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FSX Transparency Video-Tutorial

The Alpha channel of the bitmap assigned to the Diffuse Color slot is what controls transparency...

This is very clearly described in the FSX SDK, but oddly enough you need to look in the "New Aircraft Procedures" chapter of the "Environment Kit/Modeling SDK" section.

There is a list of FSX Material "recipies" that -if followed precisely- will yield the desired results. Pay particular attention to the "Glass" recipie!

BTW, the "Opacity Map" slot's information is not even exported when compiling your model file!
 
Hi n4gix,

thanks for that important information. So I have to redo my Tutorial. How embaressing is that?! :rolleyes: The devil is a detail, as we say in germany...Thanks again to the community: again what learned :)

Happy flying,

Demon
 
It wouldn't be the first time that's ever happened. In fact, I went through six revisions on my "Emissive Lighting" paper that I wrote for Microsoft/ACES a few years ago...

...and I was describing techniques that I "invented!" :rotfl:
 
arno said:
Thanks for the update of the tutorial.

If you want I can still put it on the Wiki as well, but then you would need to provide me the video files.
Click to expand...

Is Demon's video ( FSX Transperancy Tutorial) available and if so, where can I download it. I am on a dial-up system and to try and watch it. It take hours only to get dropped after ten minutes.
Thanks

Martin
 
Andrew said:
Yes please, a downloadable file. Because I refuse to use Flash...

Cheers,
:stirthepo
Click to expand...

Hi Andrew,

you can download the vidieo on my webpage: www.edja.universe-3d.com
Hope that helps.

If not, let me know so I can send you the file.

@Arno: I still owe you the file. I will provide the file in December, since I move back home where I have the fast internet connection. :cool:

So long

Cheers,

Demon
 
greenleader said:
Demon, I can stil not download it. I still had to watch it and if I want to to go back and view it, I must start it over again. Isn't there a way of saving it like a "movie" or something?

Thanks

Martin
Click to expand...

Hi Martin,

I will check tonight and let you know.

cheers,

Demon
 
Does the latest video show the transparency working in FSX?

I viewed the first two videos, the one first done in 3ds Max and the second one done in GMAX but both of these showed creating a transparency that only worked in those programs and not FSX.

I have no problems creating transparent windows in 3ds Max that look and perform well in that program but they do not look and perform properly in FSX.

According to Bill Leaming to create a transparency for FSX you require a specular image, reflection image and a Fresnel bitmap. Does you video show the procedures for incorporating these images properly?

Regards, Mike Mann
 
mmann said:
Does the latest video show the transparency working in FSX?

I viewed the first two videos, the one first done in 3ds Max and the second one done in GMAX but both of these showed creating a transparency that only worked in those programs and not FSX.

I have no problems creating transparent windows in 3ds Max that look and perform well in that program but they do not look and perform properly in FSX.

According to Bill Leaming to create a transparency for FSX you require a specular image, reflection image and a Fresnel bitmap. Does you video show the procedures for incorporating these images properly?

Regards, Mike Mann
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

hmmm, I am a bit confused. Both videos work in FSX. I have created quite a view buildings using transparency and they all work. Are you sure you did not forget something? I sometimes forget to enable the transparency under Frambuffer Blend. I will redo the whole video and I will also show how to get it into FSX. I just watched over it again and saw there was a lot of weird stuff going on. GMax becomes wacky from time to time :rolleyes:

I promise the video will be online the latest at the coming Thursday. Would it help, if I'd post it on Youtube as well?

So long

Cheers,

Demon
 
Demon said:
Hi Andrew,

you can download the vidieo on my webpage: www.edja.universe-3d.com
Hope that helps.

If not, let me know so I can send you the file.

@Arno: I still owe you the file. I will provide the file in December, since I move back home where I have the fast internet connection. :cool:

So long

Cheers,

Demon
Click to expand...

Thanks, Demon :)

But no way I can download it yet.

Regarding transparency. For my Oslo Gardermoen terminal glass gates, I don't use specular, fresnel or reflection at all. I just use a material with Default Transparency set, plus a few more variations to the parameters. The texture is a 32bit with alpha. This is the easy part. Now, sorting drawing order with those gates around the terminal...is pure hell. I managed to do this terminal, but never, never again glass gates. If drawing order can't be automated, I'll keep away from it.

Cheers,
:stirthepo
 
Hi all,

I just tried to redo my tutorial and I almost freaked out. GMax is not doing anymore what I want. Gets all wacky on me and crashes whenever I create a new material and try to type in a new name for it. Does anyone has the same problems? That said, I wanted just to announce, that the video could take longer to create than asumed. So please be patient. Thanks a lot in advance.

Cheers,

Demon

@Andrew: I never used specular, fresnel nor reflection. Those textures are just for a better look. With specular you can define shiny and not so shiny spots on your windows. Dirt or dust can make the surface not reflect as the rest of the window does, so these spots would not be as specular as the others. Same thing with the reflection map. With reflectionmaps you normaly simulate water pits on the ground or dirty metal. Fresnel is used to simulate transparency in conjunction with the degree of viewpoint. Which means: imagine you look onto water. Lets say from a 90° view angle. the water is transperant. If you now reduce the angle against 0° the water becomes more and more opaque and it is not transparent anymore but reflects the light beams more intensive and than the reflection map gains more value.
What you mean with "drawing order with those gates"? If you pricise that a bit I might help you.

It is very sad, that there is only support for 3DSMax and not for other packages as well. I originaly come from Lightwave and wrote several tutorials and knew that programm by heart. Switching to GMax was a fight and I felt like Don Quichote fighting agains those big wind mills. The logic is so different in GMax and I still have my problems with it.
Thats why I tried to make the transparency tutorial to get deeper into it. But yesterday I really got frustrated because it keeps doing weird stuff. The OpenGL is not working properly and the perspective view vanishes from time to time and you just see the boxing grid around the object. It crashes when I try to type in a material name. Enuff wining ...

see yas,

Demon
 
Demon said:
Gets all wacky on me and crashes whenever I create a new material and try to type in a new name for it. Does anyone has the same problems?
Click to expand...

Hi Demon,

open the Material Navigator before typing. That's a gmax bug.

Kai
 
Hi Demon,

Thx for the heads up regarding the other maps. My problems with glass gates would take A4 pages to describe. In short, I had to make each window double glassed to get it right seen from both sides, then use special naming in order to see a glass tube inside a glass tube. Then there was the problems with transparency going wrong as soon as I cloned a gate and turned it 180 degrees. I used a crazy method of cloning and copying different parts to get it right. I may make glass gates again, but only if they are only on one side of the terminal :D

Cheers,
:stirthepo
 
Andrew said:
Hi Demon,

Thx for the heads up regarding the other maps. My problems with glass gates would take A4 pages to describe. In short, I had to make each window double glassed to get it right seen from both sides, then use special naming in order to see a glass tube inside a glass tube. Then there was the problems with transparency going wrong as soon as I cloned a gate and turned it 180 degrees. I used a crazy method of cloning and copying different parts to get it right. I may make glass gates again, but only if they are only on one side of the terminal :D

Cheers,
:stirthepo
Click to expand...

Andrew,

this sounds to me as if you forgot to activate the double-sided checker under FSX-Proberties in GMax. If you have a window and you want to see the window also from the other side, than you just need to check the doubl-sided function "et voilá" you don't have to do all the naming and grouping stuff.

Cheers,

Demon
 
Demon,

I have used double sided all the time. I just can't get it to work right with only one glass per side of a gate anyway. And when the gate is L-shaped, things get much worse.

PS: Hoping, when your vid is available for download, I might see something new.

Cheers,
:stirthepo
 
Andrew said:
Thx for the heads up regarding the other maps. My problems with glass gates would take A4 pages to describe. In short, I had to make each window double glassed to get it right seen from both sides, then use special naming in order to see a glass tube inside a glass tube. Then there was the problems with transparency going wrong as soon as I cloned a gate and turned it 180 degrees. I used a crazy method of cloning and copying different parts to get it right. I may make glass gates again, but only if they are only on one side of the terminal :D
Click to expand...

I guess you might have better results if the gates are not part of the terminal, but a separate MDL file. But drawing order always remains an issue with transparent materials. It would be nice if there was a more direct way to control them. For FS2004 you could tweak the ASM file, in FSX there are some more options in the FSX material, but none to directly control the drawing order.

Years ago I went through the trouble of sorting the terminals of a complex airport correctly and personally I would not make my terminal windows transparent again soon :).

Demon said:
this sounds to me as if you forgot to activate the double-sided checker under FSX-Proberties in GMax. If you have a window and you want to see the window also from the other side, than you just need to check the doubl-sided function "et voilá" you don't have to do all the naming and grouping stuff.
Click to expand...

In general the results of using double sided are not that good. You will see that the shading for the other side is wrong. It usually looks better to make a copy of the polygon manually.
 
arno said:
I guess you might have better results if the gates are not part of the terminal, but a separate MDL file. But drawing order always remains an issue with transparent materials. It would be nice if there was a more direct way to control them. For FS2004 you could tweak the ASM file, in FSX there are some more options in the FSX material, but none to directly control the drawing order.

Years ago I went through the trouble of sorting the terminals of a complex airport correctly and personally I would not make my terminal windows transparent again soon :).
Click to expand...

I tried as separate models, and there were also issues. The scary thing is, I will soon make a few glass gates again, but only five. I will take notes for every little thing I do this time :)
 
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