How to combine existing 3D image from libray.... - RealWorld forums

I want to combine the magnifying glass.u3d object from the library, with
a .png image, i.e. to make it look like the .png image is viewed through the magnifying glass.

Help!

There are multiple ways how to do that, for example:

1)
Create two icons: from your png and the magnifier. You may use the "Remove Empty Border" operation the control the size and position of the objects in the icons. Then blend the icons - use "Copy Icon Images" from "Edit" menu or toolbar on the magnifier and then "Blend Icon Images" on the icon created from your png. (You may also blend the images one by one using ordinary "Selsect All", "Copy", and "Paste" commands.) Finally, create pre-XP formats for best quality.

2)
Open the magnifying glass.u3d and insert a new box. Set its depth to 0 so it will look like a rectangle. Select it and using the material panel, disable material color and use your png as a texture. Place the
box behind the magnifier, save, and re-render.

Would it be possible to break the easiest method to detailed steps, for a newbie like me, or point me somewhere to read about it?

I appreciate your time.

Well, the first one is probably easier:
- Open your .png, and create icon from that png using one of the "Create Icon (...)" commands, whichever suits your needs. Cou can use the "Remove Empty Border" command before converting the image to icon to set the relative size of the object.
- Open the magnifying glass.r3i and use "Create Icon" command. There will be 2 dialogs, that allow you to again select the size of the object relatively to the icon and to specify generated image formats.
- Now click "Copy Icon Images" from "Edit" menu or toolbar in the window with created magnifying glass icon.
- Switch to the icon created from your .png and click "Blend Icon Images" from "Edit" menu or toolbar. You should now have the magnifier over your .png icon.
- Click "Create Pre-XP formats" from "Icon" menu or toolbar to create correct 8-bit and 4-bit images.

The tutorials embedded in the application may also help you.

Open the glass.r3i or glass.r3d ?

Also, I cannot see the 'create icon' command.

The .r3i file. It is a definition of a scene with defined lights, camera, etc.

The command is called "Create Icon from snapshot" and is in "Operation" menu or in toolbar when the .r3i file is open.

Thanks!

Now, how can I view these combined icons as a 3d object (like the margifying glass was originally) and how can I use it on a web page?

An icon cannot be turned back to a 3D object.

If you want to have a 3D object with magnifier and something else, then you would need to use the other method mentioned int the first answer.

And again, how exactly you would want to use th created icon on web. You can either use is as a favicon for your webpages, you can just let people download the created .ico file, you can save a single image from the icon and save it as .png or .jpg and just embed it into your web page as you would an ordinary image.

'Open the magnifying glass.u3d and insert a new box. Set its depth to 0 so it will look like a rectangle. Select it and using the material panel, disable material color and use your png as a texture. Place the
box behind the magnifier, save, and re-render.'

How do I:

-set the depth to 0?
-Select the rectangle?
-Place the box behind the magnifier?
-re-render?

Sorry I am taking up so much of your time.

I figured out most of it.

All I need to know is:

--How to re-render the 3d image
--How to save it so I can display it on a web page? When I try to open the changed .u3d file from a browser it doesn't work.

Thanks

The 3D file is just a 3D model, it cannot be used directly from web browser. You first need to turn it into a .r3i file (this file servers to define snapshots). You can do that by clicking "Render to Image" from "Operation" menu - a new window opens with a .r3i file open. From here you can create icon files (as described above) or in your case directly images. Click "Edit Snapshot as Raster Image" from "Operation" menu or directly "Save Image as..." from "File" menu. Be sure to select .png, .jpg, or .gif image format when saving the image, because only these are supported by browsers.

'...Open the magnifying glass.u3d and insert a new box. Set its depth to 0 so it will look like a rectangle. Select it and using the material panel, disable material color and use your png as a texture. Place the
box behind the magnifier, save, and re-render.
...'

I performed the steps above. When I produce an icon from the combined .png and .u3d objects, the background color of the .png shows as a square inside the glass.u3d.

How do I make the background of the .png disappear so that only the .png image shows in the glass?

Thanks

If your .png already has transparent background, open your .u3d file, select the box and look at the material panel. At the bottom of the panel, find a box named "Opacity" and switch it to "Texture alpha".

If your .png does not have transparent background, open it in the editor and erase the background (for example by right-clicking on background while floodfill tool is active). Then save (be sure to enable alpha channel when saving) your png with different filename and use this new png as a texture.

The .png color looks white. How can I tell if it is transparent?

I right-clicked on white background while floodfill tool is active, and the background became gray. What am I doing wrong?

That's probably OK if by gray you mean chequered (every other pixel is brighter). You can quickly verify if it is transparent when saving it - at the bottom of the "Save as" dialog, switch the left box to "Alpha Channel" and verify that it is (or can be) enabled.

It is not checquered. It is gray, after I right-clicked on white background while floodfill tool is active.

Also, I don't see any 'left box'.

Please send me the .png and .u3d on info@rw-designer.com. It may be faster if I look at them.