making a torch/cauldron style need little info

well what im doing here is making a torch thats cauldron style what i would like to know is this. Ive opend up the models of torches from blizzard, i noticed a plane model thats extremely transparent where the particles are attached...so i figured id make a few floating planes where i want fire and attach bones to each of the planes...but what i would like to know is how to make these planes extremely transparent to almost invisible. Ive messed with transparency before in my psp but im not sure how to get it really really transparent. Any help is much appreciated.

Make the skin in that area transparent. You'll have to use some mdl editing and some alpha channel editing.

i know that i have donne transparencys im wondering how you control the strength of transparency.

Find your custom skin in the textures section of the mdl and change the alpha number. I don't know the exact number, so play around with it a bit. Also, change the type to additive.

hmmm you meen like add alpha 1 or 2 or something?

Change the material of the geoset from "None" (or "Transparent" i dunno what you have) to "Additive" -and the alpha channel don't have anything to do with transparent planes. With additive materials, the only thing you have to keep in mind is that the brighter the texture is, the more visible will be; dark spaces are pratically invisible.
I'm not sure what are you trying to do with that, however. Why don't you just use a particle emitter?

will be using a particle emmitter but i want a somewhat more solid piece in the particle that looks likea flame but is almost completely invisible to give a better effect. So your saying if i paint black in an area where i add transparency that it will be invisible in that area?

If you use that material, yes. Additive effect is used also, for example, on the hero glow - you sure have noticed that it's more brighter in the center, and become less and less visible on the borders, where the texture is darker.

yah your right i have seen that, well thanks for your help dunno why there cant be a value added in though for the strenght of the transparency would make it easier.