andrewbirch Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Hi all... I was wondering the best way to do this in Renderworks. I have an image of a logotype in photoshop with its background as an spot alpha channel, saved as a tif. What I want to do is apply this texture over an object like a decal so the alpha channel part of the logo image goes transparent, and the texture of the object (or solid color of the object's fill) shows through, leaving the logotype applied to the objects surface. If I use mask transparency, the texture makes the object it is applied to tansparent. Does this mean I need a spearate object infront of the object I am trying to apply it to ? That seems rather tedious. If anyone has the trick here, I would appreciate the help greatly. Quote Link to comment
Guest Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Create an image prop. This allows you to create both the texture and the object at the same time, as well as provided a simple interface for creating the texture mask so you logo looks correct. And when you're finished, you have a parametric object that you can easily resize for different aplications. In fact, youmight want to save the resulting prop as a symbol to be recalled later. Create one is relatively simple, but I'm sure you can find step by step instructions in the help system (F1) If you still need help, send me the texture file, and I'll create a little flash based demonstration of how to do it (as long as I can use it for a tech tip later). Of course I'll send back the symbol as well. Quote Link to comment
andrewbirch Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 Hi Michael ! I appreciate your help. So if I understand you correctly, the Image Prop becomes just another object that is placed in front of the object I intend to map it on...so in essence, the layering of image is physical (a prop in front of an image) and not a layering of two texture maps, that a decal-like function would give me? Quote Link to comment
propstuff Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 quote: Originally posted by andrewbirch: Hi Michael ! I appreciate your help. So if I understand you correctly, the Image Prop becomes just another object that is placed in front of the object I intend to map it on...so in essence, the layering of image is physical (a prop in front of an image) and not a layering of two texture maps, that a decal-like function would give me? the image prop is a separate object (and is inherantly flat). I dont think that's what you want. You will probably need a surface that is the size and shape of the decal, and apply your transparency texture to that. HTH Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Dave Donley Posted March 1, 2006 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted March 1, 2006 Hello andrewbirch: You are right, you have to layer actual objects, rather than composing them all together as a decal texture. You can still create an image prop to automate the decal texture creation process, even if the geometry you need for the decal is not a simple planar surface. Delete the prop geometry that is created but keep the texture resource around. It will have the correct color and mask for you to apply to the overlaid (decal) object. [ 03-01-2006, 03:41 PM: Message edited by: Dave Donley ] Quote Link to comment
andrewbirch Posted March 2, 2006 Author Share Posted March 2, 2006 Thanks Dave. It would be interesting to see if the Lightworks Engine would allow a 'decal' type function in the future. If one could designate the alpha channel as transparent and have it layer over the base image color or applied image shader, you could have some very simple, but visually rich rendering variations. To do that in the master shader dialog box would be ideal. I do this kind of thing in C4D, but was hoping V12 had achieved it. Still, things are improving very nicely. V12 is great. I appreciate your help very much. Quote Link to comment
Guest Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I put together a little demonstration of the process you'll follow to create a decal using an image prop. Let me know what you think. http://www.kickpointsolutions.com/vectorworks/decal.htm The Flash file is a little over 8 megs so it will take a moment or two to load depending on your connection speed. If you have trouble... http://www.kickpointsolutions.com/vectorworks/decal.zip you can use this link to download an archive, and play it off of your computer. Quote Link to comment
G_Hannigan Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Michael, Nice demo - thanks. George Quote Link to comment
andrewbirch Posted March 2, 2006 Author Share Posted March 2, 2006 Michael, Thats great! I hope that NNA would find value in purchasing that, so they could post it to all users, and that they would request more of these demos for their user base. Again, much appreciated. Quote Link to comment
Guest Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 If you ever have an idea that a little demo like this would be good for, sort of a mini how-to, or a neat tip/trick, email me the details. I'm looking for innovative areas of the application to create these for, and to use the content to drive VectorWorks users to the VectorWorks Mid-Atlantic Users Group section of my website... coming soon. Quote Link to comment
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