Texture Alpha Channel "Previewer"

How do you preview your textures on a prim prior to uploading and incurring the L$10 charge? Specifically, I want to get an idea (doesn't have to be perfect) of how a prim will work with my texture, especially with alpha channels.

I see two possiblities:

1) Take a snapshot of the prim from SecondLife and manipulate the snapshot in The Gimp. This won't wrap the texture really well, but it'll give me an idea what gets cut away when using an alpha channel.

2) Use a 3D program, like Blender to create a similar prim and wrap the texture onto it to see how it'll look.

What do technique do you use?

I just downloaded Blender and have spent a few hours reading the manuals and tutorials, but can't seem to get alpha channels to work. Any tutorials out there specifically on alpha channels and V2.36? Blender seems like overkill for this task, any other open source 3D programs out there with >less< functionality that would be easier to use for this one task?

Thanks for your insight.

kweisi mfume

Hi there. First of all, you may find the alpha settings in Blender using the texture options menu (Buttons Window -> F6). Make sure you have the mesh in question highlighted via right-click, then select Texture -> Add New. Another box should popup there - select "Image" from the drop down menu contained within it, then select "Use Alpha" in the subsequent box.

As for it being overkill, I most certainly agree. Generally with Second Life, I bake my textures directly into the GIMP the way I want them, alpha and all - using SL's built-in features for only *minor* adjustments. I would strongly advise this unless it's a priority to allow the user to customize certain options.

Anim8or is also a simple program that utilizes alpha... but the process may seem more convoluted. If you're interested in how a texture will "wrap," I would also suggest you pick up UV Mapper Classic and fiddle with the simple NURBs prims and texture mapping formats there. All of this should be free.

By the way, don't use Blender unless you're a serious 3D enthusiast or need advanced features. It's an extremely nice program, but it's definitely built for people with lots of time to devote to their work.