panel tree shows white panel when against MR sky

[SgWRX]

i've got max 9 32bit and using the built in MR. i've been testing out creating a 2d tree for backgrounds. i saved image as tga from conifer and broadleaf. i checked the options for alpha channel and also dxf panel.

 

i imported the dxf panel, then applied the tga file to a material and added it to the panel. not a mr arch and design material, instead i started with a standard material.

 

attached is an example.

 

the scene has mr sun/sky with FG. i've instanced the mr physical sky into a material slot and added a custom background map. that map, is a standard bitmap that ships with max 9 under the skies folder. in order to get that map to show up, i've increased the rgb level to 50 and then set rgb offset to -15 under the bitmap output options.

 

if i uncheck the custom background map, and stay with the standard mr physical sky, i do not get the white top-half of the panel.

 

any ideas? thanks.

steve

[Justin Hunt]

This may help.

 

Change the sky map to a tiff(or tga) add a totally black alpha chanel to the tiff

 

For some stange reason this alpha will give you the correct alpha chanel in the rendered image, which will have the correct cutout trees.

 

If you can download a rayswitch shader then you can instance the sky map into the refraction slot. In Max2008 this shader is in the production.mi file. Try the CRTL shaders for Max9

 

jhv

[MasterZap]

This may help.

 

If you can download a rayswitch shader then you can instance the sky map into the refraction slot. In Max2008 this shader is in the production.mi file. Try the CRTL shaders for Max9

 

 

Yes, this is your solution. The "background" slot inside the my Physical Sky is like a mini-ray-swithching node ("rayswitcher" == a node that returns different things depending on what type of ray that his it), but it is not terribly intelligent, as you have noticed.

 

In the production library is one that is terribly intelligent; it does the same job but better: mip_rayswitch_environment

 

What you do is:

- put mip_rayswitch_environment in your "Environment" slot

- in the "environment" slot of mip_rayswitch_environment you put your "mr Physical Sky"

- in the "background" slot of mip_rayswitch_environment, you put your background bitmap

 

/Z

[SgWRX]

thanks!