Hi Friends, I want to add a the attached decal on my aircraft model in Vue 6,two questions in this regard:

1-How to apply a decal to a specific part fo the fuselage?
2-I dont want to get white color to be visible on the decal just the numbers to be appear but not the whilte color?
I searched the tutorials section for Vue, there is a two part tutorial on this subject but links are not working.
Thanks a lot for the help!

If I understand correctly what you want, there are two possible ways: 1. If your aircraft already has a texture map assigned to it, you can edit the map in Photoshop and add the lettering at the place you need 2. If there is no other texturing, edit the texture of the appropriate part with the material editor. You can assign the the file with your letters in the basic editor (color map tab) but you'll need the advanced editor to scale and  position.   I attached a picture of the function editor. The map is connected to the color node and to the transparency node (so that you get just the letters without the white background.  You need to set the repeat to 'none' and adjust the offset (and scale?) so it is situated in the right place. You can adjust the position and scale of the letters in the advanced editor, color tab, without using the function editor, but I dont know how to do adjustments for the transparency without the function editor. Maybe there are easier ways - I'm not the greatest expert - but this should work, (If you have your letters in a png file with transparent background you may not need to worry about transparancy adjustments in vue - try it) I hope it works

Is the model UV mapped ?

The method you use is more or less the same whether it is or isn't, but if it is, you always have the option of modifying the texture (or copy) to add the decal directly.
The basic recipe is to use a Projected Texture node, with repeat set to "Once" in both directions, and adjust the offsets and scales to position the decal correctly.
The material your modifying must be in either "Object Standard" or "Object Parametric" mode to get the correct effect.

To get just the lettering, you'll need to create a mask image (or add an alpha channel).

The application of the decal can be done either as a modification to the node setup of the current material or as a new layer above the current material.

...you wait at the station for hours and there is no bus, and then 2 arrive together... :)

http://www.silverblades-suitcase.com/tutorials/htm/5.html
http://www.silverblades-suitcase.com/tutorials/htm/14.html

You need an .obj format model, to get UV maps of, and then either pply a decal as part of the WHOLE texture, or as I show, use it as a transparency mixed material driven by a UV map :)

Chippwalters made two excellent tutorials about decals, which used to be here:
http://www.altuit.com/webs/altuit2/vuelab/

But I just checked and the link to "Vue training" is dead and I can't see those tutorials anywhere else. Maybe you can contact Chippwalters via Renderosity sitemail.

Hi Friends! Thanks for the help but to be very honest now I am more confused,my fault as I am a learner and alpha planes/channel I dont know about,let me make it simple,I have this part to which I have applied a metal paint shader (check the attached image)and I want to apply the above show number on this part so that only numbers are visible and none of the white part shows up on the 3d surface.so how to do that? And guys thanks a lot for your help!

The first thing you need to tell us is what edition of Vue your using.

A screenshot the current material settings will also help.

I am using Vue 6 and forgot to mention this is not UV Mapped in UV Mapper Pro or anything,I just want to display text as a Decal on this part which has metallic paint shader applied to it.
Thanks.

Quote - I am using Vue 6 ...

Ok, that was in your OP, but which edition Easel, Esprit, ProStudio, Infinite, PLE, or  XStream ?

 Hi gang,

Sorry about the links to the videos. It appears the files are lost but I'm looking into my archives.

In the meantime, I've created some decal material layers. I have ones for Left, Right, Top, Bottom, Front and Back. They are simple to use and understand-- just 'add layer' to existing material.

You can download them at:
http://www.gadgetplugins.com/chippstuff/DecalMaps.zip

Change the decal layer color to whatever color you want the decal to be (currently it's red).
After you add them, you can replace the bitmap with your own decal. Make sure the decal is BLACK on WHITE. The reason for this is so if you move or change the scale of the decal, it will work correctly. Currently it is set to Object Parametric 1:1 so it will stretch to fit the entire face of the object you're mapping. If you need it to be proportional, change it to Object Standard mapping mode, and adjust the scale and origin for position.

HTH,
Chipp

Chipp, You mean WHITE on BLACK right? otherwise it isnt compatible with your sample mats:) (I'm not sure why you chose to have white on black and then have the 'opposite(-x)' filter node, couldnt you have black on white and no filter node? seemed to work for me, but maybe I'm missing something) Also, is there a reason/difference for using the alpha node rather then the transparency node? I tried both and I cant see a difference

PowerJet
I have a feeling you may be still confused so I attached a picture, you need to follow the steps:

1. click on the little picture on the top right to get the material editor (you need the advanced one.
   add a new layer with Chipps material. (My initial layer was 'gold' the new one is 'Front Decal')
2. right click on the circle under 'color production' and you'll get the function editor.
3. click on the 'projected texture' so that it gets the red square around it.
4. click on the little  yellow arrow and browse to the image with your decal.
5. adjust scale and location

Note - you can make your lettering bigger, but not smaller, so make sure you start with a big enough image, ie small letters lots of space around it.

If you never used the advanced material editor and function editor, even this maybe a bit daunting, perhaps you should familiarize yourself with these first (if you dont like the manual, geeatplay.com has plenty of beginners' tutorials)
GoodLuck

 ArtPearl,

Yes, I meant White on Black. Sorry. The reason for it is if you use a scale factor smaller than 1, you will see it doesn't work with black on white-- even without the opposite tile. So, you CAN make your lettering smaller. This is imporant if you just want to put a small decal on the lower right of an object. You don't need to put "lots of space around it."

Alpha nodes are layer functions, and as such can be controlled with the alpha slider. I prefer them as they were designed to work with layers, whereas transparencies were originally designed to work with mixed materials-- though they do work with layers as well.

Also, remember, if you want to make it smaller and move it around the object, you need to use Object-Standard mapping mode! Then adjust the X and Y scale of the projected texture along with it's origin to suit.

 An example of  using the Front Decal material layer:

And another with the decal offset:

Ah - very interesting. But I'm probably still missing something. I thought I followed your suggestion, looks OK when the size is 1, but I can see the square of the decal image if I set the scale to 0.2.

Check your alpha boost for the decal layer and make sure it is set to 0%.

Thanks Chipp. It was on 0%, had to lower it to at least to -5% before the square disappeared completely. Wonder why that is -but at least I know how to fix it. By the way, if I  plug it into the transparency output node I cant get rid of the background square at all (tried transp=200%).

 The other reason might be that your black is not really black in your bitmap. Can you post the scene and let me take a look at it?

-C

Good thinking Batman:)  My rgb was 17,17,17 rather than 0,0,0. That solved that problem - both using the alpha node(boost =0%)  or the transp. node((transp=100%) the background square disappeared. It's not much of a scene - a cylinder with my name on it. The left cylinder is with alpha and the right with transp. (just moved the connection arrow in the function editor.) The transp one seems a bit brighter. I dont need it for anything in particular just trying to help out the OP and learning some things myself in the process.

Sorry - prev. image had alpha boost on, hence the tint on the alpha cylinder, but the letters are still fainter than the transp.

 Again, I think you are doing something wrong. I've tested the same and have no problem with the alpha only version. Please try using the default decal layer map.

It is indeed possible that I did something wrong. As I said, I personally dont need it right now, so dont worry about it. When time comes and I want it I will have to sort my errors out since I'm not likely to want to use the default decal map itself. Thanks anyhow - I learned some new aspects.

**Chip,Artpearl, nruddock,silverblade33 and Rutra
Thankyou sooooo much you guys specially Chip and Artpearl,this explains a lot and my issue is resolved,Chip thanks for the stuff that you have provided!
This is indeed a great forum to visit and getting help!
**

Thank you everyone. Great info and it explained an unrelated problem I had.