XSI alpha problem Redux

[racerX]

Repeatable problem here - Alpha mapped surfaces turn black when the camera looks through multiple alpha mapped surfaces or curved surfaces.

It's a re-occuring problem that pops up when rendering alpha channels. What might a workaround be for a palm tree such as this one?

[Jak_Carver]

try setting your render settings to render both sides, both in your render pass settings and in your object's visibility node. You may also want to check your render pass settings and make sure that you have enough raytracing rays and depth to render appropiately. Good luck.

[racerX]

Ok - I've set all those values and there is no difference in the renders.
Steps taken and values that were set are listed below...

Region>Options:
View Render Options > Optimization > Face: Set to "Both"

Render>Options:
Render Options > Optimization > Face: Set to "Both"'

Oject properties (alt+enter to see full properties):
Visibility>Rendering>Geometry: Visible Face set to Both faces visible

The geometry BTW is from the Dosch Tree library. As a precaution, I checked to insure that there were no multiple faces or other snags.

Any other suggestions or should I be bringing this to XSI tech supports attention?

[Jak_Carver]

not sure whats going on without looking at your scene myself. I was working on animated short last summer and I was using alpha mapped trees and foliage for one of the outdoor areas and I didnt have this problem. I dont think its a bug, probably something your doing wrong. I would continue analyzing your scene because its probably something simple thats causing this. Worst comes to worst I can always check it for you if you send a simple scene with just the tree and the materials, Im actually curious to see whats going on myself.

[racerX]

SOLVED - under render options goto:
Optimization>Raytracing Depth set Reflection, Refraction and MaxRay Depth to 5 (at least in this case).

My first guess was to look for transparency settings. Why Reflection, Refraction and MaxRay Depth have anything to do with the alpha transparency stumps me.