Date Posted: 5th Jun 2010 at 10:27 PM
Links
Putting some things here to help my failing memory.
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Wiki: Info about
Multiplier
The Multiplier adds shading and details to meshes. It is a greyscale image with or without an alpha channel. The lighter gray will lighten the patterns used while darker grey to black will darken the patterns used.
In clothing it is used to add fabric wrinkles and seams
In objects it is used to add shading to corners
In build items it is used to add architectural details
For objects and clothing this file is saved as DXT1 RGB 4 bpp | no alpha if no alpha channel present, DTX5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha when alpha channel present.
Hair= DXT3 | explicit alpha with the alpha layer white.
Specular
The specular adds highlighting and shine or reflectivity to your mesh. The specular is a brighter gray scale of the multiplier and has a black alpha channel. The white to gray will produce more highlights and shine where the darker gray to black will not produce highlights. Altering the specular's alpha to a shade of gray/white will also add reflectivity and shine, almost milky white to the object.
For objects and clothing this file is saved as DXT1 RGB 4 bpp | no alpha if no alpha channel present, DTX5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha when alpha channel present.
Hair= DXT3 | explicit alpha with the alpha layer black.
Mask
The mask has four channels (RGBA) that define the three CASTable channels. Some objects have a fourth CASTable channel which is acheived by having the certain areas span more than one channel.
When viewing the channels in your graphics program the color will be applied to areas that are white while the black area will be transparent for that channel. You can also create a fourth channel by having the white areas overlap on two channels.
For objects and clothing this file is saved as DXT1 RGB 4 bpp | no alpha if no alpha channel present, DTX5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha when alpha channel present.
Hair= saved as DXT3 | explicit alpha.
Overlay
This has textures that are not CASTable and they will always remain on top of any patterns applied to your mesh. This is used to add details for smaller areas that don't necessarily benefit from being CASTable or where you want a static image such as a tattoo or stencil type image. The overlay has an alpha that allows the transparency, black is transparent and white is where your texture details are.
For objects and clothing this file is saved as DXT1 RGB 4 bpp | no alpha if no alpha channel present, DTX5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha when alpha channel present.
Hair= saved as DXT3 | explicit alpha with the alpha layer black for areas with no texture and white with areas with the texture.
Also look for info in Patterns tutorials
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To edit the textures you need a Graphics Editor that can handle DDS-files, Layers and alpha channels. (some need a plugin),
Photoshop expensive program, try to get an older or used copy. College-students can get a discount.
DDS Plugin for Photoshop:
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/...ds_plugins.html
where to put the plugins:
I also have Paint Shop Pro 8.1 (Pay) OLD but useable with a Plug-in: link missing
FREE Graphics programs can do the job just as good, if you know how to do it.
*Gimp 2.6.7
http://gimp.org/downloads/
*DDS-plug-in for GIMP = gimp-dds-win32-2.0.7
http://nifelheim.dyndns.org/~cocidius/dds/#download
To install, extract these files to your GIMP plugins directory. This directory is usually located at: C:\Program Files\GIMP-2.0\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins
*Paint.NET v3.5.5
http://paint.net/ •Paint.NET v3.1 and above has a built in DDS plug-in
Samelo22- plugins for altering alpha channels: AlphaMask (to change a picture to transparent by ticking "Invert Mask" box) and
AlphaSpace (to change black or white color into transparent color, by selecting white if I color a zone in white or selecting "Black" if I colore in black and move the scale to make this color transparent).
Daluved1-http://paint.net.amihotornot.com.au/Features/Effects/Plugins/Object/Channel_Mask/
Put .dll files in the "Effects" file in "Paint.Net" and they appear in the "Effects" menu.
http://paint.net.amihotornot.com.au...ers/Alpha_Mask/
http://paint.net.amihotornot.com.au...ers/AlphaSpace/
Link to more PaintNet plugins
http://paint.net.amihotornot.com.au...ad/PluginsPack/
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