Hello, new to ZB, trying to find out if you can apply a decal like image to a surface.
see attached file.
I want the white background to be transparent.
This is a snap to do in FormZ, using alphas and clipping masks when the image is set up in Photoshop.
Zbrush doesn’t support alphas but rather uses black 0,0,0 for that. For example 0,0,1 won’t be transparent. For that the more convenient thing is using the spotlight tool to project the texture as polypaint. The black will become automatically transparent.
If you want to use Photoshop you could use zbrush zapplink for that, then you can use alphas.
Thanks,
Sounds like your saying Zbrush won’t allow you to apply an image to a model that has transperant values.
If I have an graphic that has a black boader with no back ground along with other color information, ZB doesn’t know how to handle it?
See attached file, Helmet Decal
DM
The implementation is not ideal but there are workarounds. The black only needs to be slighly above absolute black to be transparent. For example, 0,0,1 won’t be transparent or 0,1,0. You only need to increase slightly the bright of the texture in Photoshop to avoid being transparent to the point that it won’t be noticeable. Then you can apply the alpha channel as a fully black color 0,0,0 over the image. The result could be confusing visually as in Photoshop black areas near to the new alpha black zone will look the same but will work. The texture will be aliased but if it has enough resolution it won’t noticeable.
If you want to avoid this workaround use zbrush zapplink then you can use Photoshop directly with your alphas.
Thanks,
got it to work, , in photoshop, setting up graphics on all 100% black background ( which then works as a transparency mask) and building image ontop of that, then adjusting any black that you want to see in final art at less than 100% blk works. see attached file.
