I cant figure how to apply transparency as texture. I want to use some .tga with built in alpha channels, they could be applied as color transparency (black as transparent for instance)
How to do this?
TIA

You don't give a context for your question but I'll assume you're talking about making a shader in VOPs:

Texture Map VOP - change Signature to RGBA - this changes the output from a vector to a vector 4.

Feed this to a “Vector 4 to Vector” - this gives two outputs - a vector(colour) and a float(your alpha).

Feed the Vector into the diffuse of a Lighting Model - feed this to Cf out, then feed your float from your convert VOP to “Af”

That should work.

Cheers,

J.C.

Well thanks JC but i find that totally bamboozling ))) i can find no texture map VOP in the vopnet nor any texture map ref. i was looking for some generic SHOP? that would enable me to apply an image to a plane (for instance) while specifying which parts of it to make transparent. I think i will have to go back a bit and get more learning with shader building and lighting. I am used to selecting from browser and drag and drop etc, having it done for me! I come from the trueSpace background, about as far in the opposite direction from Houdini method as you can get, www.caligari.com, check out my winning BBAC animation if you pass by )) My ambition is to use Houdini for animation, even tho i cant use it yet i begin to see the fantastic control possible.
Thanks for your help JC, i'll look out some more tutorials.

NP…but you don't need to build a shader in VOPs to do what you're asking(for the record - go to VEX builder, put down a Surface Shader, go inside *that* - and you can do what I mentioned - but yup perhaps you'll want to tut a bit more ).

Go to SHOPs, lay down a VEX Super Material - buried in those pages and pages of tabs is aparamap and/or aperpmap - you can select rgb/alpha or luminance to drive the transparency there…


Cheers,

J.C.