Answered: Glass transparency

FrancisSimard

Hi , I am studying in 3D modeling and i'm currently doing my final project. I tried incorporating Quixel and Unreal 4 in my workflow and i stumbled on some problems with glass and its transparency. I want to texture a lantern i modeled in 3ds Max which has 3 little windows/glass and a candle inside. Problem is that i cant figure out how to make the glasses actually transparent so we are able to see the candle inside the lantern. I tried using the glass smart materials and adding an opacity map in quixel but its not working. Could someone enlighten me on the process of creating such a material which will be visible and has the desire effect in Unreal Engine 4. Here is the lantern. 

Thank you 
Francis

Synaesthesia

Hey Francis!

You'll need to click on the mesh in 3DO and define its transparency type. One of the three transparency types should work for you - except for cut-out, which is only for 1-bit alpha. When you export your project to UE4 (or UE4 (RMA Packed) you'll get your opacity map kicked out with it, which you can add directly into your Unreal shader.

Ingsoc75

When you say "click on the mesh in 3DO", is there something else I must do besides clicking my mouse pointer on the mesh to enable these transparency options?

Synaesthesia

Not that I'm aware of. Clicking on a mesh group opens a context menu in SUITE 2.1.4+ that allows you to select the transparency rendering type.

Ingsoc75

Synaesthesia said:

Not that I'm aware of. Clicking on a mesh group opens a context menu in SUITE 2.1.4+ that allows you to select the transparency rendering type.

Well I'm clicking on the mesh in 3DO and nothing is opening up. Can you provide a screenshot of what you are doing?

Synaesthesia

What version of Quixel SUITE do you have installed? If you're not using the latest versions, nothing will happen when you click on a mesh in 3DO.

Ingsoc75

I'm currently using 2.1.0

I was about to get IT to install 2.1.5. I see there is also a 2.1.5_Patch available. Do I need to install both?

Synaesthesia

2.1.0 does not have the option I've mentioned - that's why you're not seeing it.

For now, the best option is to install 2.1.4 - the 2.1.5 patch is not available yet.

Ingsoc75

Synaesthesia said:

2.1.0 does not have the option I've mentioned - that's why you're not seeing it.

For now, the best option is to install 2.1.4 - the 2.1.5 patch is not available yet.

Funny. I just downloaded it off the site this morning (Quixel_SUITE_2.1.5_Patch.zip).

Synaesthesia

That's strange - I've got our webdevs on it. Thanks for reporting that. It wasn't actually ready for release yet.

Thane-

Hrrmm, thats what i've been using too. 2.1.5. Theres an enticing advertisement for it when you load quixel along with a very tempting download button.

Synaesthesia

2.1.5's hotfix was pushed out but got recalled - it just wasn't updated on the site on a specific area of it. Fingers crossed for a release within the week.

Thane-

Oh, a hotfix for 2.1.5, not 2.1.5.