Mask Cutoff Not Working?

[Gusher Castaignede]

Am on  Windows 7 64bit and use CS6 Photoshop making 24bit png with semi translucent layer but once uploaded to SL it doesn't respond, no matter how high or low the mask cutoff is set.. the mask just goes transparent or either opaque...any ideas about this?

 





[Drongle McMahon]

With alpha masking pixels are always either entirely transparent or entirely opaque, depending on their values relative to the threshold. Changing theb threshold alters the mask if the alpha channel contains a gradient, but will never produce intermediate transparency. If you want graded transparency, you have to use alpha blending (with consequent higher resource consumption and alpha ordering artefacts).

[Gusher Castaignede]

alpha blending does work but its affecting whole texture and not the intended part...seems

that it will force me to make the intended part separate from main mesh with its own texture..



[Rolig Loon]

So, designate the glassy parts of your model as a separate material from the black, metallic parts.  When the model is uploaded to SL, the glass area will be a separate face on which you may vary the treansparency to your heart's content. You may designate up to eight materials on your model, and each one may correspond to unique color/texture/transparency/normal/specularity parameters.

[Gusher Castaignede]

You mean Multi-Sub/Object materials....will try that.......Thanks

[Rolig Loon]

I mean this >>> https://gyazo.com/d6c2adf1ce4e00f371c96cee85dfa42e

[Gusher Castaignede]

Thats Blender? Am using  3dsmax....

[Rolig Loon]

Yes, that's Blender, but the same functionality is in any 3D modeling software, although possibly with a different name.  In any case, you're looking for whatever function 3DsMax uses to assign material properties to groups of faces on your model.  SL allows you define up to 8 different materials on your uploaded model. You can bake some of those properties (color, texture, transparency) onto your model before uploading, but it is generally more cost-effective to apply them in world (It leaves you more flexibility as well).