(background of the problem)
I ran into a problem yesterday filming my character from a long way off outside of a window. The Opacity of this hat looks really bad from far away:


If I move the camera to inside the window, the issue is fixed:



So if you happen to know a way I can solve the above issue, I don't have to create my 'Distraction' prop that I look at from outside the window and then switch to the "teacher".

I was trying to think of what distraction prop to create, and I walked by a furniture store with a hanging mobile (I had to look up the term because I couldn't remember last night):

I searched the marketplace for mobiles because I will always buy before I create unless I have more time than money, which is rare these days.

I didn't find any so I searched Google Images and found this and it looks pretty easy to make, except the little arch hangers I wasn't sure how to create that after looking at the arcs in IClone.



The spheres look easy to create and change textures, and the string could just be a very narrow cylinder, but the wood or bamboo or whatever texture that is for the arches I didn't know how to create.

I wish there a 3D eraser tool. Where I can take a model I want, and erase away the parts I don't want. Does anything like that exist (anywhere, not just IClone)?

Thanks, and sorry to post a bunch of questions in one thread, but it easier for me to follow one thread than multiples.




Creator of the free website:
PixelDatabase.Net
A Free Online Text Based Image Editor

check your window glass if refraction is on, turn it off.

the hanger could be made from primitives
with 2 toruses, 8 cylinders
and 36 spheres
the torus just needs a half black/white opacity map

but it wont be flat like your image



.

As far as the hat goes if it uses an Opacity Map it might be because you are shooting through the glass that also has Opacity on as well..that's always been an issue with iClone. There are some adjustments that may help, I think,others will chime in hopefully, but if the hat has an Opacity Map I usually have to turn on Alpha Threshold and tweak it a bit...



Click here to go to my YouTube Channel filled with iClone Tutes and Silly Stuff

Visit ANIMATED PROJECTIONS Powered by iCLONE

Intel Core i7 3960X @ 3300MHz Overclocked to 4999.7 MHz Sandy Bridge 24.0GB DDR3 @ 833MHz Graphic Display HP ZR30w 
GeForce GTX 980Ti 6GB  Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. P9X79 WS (LGA2011)

Thanks for the opacity tip. Not sure what you mean about won't be flat, but 3D is not flat usually so that is a good thing I think.

I will check out the Defraction on the window; maybe that's it. 

You actually counted the 36, I didn't think there were that many just by looking. 

Thanks, when I get off work I will try your suggestions or if I get a break maybe sooner.

[Edit]
I just checked, and I don't have Refraction on the window, just opacity is set at 19.

I will either create the mobile as described above or just buy something to have the camera focus on. It was just an idea to start outside the class, may not be the best angle.






Creator of the free website:
PixelDatabase.Net
A Free Online Text Based Image Editor

I solved my issue by changing the Self Illumination of the window from 62 (is what the class room scene I purchased came with), and bumped it to 100 and now it looks fine.

Not sure why Self Illumination did the trick, but having a slider was easy to try so I tried it.

Thanks for the Opacity image; I have seen others but I guess it didn't register in my brain as that is a way to hide what you want by making it white (based on your example). I will count this as what I learned today, and it is only 8:29 AM!




Creator of the free website:
PixelDatabase.Net
A Free Online Text Based Image Editor

if you have cc3, it can also be used as a eraser tool
for anything made into a obj and imported into it


.

@Kipster Yes I have CC3, what tool do I use there to erase?

Trying to file this away for future knowledge, and having a forum is good. I always like finding my own old questions years later. Kind of like time travel and memory loss and deja vu all in one experience.

Creator of the free website:
PixelDatabase.Net
A Free Online Text Based Image Editor

modify/edit mesh/face
check ignore backfaces if needed
make a selection
press hide
 im using 3.03 still so it might be slightly different in the recent one

i uploaded one i made which can be modified

it only took about 5 minutes since most of it was cloned
and positioned along a hidden torus.
i build a lot of stuff with primitives when i get in a jam



.

For glass, the Diffuse color should be set to a dark color or black. It looks like it's white right now.

---

The only took me 5 minutes part is where I think it takes me 5 minutes to get IClone open and find the props I need.

Thanks for answering the CC question also. I have clicked on Edit Mesh, and every time i do I regret it. I can do a little move because I know the W key stands for 'We Need To Move It', but that is all I know about mesh. 

If any IClone expert out there started a Remote 1 on 1 session help that charges by the minute, that would probably be a lucrative business. Forums are great and extremely helpful, reading documentation and watching someone else do something in a 15 minute video is also great to see they know how to do it. I will do something the hard way for a long time until it is so painful it finally dawns on me to ask if there is a faster way, and almost every time there is.

I will have to find something that opens .rar files when I get off work. I don't have the heart to ask you to make it into a zip file since I was even asking (or in the least bit expecting) to have someone create it for me; I will figure that the how to open it when I get off work.

I was just telling one of my co-workers this morning that I feel more productive today than the past month. Probably from going to bed at 10 last night.

Now that I solved my window issue I may not need that prop in this set, but I could see it having some use just as decoration.

Taking this thread on its very last tangent, I have seen Wind somewhere in IClone for these tropical plants prop.

Is there a way to apply wind to make that prop into a wind chime? I wanted this also for some shrubs to give them a little movement.

Many thanks for all the info and the prop






Creator of the free website:
PixelDatabase.Net
A Free Online Text Based Image Editor