firstly make sure there is an alpha channel
And not just a transparent layer in the photoshop
File. Ctrl click a layer then hit the create
Channel from selection in the channels tab.
Then in max drag copy the image from the
Diffuse slot to the opacity slot.
Go to the bitmap in opacity and under
Bitmap parameters in the mono channel
Output group check the alpha radio button.
That will make max only use the alpha
From the image in the opacity.

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If tysons method doesnt work, save as a 32 bit TGA.

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--Matt

yeah, sorry what matt said is essential if you are saving as a .tga. and if all else fails you can always save your alpha as a seperate .tga file and load it into the opacity slot that way.

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cheers guys, got the alpha channel to work using your method, hit a slight snag though... when rendering the image the layer with the alpha channel is in front of a background layer and is casting a shadow but i cant get the shadow to replicate the alpha channel, is there a way i can fix this?

Here are some images to help show you what I mean:
[Link to i574.photobucket.com]
[Link to i574.photobucket.com]

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[Link to www.idrawonline.co.uk]

Either use raytraced shadows. (raytraced shadows calculate transparency but have hard edges)
or, right click the object, go to object properties and uncheck cast shadows.

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thanks for advice used the raytraced shadows and it now looks a whole lot better i think, cheers.

[Link to i574.photobucket.com]

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[Link to www.idrawonline.co.uk]