_Problems

There are some hacks though to help you solve it. In your case, it's fairly straightforward.

Disable 2-sided in your material, and enable backface culling in the Object Properties. This will force your mesh to be 1-sided. Clone as a new model, and flip its polygons so it's inside-out, and Attach your original crystal model to the flipped one.

This will force the outer faces to be drawn after the inside ones. This is mentioned in the wiki too.

AlKoponen

Eric Chadwick wrote: »

This is a common problem with alpha blend.
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Transparency_map#Sorting_Problems

There are some hacks though to help you solve it. In your case, it's fairly straightforward.

Disable 2-sided in your material, and enable backface culling in the Object Properties. This will force your mesh to be 1-sided. Clone as a new model, and flip its polygons so it's inside-out, and Attach your original crystal model to the flipped one.

This will force the outer faces to be drawn after the inside ones. This is mentioned in the wiki too.

Thanks! This worked brilliantly! :thumbup: