Messing with alpha patterns and different extensions

ok..Hi..Im new and my Name is Lana Tomba. I have various different programs that allow me to add transparencies to GIF animations.

I was hoping to start making tattoos and/or skins since I play with poser from time to time and download templates thatI buy from Europe.

Ive been in SL 1 week and have spent maybe L$200 uploading different textures and trying to figure out appropriate dimensions and file sizes etc.

It seems that the Face tattoos are centered..and that the torso tattos start from the side and wrap around..(so basically all images uploaded as a torso tatt need to be off centered to the left).

Ive asked around and a few peeps have told me that saving the images as .jpg in the highest resolution possible will insure best quality but..I run SL on a sad lil PC with a average vid card and 500 MHZ Pent III.

Is it a futile task for me to try to do any thing of worth until I get a better PC?..and if not..would anyone be gracious enough to help me out with a few numbers.like pixels per etc.?

AND..hehe..has anyone ever modified a Poser template and tried using it for the avi's in SL?..Also..feel free to contact me ingame..Id love to talk at length about it. I created a Tattoo in a program I have that adds alpha but wasnt allowed to save it as a .JPG because the program said .jpg's couldnt handle transparency....so..I saved it as a .TGA..It SAVED!!.. but then..turned the image upside down and replced my transparency with the color <black>>...so..Im hitting a brick wall here..please..somone?


..Thanx..-Lana Tomba

Hi Lana. Welcome to SL.

Couple things for ya, for tattoos and such, try downloading the clothing templates here:

http://secondlife.com/download/guides.php

That will help with your placement issues. As for saving with transparency, the file does need to be a .tga, did you save it as a 32-bit?

As mentioned, download the templates. That'll help you immensely. It'll also show you how everything gets laid out. Other comments below the quotes so you know what I'm talking about.



Sorta true. JPG is, by nature, a 'lossy' compression scheme. Meaning it throws out stuff to help with compression. Anyway, the highest resolution does not neccesarily mean the best quality. Bare in mind the size of the avatar (and the templates) and/or whatever you're texturing; the texture needs only to be as big as the object is as big when you are as close as you would normally ever get to. Er... meaning, if most of the time, you're going to be seeing the object is about 10m and at that distance the object is around 128x128, then that's the recommended size of the texture. Going bigger only takes up memory and time; if no one's going to get closer and see any more detail, why add to it and extra unneccesary work for you and the game?



No. Just don't attempt anything with too many layers or abuse the filters. Or something gratituiously big.



The game already has templates and stuff; it uses poser anyway for most things. That's another topic though.

To have transparency in TGA files, you need to set up an alpha channel.

OK..Great!..Thankyou soo much..maybe I did something wrong when I added the alpha channel before..not sure what though.And I totally understand about the closer up deal and what distance will you be looking at the skin....so..I guess my question was answered about my PC not being fast enuf.

But I do see the differences between templates owned and templates used in SL..I had been Testing trial by error.Im very excited about the prospect of creating something unique.

Im almost for sure I saved at 64 bit..thinking that I needed a better quality..does any one know the file restrictions?..or is that determined by your PCs pseed and memory?

Im looking at those templates now and who knows..maybe once I get going..Ill throw a party where peeps can give me their ideas for a grand opening and Ill hookem up free with tatts or something ;>..but yes..Thankyou soo much for your help-Lana =)

All secrets aside,

Has anyone had success with 'Custom' templates of any sort?

Although elaboration on this would be appreciated, I'll take yes or no answers!

TY,
EO

ok..also..Ive figured outtemplates..actually..my little program will save what Im doing as a template..unfortunately..Im not familiar with the file exstension of a template..and if it is indeed .TGA..then my program is saying that it saved it as a template..but didnt..cause I did a search for .tga's and the file never showed up...I am simply changing the file name though..and saving as .TGA..when I do that..it asks me to merge all visble layers and sor forth with I do.

I was wondering..do I actually need to insert an "_alpha" into the text of the actual file?..I dont think I do inorder to mess with it ingame..but was wondering to make sure...Thanx -Lana

Not sure what program you're using, but what it's calling a "template" has nothing to do with the SL templates. The SL clothing templates are simply a guide that shows you what parts of the texture end up on what part of tha avatar. You use them as a guide for painting your textures so you can get the details in the appropriate spots on the texture to end up where you want them on the avatar.

The way that the GIF format handles transparency is not using alpha. A program specifically designed for doing gifs and gif animations is not a good choice for making textures for SL. The gif format only handles 256 colors. SL supports 32 bit textures which can contain 16.7 million discrete colors. You need to use Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, Corel Photopaint, GIMP, or a similar program.

heh,.well..the "lil program" that Im using is MAya......ya think that could handle textures?....i dont know......oh..and I use the GIMP..actually..when I looked up the GIMP..it was advertised as a GIF animator and GIF production and alteration program..so..I dont know what more I need..but if you have any more suggestions..Id be glad to get them of some site..out there,,THANX )-Lana

PS..oh..I went to the site about templates and downloaded the tuts on the temps...do I need to open up the actual temps to the SL file?..or another program?..cause I was only able to "see" one template and that was the face template...again..Thankyou for your time and choosing Lana Tomba

Hmm it can be confusing Lana

Maya i think (never used the program) will create "Materials" by combining "Maps" ..each map being either an "image" or a grayscale map that determines levels or transparency or bumpiness or glossiness etc.

That's not how SL works.

SL has only "images" which we call Textures.

Each file extension .BMP, .JPG, ,TGA is a different type of image.

U need a painting program ..then u can import the images u create in SL or Maya.

only TGA files store the "Alpha" information used to display areas of full or partial transparency (opacity) within your image.

Once a texture has been made in SL u can dial down the transparency through the edit texture tab but that is not Alpha transparency.

Image creation is far more complex when looking at how to add "Alpha layers", multiple layers, adjustment layers and more.

Unfortunately its a high learning curve....

Blah blah blah

Get Photoshop or Paintshop Pro or any other paint (or draw) program that will give you BMP, JPG and maybe TGA files. and google for templates, tutorials, and images.

Good luck..and Have fun !

ok..thankyou..The Gimp is adding the transparencies just fine,,what Im doing now is breaking my piggy bank trying to learn the template "dimensions"..like the face template has to have a certain width height and pixels per..right?..thats what I need to find out..Im not having troubles with the alpha channel anymore..now..its taking templates..cutting and pasting and trying to airbrush the seams so it looks "seamless"..but with the template download I looked at thru acrobat..I only got a face template..however..I downloaded all the template files..but cant open them..any recommendations on how to view those templates so I can get a good idea of what the given game templates are?..so I can use them a s a Blue print?


.....................................................-Thank you -Lana Tomba

When you upload textures to SL they get resized to the nearest power of 2. Clothing and skin textures are generally done at 512x512 pixels. Bigger than that is overkill. Smaller than that will sacrifice some sharpness. Make sure you create your textures at the same aspect ratio as the template (square).

Maya is a great app, but might be a bit more than you need for doing SL textures. It depends on your proficiency with it. I use 3ds Max to create some of my SL textures... either to create floor and wall textures with light and shadow baked in, or to create swatchs of different types of textures that are then incorporated into designs in Photoshop. I also use a procedural texture generator called Darktree Textures.

The SL templates are all photoshop PSD files. If you're opening them with a different app like GIMP you just need to be sure it supports whatever version of photoshop PSD file the templates are (I'm not certain but my guess is that they are photoshop 5 PSD's). If you are having trouble opening and viewing them correctly let me know and I can convert them to a non-layered bitmat format for you.

wow...I just realized who recently answered my post..Thanx Chip. Ive admired your work for a couple of weeks now and wearing one of your designs..I am more than pleased with it..Trying to mess with hair that compliments the skin now.

Im sure youve got plenty of "groupies" and a fan club (tell me where to sign up=)) but I shouldnt bother you too much on a personal level..hopefully the pixelation numbers you gave me will be a BIG clue solved..Im sure this is written down somewheres(still searching thru tutorials)..but Ive been doing trial and error(until I find the missing links)..again..if you (general reading public) ever contact me ingame..Ill be more than glad to stop what Im doing and give you a minute of my time. 512x512...THANKYOU..thankyou..thankyou...-Lana Tomba

P.S. I used to use 3ds Max..I even have a lil CD of it somewhere..I may try to install it again and I was also wondering about special effects?..like objects?..sparklers?..etc?...is that with a program like..Combustion(old program) and has anyone used "Facemation" in their Poser scripts to animate an entire song?....(thought it might be cool to script "mini-shows"

Thanx again-Lana Tomba

Aww thanks Lana I'm not sure if I have groupies or a fan club. Feel free to start one, hehe. I don't bite so feel free to drop in and say hello or IM me with questions.

A good tip for getting to grips with the clothing templates is to flatten them and upload them to SL as jpgs. Apply them to a skin and wear it on your av. Take some screenshots and bring them back into photoshop. This will give you a better idea of what parts of the texture end up on what parts of the av, and where the areas of bad stretching are that you'll want to try to avoid putting detail in.

I like Max a lot. I started with 3ds for dos version 1.0 and just stuck with it through the years. If I was just starting out I'd be tempted to go with Maya or XSI instead, but I think Max is probably still the best for a one man shop that needs to do a wide range of animation types. I also use Combustion for compositing work but haven't learned it very well yet. They've just released a plugin to tie it into the Avid so I'm looking forward to getting more adept with it.

The only reason to use a 3d app like Maya or Max for creating textures for use in SL is because it can be easier to create effects like bumping or faked reflection than trying to paint it by hand.

I've never used facemation but it won't do you much good. SL doesn't support facial animation.

ok..almost every thing i see and experience in SL..I want to learn how to do.Ive got the tatts and and am making eyes now.I also made a pretty clever cat skin and have got the head template dimensions almsot perfect.I add transparencies with no prob to different textures and figured out how to place the nips on my avi.NOW...Im interested in OBJECTS...My mind is reeling from all the wonderful things that are possible and Ive made up my mind that I want to become prem and buy land..but the place i want to live need s to be cliff side with an ocean view and editable.Does anyone know of a place like that?..Thanx-Lana Tomba

My solution was to take the Land for the Landless land I got (you'll hear it called LFL or L4L) and save my pennies. The L4L isn't free, you have to pay L$512, but it IS avaialble, and it's my impression that Linden will continue to offer it into the forseeable future.

I ended up using GOM (Gaming Open Market, they buy and sell L$ for US$) to put some extra L$ into my acccount. I then bought a nice little beachfront lot. (I may try to talk one of my neighbors in to doing a little boundry adjustment with me.)

My 1024m lot cost me L$6000. I figured I did okay at that... especially since I got 2/3 of back by selling my L4L land. So based on L$ per meter, I actually came out ahead on the deal.

So long answer short: buy your land for the landless allotment. You don't get to choose where it is. Once you have that land, you can save up for what you really want.
'

ok..now im messing with scripts..reading some tutorials and looking at examples..Do i cut and copy those examples..like for smoke..and then upload them as a bvh?..or do i need to write them out my self so as not to copy.I understand about simple animations..quartering frames..piecing all in one image..showing at 25% and voila..an animation..but im more interested now ijm particle animations cause they are..or appear more seamless..I looked at one of the tutorials on "building a rocket" and the script looked short..how do I upload that?..or do I need to write my own and submit in that format to linden?..copywrite laws etc....cause if i can buy a particle animation of mist..or fire ingame..Id gladly buy it..or atleast look at it to try and make my own..Thanx-Lana Tomba...oh..and once i get that script into my possession in SL..whats the task of simply applying it to an ovject with an image placed on the object?..or do I even have to do that with particle animations?

Lana, look in the script library on the forum for Ama's particle script, or ask around in world for it. I highly recommend attending the scripting 101 class too It'll help you understand some of the basics on how to handle scripts.

Thankyou Chip..I went to the SL University Library..could someone sticky that link to Armas pleez?..Im blind when it comes to navigation..I went into a wiki site and saw examples of particles scripts..and Ive also looked at a few more tutorials.Im only concerned with a few types of scripts..Fire..Mist..smoke..Ive got animations of ripples and bought a prismatic display script that looks like water..so..things are slowly falling inot place..next time i see a script class..Ill fly there..Thankyou.-Lana Tomba

You can find it here...

/54/47/19395/1.html

Thhaaaannkyou..youre so very nice.Im haveing such a fun time..trying to do and learn everything possible imn this world..its my only sanity-Thanx again-Lana

Yes, all you do is make an object, click More, Content, and Create new script. Erase what is there and paste in the contents of a script you have found.

well..Thanx for that Info..Ill prolly try to buy some land outright once i get a subscript..Ive seen the land for landless..the prim alotments and size is barely adequate for a store front..my imagination is much bigger than that..and Im sure I would be in eternal frustration trying to figure how to squeeze everything i wanted into the eye of a needle.Im still alittle blurry what a prim is..and what determines an objects prim count. Anyone have a nice simple equation on how to create an object with a low prim count?.Im maki8ng objects and not really looking at what or how many prims the object is accruing as I build it.-Thankyou-Lana Tomba