????TGA with Alpha Channel????

[Lean Bear]

How do you make a TGA file with an Alpha Channel. I've looked on the net and asked around but still haven't found a sufficient method for doing it.

And, don't pretend that you don't know, because loads of people do it all the time when making icons for their addons and textures as well.

[Planck]

If it is terrain textures you are working on here is an easy way.

Load a paa or pac file into Texview, then resave it as a .tga file.

Then in Paint Shop or whatever application you use, copy the texture you want into this tga file, thus replacing the texture already present with your own texture.

Any alpha channel already present will be unaffected.

Resave the file, reload into Texview, then save again as paa or pac.

There is a way of creating alpha channels but this is a quick and dirty method.


Planck

[Lean Bear]

Thanks, but I really need a way to make transparent textures for objects not really for terrain.

But I'll try this method with non-terrain objectsa anyway, to see what happens.

[Planck]

The method should work for any paa or pac texture file.

However you would need to edit the alpha channel to suit the model file ..............etc.


Planck

[Lean Bear]

How do you edit the alpha channel though? If I knew how to do that, then I wouldn't have started this topic!

[Planck]

It would take a lot of space to try and explain the process, it would be better if you could find a tutorial of sorts.

I remember seeing one somewhere, I will try to see if I can find it again.
Or maybe someone else knows where to find one.

What program do you use to manipulate textures anyway?


Planck

[Aahz8]

making an alpha chanel is easy

Photo shop 8

Steps:
1. (layer 1) delete unnesasary material (background)
2. duplicate layer to make layer 2 and set contrast and brigtness to -100
3. make blank new layer (layer 3), color white
4. merge layer 2 + 3
5. select color range of black (under select color range)
6. goto select -> save selection. save as Alpha
7. goto channels, select Alpha
8. set contrast to +100
9. create layer 4 Blank, paint average texture color. (if a leaf, color green)
10. merge layer 1 + 4, with 1 on top
11. goto select -> load selection. load Alpha

12. click "Add layer mask"  http://tinypic.com/e3fo0  

13. save as .tga, 32.bit


Alot of the time you can just skip to step 12

[Lean Bear]

I don't have Paint Shop Pro, and unless its free, I don't think I'm gonna be getting it anytime soon.

[Planck]

You can get a 30 day trial copy of Paint Shop Pro 8 I believe.


Planck

[Aahz8]

its PHOTO shop
and i downloaded it from kaza

[Lean Bear]

Hmmm, I don't use kaZaa (or any other program like that) but I tried it out on PhotoShop Elements, but the reduced options were apparent when I got to "step: 6", cause there is no select colour range function on Elements. And you need a lisence or something to have the full version.

Aahz8, do ya think you could make a TGA file with an Alpha Channel (say 512x512) and send it to me? Cause then I could use it as a template and put whatever design on there, and the rest would be transparent, right?

[Planck]

Lean Bear

I'm sure you already posses a 512 X 512 paa or pac texture file with alpha channel.  Many came with OFP.

All you need to do is load it into Texview and resave as a tga file.


Planck

[Aahz8]

those instructions are unessasaraly complex
just save the outline of the texture
and go to channels and set to +100
(or if you can turn off antialiasing you dont need to do the chanals)

then do step 9 - 13

or i will just send an example, but it may not save the mask :-\

[Lean Bear]

Planck, do you know where in OFP's many files I might find a 512x512 texture wih an alpha channel?

Aahz8, where I pointed out I couldn't go any further, it really is the limit of PhotoShop Elements. There isn't a channels option or any form of mask (quick mask, new mask and the like).

Also, if I had a 512x512 texture with an Alpha channel, how could I keep the alpha channel and have a "solid" texture put on it so only he part I added would show in OFP?

[Planck]

Yes LB

If you UnPBO the O.pbo you will find many texture files that are 512 X 512 in size.  Most, if not all of them, have an alpha channel.
Although they have an alpha channel it is 'blank' so to speak.
So it can easily be edited to produce the mask you want if it is for something other than a land texture.

They have a file size of about 171 Kb.

All you need to do is convert one to a tga file with Texview.

Then load it into your graphics program of choice.

Copy the texture you want into the tga file, overwriting what is already visible.......the alpha channel will not be affected.


Planck