Transparency

[Jakemaster]

Okay, I am working on an airmail DC-3.  What I want to do is make the seats (passenger seats) transparent so that I dont see them in the sim.  In the past, I made a whole plane transparent, but I cant remember how I did it.  But when I read the help in DXTbmp, it said that in the alpha channel, black is 100% transparent, white is 100% opaque(meaning it shows) and various grays make it different transparencies.  SO using the alpha channel, i made everything but the seat texture white, and the seats black.  I obviously did something right, but not what I wanted.  THe seats are now bare metal shiny, not transparent.  SO ergo, I was wondering if someone could help me make it transparent.

[wji]

Sounds like you're on the right track . . . if that's any help ;-)

Yes, all black should make it invisible. We've all done it (by design or by accident) with exterior textures but I have not tried it with cockpit (interior) textures.

Are the interior textures Extended? (32bit or DXT3) or are they simply 24bit? Seems to me I've seen 24bit cockpit textures used on some FS9 models. If the files are 24bit the images are visible in Windows Explorer  -- but you know this :-).

Hope this helps.

Here's my HC412 Stealthy !



Another mistake from which I learned much

[igorski]

As said above, black = 100% transparent OR 100% chrome.

Suggest you try in dxt1 format.

[Jakemaster]

okay.  Yeah, I discovered it by accident too.  Its an exterior texture for the interior.  on the default dc3, the cabin seats. You see them from outside, not inside.  So Ill try the DXT1 conversion, if it doesnt work, Ill come back.

[Jakemaster]

Nothing.  DXT1, same problem.  When I saved it as 24 bit, it didnt show up in the sim.  Could someone try to get the seats of the dc3 invisible?  Ill try again later, but so far, no luck

[igorski]

Flightsim will not read 24bit textures at all. What did dxt1 do, just chrome again?

[Jakemaster]

yeah, chrome again.  

[Jakemaster]

wait, do I need to apply alpha to image?  IF so, then that may be the problem

[igorski]

No if its still chrome then the alpha is already there.

When model parts are made, you can set what the alpha channel doens, either reflective textures, or transparency, but not both. So chances are you cant make you seats transparent.

[wji]

We're mixing apples and oranges here:
When saved as DXT3:
Black=chrome in the paintkit
Black=transparent in the alpha channel

When lettering a repaint_kit, if black is used the result is often chrome lettering; change the opacity of that layer to 99% black (which is not longer 'black') and nice black lettering appears using DXT3.

This has nothing to do with the alpha channel.

" . . . either reflective textures, or transparency, but not both."

Why not?

It's done all the time; simply cover the invisible areas with black (while the alpha.bmp is overlayed on the paintkit) and the visible areas with white and the chrome areas with grey (DXT3).


Alpha Channel: this dark grey makes the windows transparent (see-through); Black makes them disappear and rendered in the sim as solid black The Alpha Channel filetype varies depending upon the format it is saved in: 32 bit Save is an 8bit file. Alpha channels are NOT Extended and can be viewed and edited in any picture program (Irfanview). They are simply *.bmp files.

May I suggest trying some of these techniques on the plane-in-question Simply Import the test Alpha Channels into DXTbmp.

Hope this helps

References cited: Martin Wright's DXTbmp
"Many of the formats support varying levels of transparency. This is displayed as an "Alpha Channel" which is represented as a 256 greyscale image. When saving an image this Alpha will be reduced to the appropriate number of transparency levels. 555-1 uses a simple on/off transparency and 444-4 and DXT3 formats have a 4 bit Transparency giving 16 levels of transparency. . . .

32 bit has a full 8 bit Transparency. This will be displayed (if selected from the Prefs menu) as a greyscale image where White is 100% opaque and Black is 100% transparent with levels of grey representing increasing levels of transparency."

N.B. " . . . with levels of grey representing increasing levels of transparency."

[igorski]

[quote]" . . . either reflective textures, or transparency, but not both."

Why not?

[Jakemaster]

So, the file of question is dxt3 format.

Heres what I did.

Opened the file in DXTbmp
Made an Alpha Template
Opened Alpha Channel in Paint(what I use for repainting)
Painted over the seats with black
Paint the remainder white
Saved
Uploaded the alpha into DXTbmp
Saved the whole file

Then when I opened fs, I got chrome seats

[wji]

Sounds to me like Jenkinson's law may have kicked in . . .

Jenkinson's Law: It won't work.

[igorski]

Sounds to me like Jenkinson's law may have kicked in . . .

Jenkinson's Law: It won't work.

So chances are you cant make you seats transparent.

Yep, said that before  ;)

[Jakemaster]

okay, oh well,  really wouldve liked to get rid of em.  No worries, Ill just pretend lol!