How to add transparency to a texture without alpha map

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I have a model, pre-rigged and textured, in FBX format, that I'm importing into 3ds max. Here is the problem:

The model is an angel-like character, with wings. The wings are a single texture, and the model didn't import with transparency, so the wings look solid, instead of with transparency between the feathers. 

There was no alpha map included with the model, and I need to make the wing texture include transparency for the open parts. 

How, in 3ds Max 2014, do you create transparency in a texture without a separate alpha map? All I have is the diffuse map.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

You may be able to use the diffuse map to create a "cutout map" in an image editing software such as Photoshop. Select the areas that you want transparent and make them black, and everything else white. Look up "cutout map" in the help or google.

Was the diffuse map a jpg then? Sometimes the alpha is hidden in an image's alpha channel, which the jpg doesn't have but some png, tga and tiff etc formats do.