Transparency renders black in Arnold

[Anonymous]

Hi, I am new to Maya, so hopefully my description will make sense ..

I am using surface shaders with transparency - for simple projections on simple geo.

In my scene - everything is ok, transparency works nicely.
Even when rendered with other renderers .. everything is fine.
But - in Arnold - for some reason, all transparency turns black.
What am I missing?

Can someone pls help?
Thanks,
alena

[mspeer]

Hi!

Select your mesh and in Attribute Editor ..Shape -> Arnold -> Opaque (disable)

https://support.solidangle.com/display/AFMUG/Refraction

[Anonymous]

Hi mspeer,
thanks both for your reply - and advice (and a link)
but unfortunately it did not seem to solve the issue, sorry.


Just - after reading the description/manual info you posted - I was thinking -
couldn´t the reason be that I use Maya surface shader (not Arnold aiStandard) ?

(I am using that since I am simply following a tutorial, no idea how to do it otherwise..)

Thanks anyway!
alena

[mspeer]

Hi!

Not all Maya Shaders and Textures are supported at the current state, some only with limitations:
https://support.solidangle.com/display/AFMUG/Maya+Shaders

So yes, using a Maya Material could be the problem.

Another thread related to this problem:

Arnold/Maya 2017 - transparency with file texture showing black?

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-forum/arnold-maya-2017-transparency-with-file-texture-showing-bla...

[Anonymous]

thanks, mspeer!

yes, I´ve checked that thread out already, too -
but since I am a complete newbie (with no 3D/ texturing /Maya shading/transparency/rendering knowledge or background whatsoever ) - the info provided in that thread seems to be a bit confusing/overwhelming for me ..

So far I only managed to understand that -
for Arnold Renderer I should probably/rather use Arnold-supported materials/shaders in the first place ..

But -  
what about camera projections with transparency?
(that´s what I need to do in this case - using a tif image w. transparency in a layer /no separate Alpha here/ - applied as a surface shader to a simple geometry, with the transparency appliled to it ..)

Does (some?) iStandard /Arnold material work for that, too?
(so far I only know the ´Maya surface shader´ workflow I saw in the tut I was following)
But - when trying to test out some ´Arnold material´ workaround, instead -
so far  it does not seem to work for me, neither, hm..
I must be doing something wrong,..

Thanks!
a.

[mspeer]

Hi!

Tiff with transparency seems not to work with Arnold. Use PNG if you want to use transparency (or use Alpha Channels).

[Anonymous]

Hi mspeer,
ok, thanks!

So I used *png instead ..
and also - this time I used aiStandard instead of Maya surface shader ..
So far so good -
but - when I tried to ´replicate´ your Node Editor setup, I got lost - since my Node editor looks differently... (??)
I must have gone wrong somewhere  ..

If you are willing (thanks for your help so far anyway!) to look at how exactly I proceeded -
I screencaptured the process .. pls see the attached video
(less than 1 minute)

Thanks!
a.

https://youtu.be/9bPKLK3uWu0

[mspeer]

Hi!

There are different methods to get a connection to the opacity attribute, just one example (right-mouse-click "Show All Attributes"):

[Anonymous]

hi,
I was trying to do the same - but for some reason the Opacity parameter was not available, in my case ... (?)
(pls see screencapture)

No idea what I am doing wrong.

But thanks a lot, anyway!
Even though I did not manage to solve my issue yet (now going to try to learn a bit more about how Node Graph/materials work in Maya),
all your assistance and inputs are helpful - I always learn something new .. (and - as I hope - after I will learn some more Maya basics, all those bits will start to make sense to me ..  hopefully .. 🙂  )
Thanks!
Appreciate!
a.

https://youtu.be/WQPGnAWF-cI

[mspeer]

Hi!

You need to click directly on a node next to (or on) the icon, this is a context menu. In my Screenshot you can see where i clicked with the mouse (midpoint of the menu).

[Anonymous]

hi,
ok I see, thanks!

So now I should expect my texture showing transparency, in my wiewport?
Or - what is it I am still missing / doing wrong?
(in my wiewport, the white space within the doors should be transparent, which still does not seem to be working ??)


Mspeer,
I so much appreciate your assistance -
but - if this ´long story´ happens to start to be ´annoying´ for you - just do not worry,
I understand that I should probably learn the very basics first, before diving into these projects ..  🙂
your help so far has already been greatly helpful ..
a.

[mspeer · Accepted solution]

Hi!

You will not see the effect in Viewport 2.0, at least with Maya 2017. Keep in mind that there are still some limitations when using Arnold in Maya. The opacity attribute of the aiStandard material is not supported in Viewport 2.0 (with Maya 2017).

But there is a workaround, set one material for Maya and an other for Arnold:

[Anonymous]

.. I see, ok, I´ll check that method out ..
thanks!
a.

[Anonymous]

Brilliant! I didn't know you could set a different material for the viewport! 

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@mspeerwrote:

Hi!

You will not see the effect in Viewport 2.0, at least with Maya 2017. Keep in mind that there are still some limitations when using Arnold in Maya. The opacity attribute of the aiStandard material is not supported in Viewport 2.0 (with Maya 2017).

But there is a workaround, set one material for Maya and an other for Arnold:

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[Anonymous]

This totally solved my issue, where transparency shader settings were ignored by Arnold until I unchecked opaque in the model. Thanks!

[janusscientes]

The simplest solution I could think of is selecting the object go to Attribute editor -> Arnold and untick Opaque

Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

None of this works for me. Using Arnold rendering engine, Arnold shaders, Arnold sky dome, Opacity is unchecked, I've got enough rays, transparency settings are all correct, yet transparency renders black. It's ludicrous that this is even an issue.

[Stephen.Blair]

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@Anonymous wrote:

None of this works for me. Using Arnold rendering engine, Arnold shaders, Arnold sky dome, Opacity is unchecked, I've got enough rays, transparency settings are all correct, yet transparency renders black. It's ludicrous that this is even an issue.

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You should start a new thread with specific info about your problem, like:

• What are we talking about? opacity or transmission?
• Is this for thousands of sprites or particles? Or a single object?
• What are correct transparency settings?
• What versions of Maya and MtoA?