Hi, For some reason, some of my transparency maps aren't rendering correctly through one camera, but they render just fine through another. I have an animated AUX camera parented to an invisible, low poly man that moves (for camera movement purposes). When I render through the AUX camera, some of the transparency maps in the background only render maybe about 50% transparency, yet through the non-animated MAIN camera, everything renders just fine. Anyone know what's going on? It seems that when I solve one Poser problem, another weird one just pops right up out of nowhere. Thanks

Are all the body part colours perfect black, with transparency min and max at 100% and fall-off at 0% and no texture or transparency maps applied? Sounds like a light is bouncing off him, which wouldn't be visible from all angles. Darker background colours would enhance any halo or shine.

First, i don't have your answer, sorry. Second, it is sure to arrive. Third, I bet the Knowlegable Ones might ask you to post an image of your material room nodes Fourth, I could swear there is a way to make a camera visible so you can just grab it a move it around and animate that way. Fifth (I have no idea why i am numberint!) why can't you animate your camera just by scrubbing along the animation and moving the camera where it should be and making a keyframe? Sixth, with all due respect to your frustration, "learning" is what is going on. once you have moved past, you will then have one more chunk of knowledge. Even as a newbie I can recognize that what you are doing is pretty far out there on the edge. Others, such as myself, will benefit from watching the solution. That will be a contribution of your exotic and potentially pioneering idea, so thanks. ::::: Opera :::::

"why can't you animate your camera just by scrubbing along the animation and moving the camera where it should be and making a keyframe" Well the way the camera rotates, it doesn't pivot, and because I'm a newb I don't know how to keep it "nailed" down while rotating. Also, my camera movements are trying to be slightly handheld, and I find it easier to create this effect when I have it parented to a head. "That will be a contribution of your exotic and potentially pioneering idea, so thanks." I wouldn't call a camera movement an exotic and potentially pioneering idea, but in the midst of a larger scale project, I take it as a compliment. Thanks.

Not still seeing a "Highlight" effect on the transparent parts are you? As moochie suggested above, make sure the Highlight color value is Zero black or the effect will still show up, even on otherwise transparent parts. May sound like a bug, but handy for highlights on things like windows or glassware.

I've noticed an occasional weirdness with transparency when using the motion-blur options.

Hi Peacer Moochie's & Nance's explanation are the most common cause for this. Make sure that the specularity colour is black. The Main and Aux cameras are both defined as "Pose" cameras, they are positioned on the end of a virtual boom and look back towards their centre of rotation. Most animators use the dolly camera instead as this rotates around its own axis which makes it much more practical if the camera is to move and pan around the scene. Bill

Thanks for the replies. I think the problem had something to do with the angle of the camera since the transparencies worked when I moved the camera to a different spot, so it's something weird like that. Also, I'll have to try to the DOLLY cam. I can't believe I've been using MAIN and AUX this whole time!

"something to do with the angle of the camera" -- still sounds consistent with residual highlighting effects. Make sure the colors don't just look kinda black, but are actually 0,0,0. (Ive often fallen for that one before.)

yes, me too, you can't just click on the box and visually click on sorta black, do it with dial. ::::: Opera :::::

Uh-huh. You mention transparency maps in your original post too .. a completely transparent character doesn't need 'em. And if the trans map is even slightly not black, you'll get ghosting. And have you tried turning him off, visually, by clicking the 'eye' icons in the Hierarchy editor? Maybe just leave one bit visible for the pre-render bits. Something mid-body would do for your invisible man. Something small and about hip height. Ummmm ...