Max alpha + normal = problem?

R_Matey

So I am sure this is a common question , I did my searches but came up empty handed. So my question is : Is there a fix to the max view port when you are viewing a model with a normal and alpha?

So if you have a solution or a quest to find the answer; please help.

Jonathan

IIRC, if you turn off the DirectX plugin, you'll see it without "see through" but I'm not sure how to (or if you can ) with DirectX enabled.

Perhaps use a 3rd party DirectX plugin for the viewport.

R_Matey

Thanks, I will definitely check out, that direction.

MoP

I don't think any shaders that use blended alpha (as opposed to "alpha test", where stuff is either purely opaque or purely transparent) will display normal maps and alpha correctly in real time. None that I can think of, anyway.
There are definitely some shaders that will do it properly though, if you have alpha test transparency, I remember hacking it into someone else's shader a while back (either JIStyles or BCloward's early HLSL normalmap shaders)

cw

don't forget, max is funny about sorting geometry.

if the polygons are part of the same mesh, they are sorted in order of their creation. That seems wierd and it is kinda wierd, but it means if you detach and re-attach the elements 'from the inside out' they should get drawn from the innermost layer outwards.

If its seperate objects, try setting the object visibility to 0.999 which will force max to sort those objects in the viewport properly.

Those are the only 2 tricks I can suggest for this, but it will be interesting to see if you can get them to work.

Rob Galanakis

http://tech-artists.org/wiki/index.php/Sorting_order

Just started writing that. When I get to finishing the alpha article (it will be much longer and more in-depth), I will update here again.