Transparency/visibility question...

[IamSam]

Good luck. However, I don't think that any animation created in Ps will translate over to SL. I think we're just needing textures. I think.

 

[dv8_fx]

Well.... I was touching on procedures on how it's possible to do everything in PS...... I don't much of Second Life or whether it would work in SL.

I was about to suggest Poser as it uses Ray Trace and may reproduce the smoke effect but uncertain how it's done and whether the files can be of any use with SL.

 

[Kagehi]

Considering just doing what I though of early one - pop out Persistence of Vision raytracer, take some pics, in world, of the room, then frame a box, with "no image" on all parts except for the case glass. I might then be able to make the runes be emmisive media, and a slightly diffrent internal reflection than the glass itself... Kind of threw out this idea before - it would only reflect the room, absent any characters, or other changes to the room. I also then don't have the objects for the case itself yet, so.. yeah.. This would mean waiting until I have the room all right, and the case filled with junk, to do all the effects right. I.e, a massive pain in the backside. lol

But, thinking on some of the issues with what I can do.. Using smoke, and sliding it across - workable, but I would need to force it to be tileable (and also a different orientation). Animated smoke, from a gif - same issues. In both cases, its a bit iffy to use someone else's image for this. Don't think there is a real "easy" solution, that I can see that fits all the criteria.

 

[Kagehi]

Well.... I was touching on procedures on how it's possible to do everything in PS...... I don't much of Second Life or whether it would work in SL.

I was about to suggest Poser as it uses Ray Trace and may reproduce the smoke effect but uncertain how it's done and whether the files can be of any use with SL.

Ok, first, in principle, yeah. If it could do the smoke, as needed (i.e. loopable, which is not so certain), then the render would just be a jpg or a png, which just means copy and paste.

As to what Second life currently supports in terms of texture... It can import mesh, but that is.. probably not a good idea in this case, since that just gives you a container. It can't do "media", so, its not like I can just make a tube, and stuff smoke in it, etc.

Second Life does support - normal maps, specular maps, occlusion maps, a very limited, and primitive version of displacement map (called a scuplty, or.. prim torture, it was the pre-mesh method to get complete objects and limits the displacement to the vertices of an object with **exactly** 64 points, or something like that, if I remember. I never did get any good at making there things..), and, or course, ordinary textures, including transparency in the image.

So, nearly anything you would use to do CG any place else, assuming you have some clue how to do any of them. lol

But, yeah.. its probably easier to produce almost **all** of those things in a something like Blender, or Maya, or what ever, *except* the straight "texture" part of the whole thing. That.. Well, unless you know how to write shaders, you are lucky to have something that writes them for you, or you are good with Photoshop... lol I am, in order of those items - not a clue, even less clue, and rank amateur. Now.. if only one of these things imported POVRay textures, instead of only exporting mesh "to" that rendered... But, they more or less can't (it would be back to that, "Please write a shader for me that does exactly the same thing." problem.)

 

[dv8_fx]

Ok, first, in principle, yeah. If it could do the smoke, ........

........things imported POVRay textures, instead of only exporting mesh "to" that rendered... But, they more or less can't (it would be back to that, "Please write a shader for me that does exactly the same thing." problem.)

Sorry that most of us can't be much of help as this could be something out of our Photoshop realm and over and aboce the 3D knowledge some of us have. But all isn't lost yet.....

There are members here who might be able to help out but hasn't seen this discussion yet as they're preoccupied with personal things.....
Hoogle .... any thoughts?