Chain Link Fence

[Mike Twining]

Is there a simple way to render a chain link fence that is modeled as a solid "block" (i.e., is there a texture or surface image that I can apply to a large surface that, when rendered, allows transparency in some areas and not in others?)? I don't really want to model an actual chain link fence, but I sure would like to see one in my model. Thanks for any inputs!

[Cary OConnor]

The image needs to have an alpha mask or a solid color for the areas to knock out (cut away). Basically you would apply this to a thin face on the decal and set the type to cut-away with the transparency type. The only issue is that you would need to scale or repeat the image to the exact size before using it in the decal setting (there is no repeat in the decal).

 

Cary

[Cary OConnor]

oh...and turn the part off to cast shadows since the shadow would be the shape of the part not the image.

 

Cary

[Mike Twining]

I see what is going on there.

 

I've attached an image. In here, the sphere is behind the block. The block (at a part level) is red. The front surface of the block (that you are looking at) has a texture applied that contains an alpha channel, and the only visible portion of the image is the black chain-link fence. Is there a way to control the color that IronCAD is rendering in the alpha channel (it appears to the the default part color, NOT the color applied to the part)? Ideally, I would like to see a similar effect in the IronCAD application as one gets from rendering the same thing with the image applied as a decal rather than a texture.... (I guess I want the best of both worlds...I am too lazy to make a custom decal for every length of fence that I need).

 

[Mike Twining]

Nevermind.... I found the command I needed in Gimp.

 

For anyone who cares, I have attached a small chain link fence section (properly cut to tile nicely) image. If you have downloaded Gimp (free Photoshop like program), the command to tile an image is: Filters->Map->Tile...