To make an object transparent, the texture on the object must have an alpha channel. The amount of transparency is controlled by the image's alpha channel.
1. Open simpleShapeAlphaBase.mb from the File Pack.
The object is already setup for export. All that is needed is the material.
2. Open HyperShade. Double-click simpleTexture to open its attribute editor.
3. Click on the checkered button next to the Color attribute and assign a File texture.
4. In the File Attribute Editor, locate simpleTexture2.png.
5. Close the File Attribute Editor.
You will see simpleTexture with transparency on it. When an image with an alpha channel is applied to a material, the alpha channel is automatically connected to the material's Transparency attribute.
6. Open simpleTexture's Attribute Editor to see that there is a connection on its Transparency attribute.
You can also graph the material in the main HyperShade window to see the input connections.
7. In HyperShade, select simpleTexture.
8. Click the Input Connections button in the HyperShade toolbar.
9. Rollover the connection arrows in the Work Area to see the attributes that are connected to each other.
Transparent materials can be viewed in Maya's viewpanel.
10. Assign simpleTexture to simpleShape. Be sure to press 6 to switch to Hardware Texture mode.
You will now see simpleShape with a transparent texture.
11. Save the scene as simpleShapeAlpha.mb.
12. Export the shape and load it into the ShowTool.
You will see that the shape has a transparent material, but it is only rendering the outer surface of the shape. This is normal behavior, because Torque only renders the normal side of a face by default.
