Also, the area to be transparent has to be totally black (RGB 0,0,0).
Some experimentation may be necessary to be successful, as in many cases surfaces of any color may become transparent if viewed through the transparent surface in the forground.
For instance, I made a gravedigger variation with a semi-transparent body. You can see the engine inside through the open back or windows, but when seen from the side through the transparent body, the engine disappears and you see and empty frame.
It has to do with the order that the transparent surfaces are rendered ,or drawn on the monitor screen. Models with transparent surfaces should be the last thing added to a truck model. The last surfaces inserted into 0r added to a model seem to be the last surfaces of the truck that the game software will render.
To creat an illusion of transparency, the software engine just skips rendering areas that are black (rgb 0,0,0) if the face type is set to transparent. This way, the "transparent" pixels aren't "painted" over the surfaces in the background directly behind it, simulating a transparent area resembling clear glass.
If the transparent surfaces are rendered first, then for some reason the software will not rennder the pixels of faces directly behind the transparent surfaces, regardless of their color. This creats the disappearing faces problem with transparent windows.
I've used this info with success. That's why you can still see the truck through the rotating propeller blades on my TORNADO and SLASHER animated trucks, even though the propeller and cutters respectively are just painted on a disk, with black areas painted between the blades. The whole disk is set to transparent face type (mtm2), and the disk model (propeller or blades) were the last BIN I inserted to the main truck model before saving it.
Even with this method, I'm not 100% successful. It may take several attempts. Like I said...experiment a LOT!
------------------
-
BigDOGGe's Boneyard ...The Best Custom Trucks in MTM2 -
