Hi Joe,

Labels in Carrara are a little convoluted but also very powerful. There are a couple of things that will "get you" if your not watching for them. You do need to create a layer list but you can have the rectangle "label" shape go completely around the bottle like I did in this instance.

I've had the best luck using multichannel mixers to create labels. In Layer mode, Carrara 4 doesn't respect the alpha masks of either .tga or .png files. (it does on billboards or single multichannel mixers when applied into the color channel)

So, you have to mix to multi-channel shaders with what you would usually consider to be the alpha mask. Here's what usually "gets" people: if you don't fill in the empty channels in the label shader (transparency, shininess, etc.) it will inherit the traits from the glass shader. (this is why most peoples labels look washed out; they're transparent just like the glass) This is a huge benefit when adding type to rusted, dirty shapes because it will inherit the grungy stuff from the other shader.

So, it's more complex, but more powerful.

Hopefully the picture helps. I just realized that you can't see what the "Source 2" is in that I've mixed. It's single channel transparency with a value controlling it set at 0%

Mark

Message edited on: 09/13/2005 18:49