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Okay....totally perplexed LOL

Milla Alexandre
Milla Alexandre
Join date: 22 Jan 2007
Posts: 1,759
05-05-2009 09:40
:p

I'm working in PSE5.....

I've got skin templates with a huge selection of layers for makeup, eyebrows and shading. Thus far i've managed to create some pretty good skins using the layers of my choosing, and altering shading/colors and so forth.

My problem is this......upon saving my finished image.....I'm using the 32bit tga to keep my transparency for the lash area....cool....works fine. But.....after uploading, I've got a transparent area just below where I put the eyebrows. This hadn't happened previously so I'm stumped as to why it's there now.

Second....I see the same weird transparency in the lower body where I had adjust the shading in the crotch region. Again, stumped. The images looked perfect in PS......yet upon upload...I see these quirky transparent areas.

What am I doing here? I've only just begun messing with layers, and usually I am pretty good at merging and obtaining the effect I want in other editing projects. But clearly I am missing some key element when I save the final image.

Help me. LOL :confused: :o
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Ivanova Shostakovich
Fire Resistant
Join date: 1 Oct 2007
Posts: 98
05-05-2009 10:08
You sound familiar with Photoshop, so I can't think of anything obvious. Do check to make sure you have only one alpha channel when saving your tga. Also, do an adjustment/invert check on your alpha channel before saving to make sure whites are White and blacks are Black.
Milla Alexandre
Milla Alexandre
Join date: 22 Jan 2007
Posts: 1,759
05-05-2009 10:55
Um...ok.....

Not having ever checked my alpha channels before LOL how do I do that?

Initially when I created the eyebrows, I used the given eyebrow layer....which showed only a transparent layer, in which I added the brows. I suppose I could have added the brows directly to the base skin layer.....but since the brow layer was provided, I used it.

As for the lower transparent....I solved that by simply saving the lower half as a 24bit tga.....looks fine now.

As I look at all the layers.....each layer is a transparency with an individual element painted in.....eye shadow, lip colors and highlights.....shading.....all are shown in individual layers that can be adjusted. I did this with every element I wanted to tweek......but it was only the brow that gave me trouble.

When I'm finished and have a look I like....I merge visible layers.....and then save as a single tga file.

Sadly, I am self taught so many of the technical know-hows escape me LOL My assumption was that as long as the base skin layer was the bottom layer.....I would not see a transpaent area unless it was part of that base. (which is where that lash corner shows as transparent)

My other area of confusion is in saving the file.......I want to be able to go back to it and edit the skin for a different makeup look......But.....once the file is saved.....I cannot again open all the layers to adjust them. So....not sure how i do that so i don't have to keep re-doing the entire skin.

Clearly I need a good tutorial of the basics.....but I have a tendancy to learn things by trial and error :p Something tells me the maistakes I'm making are so simple though....and once i have it down to a science...I'll be all set.
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Robin Sojourner
Registered User
Join date: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 1,080
05-05-2009 11:01
Hi Milla!

PSE5 - that's Photoshop Elements, right?

At any point in the process, did you happen to Save a selection, with Add to Selection enabled? Because Saving Selections is what makes the alpha in Elements, and I believe that you have to Add to Selection to get the kind of effect you're seeing.

I suggest that you delete all the Saved Selections, and Save the eyelash area again, to make a new alpha.

Usually, if you have more than one alpha channel, (and each saved selection makes its own, unless you're adding to the selection, I think,) you wind up with a totally opaque (white) alpha when you upload. In other other words, everything in the image will look opaque, but you'll still have alpha sorting problems.

I'm not sure what else would be doing this; but if you toss the alpha and start fresh, it should fix it, whatever it was.

Hope this helps!
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Robin (Sojourner) Wood
www.robinwood.com

"Second Life ... is an Internet-based virtual world ... and a libertarian anarchy..." Wikipedia
Robin Sojourner
Registered User
Join date: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 1,080
05-05-2009 11:10
You can't directly check the alphas in Elements. It's not really Photoshop; it's crippled in various important ways.

The only way I know to check them is to Load Selection. (I think that's what it's called. I don't have Elements any more, and it's been a while.) Something like that. (If you have a list to choose from, then you have more than one alpha, and that's a problem, right there.)

When you do, you'll get "marching ants" that show you what's on the alpha channel.

If you're using 32 bit tga, then it doesn't matter in the slightest what is transparent in the image. The only thing that matters is what's black in the invisible alpha channel.

To keep your layers, save as a Photoshop file. That will leave you with everything intact. Then save a copy as your .tga. (I'm not sure if Elements has "Save a Copy... " but "Save As... " will work. Save As... , then open the .psd file, which you should also have, to make sure it's all there, with all the layers intact. If it's not, then Save As... again, but this time, Save As... a .psd with a different name.)

Nothing wrong with being "self-taught", by the way. I'm self taught. :D

Hope this helps!
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Robin (Sojourner) Wood
www.robinwood.com

"Second Life ... is an Internet-based virtual world ... and a libertarian anarchy..." Wikipedia
Milla Alexandre
Milla Alexandre
Join date: 22 Jan 2007
Posts: 1,759
05-05-2009 11:13
Thanks Robin~!!!

I'm reading thru my PS5 Help right now...about layers.

So far I understand the logistics. What's puzzling me now is that I've got my head file open in PS and it looks totally fine. It is only when I upload it to SL that I see the brow as transparent. Of course....I'm unable to seperate the layers at this point so I'll need to begin from scratch.

I didn't save anything until I was finished, and then merged it all, and saved the single image as the tga.

How do I just toss teh alpha? LOL I'm getting what you're saying.....wondering if I just flatten the image, and then re-do the lash alpha. if that would solve it. :rolleyes: Sooner or later I'll figure all this out....

But most importantly....how do I save my finished skin....so that I can access the layers later to make new changes? I'm guessing I have to save it twice...once in the PSE templates format.....and again in tga to create the actual skin?

I appreciate all your replies....and I'm psyched that I'm finally learning something new~!!
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Robin Sojourner
Registered User
Join date: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 1,080
05-05-2009 11:36
Yep, save it twice. :D

You can toss the Alpha by deleting all the saved selections.

To get the Alpha that you should have up there, go into your Character folder, in the Resources folder. (On the Mac, go to the SL Client (thing you click to start the program,) right click, and choose Show Package Contents from the contextual menu. Then go to Contents/Resources/character. I have no idea where it is on the PC, but someone is sure to tell you, if you need it.)

There's a file in there called "head_alpha.tga". Open that, and you'll see what should be on the Alpha channel. Because you can't get to the alpha in Elements, do this.

1. Open the "bad" .tga file.

2. Go to the Selection menu, find the thing that will show you all the saved selections, and delete them.

3. Make a new layer, and fill it with black.

4. Copy the entire head_alpha.tga image, (Resize first, if it's not the same size as the other file, then Select All > Copy,)

5. Make a Mask for the black layer.

6. Hold down Option/alt and click on the mask thumbnail, in the Layer Palette, to see the mask. It should be completely white.

7. Paste the copied image. You should now see it, looking exactly like it did in the head_alpha file.

8. Click on the Layer Thumbnail, in the Layers Palette, to return to normal layers. It should look completely black, with a small transparent area in the upper right corner.

9. Apply the Layer Mask.

10. Hold down the Command/ctrl key, and click on the Layer Thumbnail, for that black layer. You should get Marching Ants around the black areas.

11. Save Selection, and call it Alpha 1. (It doesn't really matter what you call it, but it might be clearer later, if you open the file in something that can see the alpha channels.)

12. Upload the image to SL. You should now have a head without unwanted transparency. (Check on the Preview, to make sure, before you complete the upload. Better yet, check on the Beta Grid, to make sure that it's good before you upload to the Main Grid, and never waste Lindens on bad uploads again! :D )

I think all this will work in Elements. Let me know if you're missing any of the things you need to follow it.

Hope this helps!
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Robin (Sojourner) Wood
www.robinwood.com

"Second Life ... is an Internet-based virtual world ... and a libertarian anarchy..." Wikipedia
Milla Alexandre
Milla Alexandre
Join date: 22 Jan 2007
Posts: 1,759
05-05-2009 14:22
Hehehehe...

Ok...that only partially made sense to me. LOL Saving in the PS templates and saving as a tga, I got. Not a problem.

Deleting saved selections is where I am lost. Probably because I learn as I go.....all I know to do is open the existing template.....make the adjustments to those layers that I want to use....merge them.....and 'save as' xyz file.

I'm at the first step....got the bad file open.....under the selection menu in PSE5....all I can do is 'load selection'.....if I choose that....all it shows me is Alpha 1. If I'm understanding this right.....any saved selections would be in that list.

Following along....made black layer....but, there is no 'mask' thumbnail that I can determine in PSE5.....there's an 'unsharp mask' under the 'enhance' tool.....no idea if that's what I'm looking for. But...in creating other texture files with transparencies....I have always just been able to erase areas I wanted transparent....and save as tga so that they showed transparent. It has never been complicated LOL

I never saved any selections when doing the skin....I didn't save anything until I had the final image. But.....I'm not gonna drive you guys nuts with this....I will figure a way around the glitch~!!! ;) You ARE helping tho...I'm learning more every time I log in here LOL
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Oryx Tempel
Registered User
Join date: 8 Nov 2006
Posts: 7,663
05-05-2009 14:30
Re: Saving the original file to maintain layers...

BEFORE YOU SAVE AS A TGA file, save your original file, with all its layers, as a PSD, XCF, or whatever format. Then you can go and do a Save As a TGA file. If you save as a TGA file first, PS5 will flatten the image and merge all your layers, so you will need 2 different types of files on your computer:

1) Your 'working' file, which is the original PS5, Gimp, etc file existing with multiple layers and channels. I like to maintain a working file of each piece, (or many pieces in one file) so that I can tweak and play as much as I like.

2) Your TGA (targa) file that you will upload into SL. That can be either 24 bit (RGB, as you know,) or 32 bit (RGBA).
Milla Alexandre
Milla Alexandre
Join date: 22 Jan 2007
Posts: 1,759
05-05-2009 15:20
Hmm....ok.....after much messing around in PSE5....and short of going out and getting another version of PS (I love mine tho....and I've got soooo many great plug-ins! lol) I cannot find a way to maintain that transparent area.

After reading the Help stuff on PSE5.....there is no quick mask feature.....so I can't take the steps Robin explained. This is killing me cause I've made and uploaded other textures with transparencies....most recently...an ornate window frame I did for a friend.

I guess it's off to search tutorial.....or.....god forbid......open the dam PSE5 manual. LOL
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Papalopulus Kobolowski
working mind
Join date: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 326
05-05-2009 15:54
Do you uploaded the skins texures sucefully before?
If your answer is yes..
Do you upgrade the sl client lately ?
if your answer is yes again that is the problem not your textures, its a bug in the last "upgrade".

/349/97/318728/1.html
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RAW terrain files - terraform your SIM!!
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http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Portal
Milla Alexandre
Milla Alexandre
Join date: 22 Jan 2007
Posts: 1,759
05-05-2009 16:08
Finally~!!!! I just saved the dm thing as a png instead of a tga~!!! LMAO

Presto....new skin! (I still have to fix a few little details in the torso, but this first attempt I am pretty pleased with.....and many many thanks and bows to Eloh Elliot for providing the templates.....I finally got brave and decided to explore my skinabilities lol)

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Oryx Tempel
Registered User
Join date: 8 Nov 2006
Posts: 7,663
05-05-2009 16:17
Way cute, and congrats! Oh and now that I think about it, Papalopulus Kobolowski might be right... might be that horrible new bug re: eyebrows.

Here's the link to that JIRA issue..
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-12962
Milla Alexandre
Milla Alexandre
Join date: 22 Jan 2007
Posts: 1,759
05-08-2009 09:55
From: someone
5. Make a Mask for the black layer.

6. Hold down Option/alt and click on the mask thumbnail, in the Layer Palette, to see the mask. It should be completely white.


Ok Robin....hope you're out there somewhere..... My finished face that I displayed, I loaded using the png format because I'm at a complete loss as to how to make the mask in PSE5. I do not have a mask icon, or any other indicators in any menus about masking. I can follow the steps.....but I get no alpha channel. The only place the option of 'mask' appears in PSE5. is under the enhance......it says "unsharp mask". But this is not what I need.

There has to be a way to make this alpha channel exist....seeing as I can view the one already in the file, with the transparent brow area.

I have managed to get thru the steps....and using 'duplicate' create the white mask for the black layer. I can save selection. But.....when I load selection to see what the alpha channel does.....the marching ants (as you call them lol) are around the entire image....not the part that is supposed to be transparent.

I am going to continue messing with this to see if I can figure out the walk-around for PSE5....as I KNOW dam well I can have an alpha channel using this program! LOL :p
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