How to render 2d (trees and people) from .png/.jpeg in vfsu 1.48.89

[joe average]

Hey...

I was tryin to get a 2d image to render in vfsu using material map in diffuse and alpha maps inverted and all in the transparency and background options, as had been explained in the following link...

http://forum.asgvis.com/index.php?It...0&topic=3139.0

maybe its just me, but i cannot get the white bounding box of the png to disappear in the render. i've followed every step as explained in the above tutorial perhaps it doesnt work in the new version of vray. I've tried using jpegs also but the black box in d jpeg refuses to go away. ( i read in vfsu manual that it doesn't support jpeg for alpha masks) please help me out with this.

I'm using vray for sketchup 1.48.89 demo and google sketchup 7. i'm working on a AMD Athlon 64X2 2.61 ghz with 2 gb ram on windows xp 32 bit.

[deanfitton]

Re: How to render 2d (trees and people) from .png/.jpeg in vfsu 1.48.89

the vray you are using does not require you to have to go through the hassle of assigning alpha maps.

heres the easy steps...

1. open your image (tree/person/whatever) in Photoshop
2. remove everything that you dont want to see... from reading your post ei the white background.
3. you should now be looking at you image, surrounded in Photoshops grey/white checker box pattern...
4. now save the image as a .PNG file, it does not require to be interlaced if PS asks.
5. import the image into SU.
6. select the newly imported material in the vRay material editor.
7. in the diffuse layer tick the box USE COLOR FOR TEXTURE TRANSPARENCY
8. render and you should have your person/tree/banana with no white fill around it!

[joe average]

Re: How to render 2d (trees and people) from .png/.jpeg in vfsu 1.48.89

Thanks Dean...

Thankyou for ur reply... the steps u've listed do solve the problem. importing a .png file and USE COLOR FOR TEXTURE TRANSPARENCY does indeed do the trick..

I'll elaborate the problem a little more. the following are the image files i have:

i've got a jpeg of a tree with black background & there are gaps within the leaves that are also filled with black(the background color) i have alpha map of the same image with the tree part in white and the backdrop in black.

i've got .tiff image of another tree that is already completely transparent.

saving the jpeg after deleting all the black backdrop in a new file in ps and saving as .PNG does solve the problem but there are loads of black spots within the tree leaves that cannot be deleted completely in ps and these show up in d render.

the .tiff file renders wid the transparent part rendering as white background.

But still its a start... thanks for the help dean.. M sure u or someone else out there knows solution to this problem...

[deanfitton]

Re: How to render 2d (trees and people) from .png/.jpeg in vfsu 1.48.89

can you show me the images?

by the sounds of its a PS problem.
im presuming you have the FULL Photoshop apposed to elements.... on that basis;

open up the two images (the coloured image and its corresponding alpha map)
put the alpha map as a layer exactly above the tree image

2 workflows so chose ONE of the following;
using the magic wand set the tolerance to something like 10 and make sure continuous is NOT ticked select the black/white area on the alpha that needs to be deleted. once everything's been select switch to the image layer and delete.
OR
with the alpha map as the top layer, on the top toolbar SELECT - COLOR RANGE, when the dialog window opens again select which part of the alpha map will need to be deleted, CLICK OK then switch to the image layer and DELETE. nb// the fuzziness bar adjusts the edge for sharpness, so nearer to 200 the better but it does vary from file to file.

Then follow the steps in my previous post with importing to SU.

Now you can import images into SU with the annoying background, and put the alpha map in the DIFFUSE Transparency slot to avoid PS work, but thats not my method of work. im happy to explain if you do require this method.

kind regards

[dkendig]

Re: How to render 2d (trees and people) from .png/.jpeg in vfsu 1.48.89

if you don't have a full fledged version of photoshop, there's always The Gimp, which is absolutely free.

[joe average]

Re: How to render 2d (trees and people) from .png/.jpeg in vfsu 1.48.89

Hey thanks a ton dean... problem solved... ;D followed the steps u told... used the alpha to select and then deleted unnecessary areas in the main image. deleted the alpha layer... saved as png and now it works like a charm.... thanks so much for the help...!!

best regards...