Mix Texture and images with alpha channel

Blender (Export script developed by yoyoz; Integrated Plugin developed by JimStar)
Andreas_Resch
Posts: 319
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2018 6:29 am

I probably didn't make myself clear enough. I want to overlay a transparent image that contains BOTH RGB information AND has transparency in it as well. For now I (as I don't know it better yet), I always have to create two nodes (RGB Image as well as Alpha Image) for each image that I want to overlay. But that will always result in twice the work, for creating as well as changing the images. In Blender I have two output sockets on the image node - one for the RGB information and one for the Alpha information. And if I want to change that image I only have to reload the image once.

Here's the image I want to overlay ... http://www.argfx.at/upload/smiley.zip
J.C
Licensed Customer
Posts: 1857
Joined: Thu May 13, 2010 6:35 pm
Location: Wrocław

As I said in previous reply, RGB or Grayscale image node does not output alpha channel. You need to use Alpha Image node to get alpha channel from an image.
In the end you will have two texture nodes, one for alpha and one for rgb information.
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Andreas_Resch
Posts: 319
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2018 6:29 am

Sometimes you have to take the bumpy road. Thanks anyway.
J.C
Licensed Customer
Posts: 1857
Joined: Thu May 13, 2010 6:35 pm
Location: Wrocław

Andreas_Resch wrote:Sometimes you have to take the bumpy road. Thanks anyway.
I wish it was easier too.
CPU – i9 13900KF, 128GB RAM, GPU – RTX 4090
System – Windows 11
My Behance portfolio, Blender plugin FB support group
Andreas_Resch
Posts: 319
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2018 6:29 am

The day will come when one of the devs will realize that there are file formats now that can store transparency as well ;)
elsksa
Licensed Customer
Posts: 784
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:06 am

What J.C wrote. In my case (Standalone), the selection of the "image type" can be done during import, while in Octane Blender, it's only via a dedicated node to add beforehand (as far as I know).
Andreas_Resch wrote:The day will come when one of the devs will realize that there are file formats now that can store transparency as well ;)
They do, and there are no issues whatsoever. Everything one would need is supported and works. However, I would rather say "the day when people will know how to properly encode “alpha” in appropriate file formats".
Andreas_Resch
Posts: 319
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2018 6:29 am

It doesn't really make a difference if there are two dedicated nodes or two equal nodes with a different purpose selected for them. It's still two nodes. And not sure about the second comment. If there is a proper way about how to encode a transparent file that will allow me to get to a solution that requires just one image node, please share it with us. It might be helpful for a lot of users.
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