layering shaders...

[luminis]

It is possible to do what you want to do by using a layered texture. Since each file texture will have its own placement node, you can have one texture to repeat on each tile, while the other texture to not repeat at all and cover the entire floor.

For each layer in the layered shader, choose a file texture with the settings "With New Texture Placement" and "As Projection" in the creation options. Your shading network should look something like this image:

http://www.luminis3d.com/cgt/img/layer.jpg

[mabuffaloe]

OK, I set the layered shader up like the one in your pic, but I can't get the second one to show up at all...I've rearranged the order, nothing seems to work. It is a projection image layered on a normal file image. What do you think?

[Madpear]

First of all, you should know that 3D projections don't manage the alpha of the image file. In order to project the alpha of the image you must change some settings of the projection. Go to the attribute editor of the projection. In Color Balance put the Alpha gain to 0 and the Color Gain to black. Then connect the Out Alpha of your image file to the Alpha Offset of the projection. Now the projection project the RGBA channels of your image file.
Create a Layered Texture. Drag and drop your Projection next to the green square in the Layered Texture attribute editor. Clic on the cross below the green square in order to delete it. Clic on the blue square to select it. Drag and drop the projection on the Alpha.
Do the same with another projection. In the layered texture attribute editor, you can change the position of your layers by MMB drag and drop them.

If you have other questions, i'll be here :)

[mabuffaloe]

hmmm, ok I do have another few questions for you.... How should I treat the image in photoshop; should i use alpha channels, or make another image to act as a transparency map? Which file format should I use; tif, tga, something else?

I was working through the steps you listed, and there was only one part I couldn't follow... when you said "Drag and drop the projection on the Alpha" at the end of the second paragraph, what Alpha are you talking about? I couldn't find one in the attributes of the layered shader. Sorry, but I haven't worked with layered shaders before! :hmm:

Thanks so much for the replies!

[Madpear]

Ok, so my advices were for a layered texture.
So first of all, I always use IFF or RBG image files (you can find the plugins for photoshop on highend3d) because these files are the only ones wich contain the RGBA and Z informations.

For the alpha, select the layered texture, then CTRL A to go to the attribute editor. There click on one of the blue squares above to select it. Below, you can see Color and Alpha (or transparency for the layered shader). Then, just drag and drop the projection on the Alpha. That's it.

[mabuffaloe]

ok, i will try those steps again in a little while... I do want to ask what is z information? I've been using tiff files because they have alpha information, but i don't know what z information is. Thanks for the help Madpear! :)

[Madpear]

The Z is a grayscale image (like the alpha) wich contain the distance between the camera and the objects in the scene. So usefull to ZBlur in post or to compose in Z

[mabuffaloe]

Yay! I finally got it to work! Thanks guys.. :bounce:

[onlooker]

Hey why dont you save that shader, and upload in to highend, and give us a link to it? I want to see what you came up with.

Or just post a pic. :bounce:

[mabuffaloe]

sure, no problem! I hope you can see it, as it is a little small! (Let me know if you can't see it and I'll post it with a link) I didn't use a projection on this one, I'm still working on figuring out how to layer those! :)
Here it is:

[mabuffaloe]

and here it is applied:
(the top layer is a layer of dirt which you can just see at the edges of the cabinet and stove)

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