Animating the "Visible to camera" toggle while keeping reflection ON?

[fraggle]

Dear all,
What's the easiest way to hide an object durring an animation but have the reflection still turn on? (the object will not be visible to camera but still it will be visible in reflection).
The Visibility spinner with a value of 0 will not work as it will hide the object from reflection. It seems The toogle On/Off visible to camera can't be animated in max.

Tks

[Morne]

how about having 2 of the same objects. Tell one not to be visible to camera. At whichever frame, move the one object 100m away, and the other one 100m closer in its place. Will work fine except if you rendering the moblur.

OR
keep the 2 objects over each other just switch between the 2 with the visibility spinner

[instinct]

You can use a VRayOverrideMtl. Use your original Material in the reflection slot (and refraction slot if needed). As base material add a VRayBlendMtl. Leave the Base Material of the Blend empty and add an instance of your original Material as Coat#1. Now you can use the color slot (or the mask slot) to control visibility without affecting reflections.

Regards,
Thorsten

[Morne]

You can use a VRayOverrideMtl. Use your original Material in the reflection slot (and refraction slot if needed). As base material add a VRayBlendMtl. Leave the Base Material of the Blend empty and add an instance of your original Material as Coat#1. Now you can use the color slot (or the mask slot) to control visibility without affecting reflections.

Regards,
Thorsten

cool tip, thanks!