TABLE OF CONTENTS Opacity mapping allows you to cut out parts of an object by making those parts invisible. You can also create wonderful fading effects using opacity maps. With opacity mapping, you don't have to model certain details, which can be a real time saver. In this example, you will create a chain-link fence. However, you will not model a fence. You will create it entirely from mapping. To make a chain-link fence, follow these steps:
Open the Chain Link Opacity Map.max file in the Texture Scene Files folder on the companion CD. Open the Material Editor and select a sample slot. First, you are going to add a bitmap to the diffuse color, so go to the Maps rollout. Select the bar next to Diffuse Color. Pick Bitmap from the Material/Map browser and navigate to the Texture Scene Files folder on the CD. Choose Chain Link.tif (shown in Figure 7.58).
Go to the Coordinates rollout and change both the U and V Tiling parameters to 3.0. This will scale down the image because the image repeats three times.
Apply the material to the Plane geometry in the scene. Click the Show Map in Viewport button. Render and you will see something similar to Figure 7.59. As you can see, the chain-link image appears on the plane, but you can't see the objects on the other side.
Go to the Material Editor. Click the Go to Parent button to get to the Maps rollout for the parent material. Click...
