Need help with textures, windows n walls

I know you've all prob. had this question tons of times but can anyone send me instructions on how to make windows into textures along with a texture for rooms.... to make one prim walls? Maybe someone can direct me to someplace that'll have instructions or something to help me on this.

to using paint programs, but i hope this helps.

For windows, you must use a progrm that is able to edit .TGA files. A .TGA, like .PNGs are have what is called an alpha channle. When you adjust the transparancy on a prim on the textures tab in edit mode, its the alpha channel that's changing. The texture editing program will allow you to adjust the % of trans. ya want. Great for stained, frosted, and etched glass work.
Just for your info, if you need a .TGA supporting program....
I use both PIXIA and GIMP (free paint programs) for SL textures. Each program has its features that i just can't live without. PIXIA does not support .TGA files, so I save in .PNG and then use GIMP to convert to .TGA. I have tutored people in both GIMP and PIXIA and am willing to do so again I'll ask the people that I tutored if I can use thier names in this post and come back and edit them in so you can talk to them too about getting some pointers. One of the women I tutored has become a wonderful builder and texture painter, she does quite well selling her SL content.

As for a one prim walls. You put windows directly in the texture. Useing layers to make the illusion that there is depth. Here is a link that i read 3 years ago written by Lumpy Larue of There.com http://durrett.net/lumpylarue/StupidTricks.htm It helped me tons. When doing complete wall textures, its tempting to make them larger than 512 X 512 (the recomended size for SL.) THAT IS BAD BAD BAAAD to do, by simpley doubleing the L and W of the texture it takes 16 times longer to download!!!

Also do a search in forum on Chip Midnight. In my opinion the best source of all things textuered. look for his clothing template down loads and nab them.

Hope this helps.

Once again, here's my standard tutorial on creating alpha channels, preceded by an explanation of what they are and what they do. Knowing this information is an absloute necessity if you want to texture windows, clothing, or anything else that requires transparency.

Note that the tutorial is written using the example of a bikini top. For your needs, just mentally remove the word "bikini" every time you see it, and insert the word "window". The principles discussed here are the same no matter what your subject is.

Also, note that this the tutorial is for all versions of Photoshop other than 7.0. If you're using 7.0, upgrade immediately to 7.01 with the free download from adobe.com. 7.0 was a failed experiment by Adobe, a misguided attempt to automate the process we're about to discuss. It did not work very well, so Adobe corrected the mistake very quickly with 7.01, and changed back to the way it's always been done.

If you're using PSP, I've got similar tutorials written for PSP 7 and PSP 10. They're not hard to find on this forum if you search, but if you can't find them, just respond here with what version you're using, and I'll paste the right tutorial for you.

If you're using GIMP, install the GIMPshop plugin. It will change GIMP's interface to look and behave like Photoshop's interface, and then you'll be able to follow most Photoshop tutorials. I'll have a GIMP tutorial written soon, but even when it's done, I'd still recommend GIMPshop since there are literally hundreds of thousands of great Photoshop tutorials on the web and tons of good books, but there's very little written for GIMP. Plus, knowing Photoshop is a marketable job skill.

Alright, enough with the preliminaries. Time for the meat. Read on.

Color Space & Channels
Images designed to be shown on a color screen are comprised three colors (red, green, & blue). The relative brightness of each of these primary colors in each pixel determines each pixel's actual color. For example, a pixel comprised of equal values of red and blue without any green would appear to be purple.

When taken seperately, the individual values for red, green, or blue are represented by a grayscale image called a channel. In an individual channel, white represents the maximum possible concentration of color and black represents the absense of color. Shades of gray represent amounts of color that are less than the maximum. The darker the gray, the lesser the concentration of color. The lighter the gray, the more color is present.

Channels & Transparency (Alpha Channels)
Images that have transparency have the same three primary color channels and also have a fourth channel, called Alpha, which represents opacity. In the alpha channel, white represents comlete opacity and black represents the absense of opacity (transparency). Shades of gray represent semi-transparency. The darker the gray, the more transparent. The lighter the gray, the more opaque.

So, for example, if you are making a bikini top for your avatar, the alpha channel would be white in the shape of the bikini top, and black everywhere else. The white part makes the bikini top 100% opaque so that you won't be able to see through it when it's on the av, and the black part makes the rest of the image invisible so that there appears to be nothing on the av's arms, stomach, etc.

How to Create an Alpha Channel
Let's stick with the example of a bikini top.

1. On the Layers Palette turn off all layers except for the layer that has your bikini on it. (To turn a layer off, click the eyeball symbol to the left of its name.)

2. If the bikini layer has any white space around the bikini itself, use the eraser to get rid of the white space. It's very important at this stage that the bikini be on its own layer with nothing else on it.

3. On the Layers Palette, ctrl-click the icon for the layer with the bikini on it. (The icon is the little picture of the layer directly to the left of the layer's name.) This will select everything on the layer. You should see the "marching ants" outlining your bikini now.


4. On the Layers Palette, click the tab that says Channels to switch it to the Channels Palette. What you should see listed here are the three primary channels for your image, labled, "Red", "Green", & "Blue", and a master channel for the three, labelled "RGB". If you see any other channels besides those four, delete them now.

5. In the lower right corner of the Palette Window, locate the button that looks like a square sticker being peeled from its backing. It's the second one from the right. It's immediately to the left of the one that looks like a trash can. It says "New Channel" when you hover your mouse over it. Click it.

6. You should now see a new layer called "Alpha 1", which is currently all black. Make sure all channels except for Alpha 1 are turned off and that Alpha 1 is turned on. This should have happened automatically when you created Alpha 1, but if it didn't, do it now.

7. Your canvas should now appear to be solid black with the exception that you should still be able to see the "marching ants" outline of your bikini. Paint everything inside the outline white and leave everything outside of it black.

8. Click "Select" on the menu bar at the top of the screen to pull down the Select Menu. Click "Deselect" and you should see the marching ants disappear.

9. On the Channels Palette, trun the red, green, & blue channels back on, and turn Alpha 1 off. Now click the tab that says layers to switch back to the Layers Palette. Create a new layer by pressing the same button you previously used to create the new channel. (Just as it created a new channel while you were on the Channels Palette, it will create a new layer while you're on the Layers Palette.) Click on the name of this new layer and drag it underneath the layer with the bikini on it. Paint the new layer 50% gray or darker; black is fine. (The gray/black layer will prevent the white halo sometimes caused when Alphas are created the way we just did it. If you don't know what I mean by that, don't worry about. Just make sure to always put a gray/black layer underneath your work and you'll never have to see that white halo.)

10. Save your file as a 32-bit TGA and upload it to SL.



EDIT: By the way, I'm assuming, as you can probably tell, that you weren't asking for help with actually painting the wall and the window itself, just how to make the window transparent. If you actually need help with the whole thing, please say so, and I'll give you some pointers, but ultimately it's a question of artistry. If you're already artistically skilled, great, but if you don't know how to draw or paint, chances are I won't be able to teach you how to do it here. What I can do here is explain the workings of Photoshop tools, offer technique advice, aquaint you with principles digital art, and recommend some good books. In other words, I can set you in the right direction, sure, but developing artistic skill takes a lot of practice, and that's up to you.

I talked to Ash last night and it seems that I answered the wrong question. She allready knows how to use PSP and its features.


She wants to build a single prim wall with a window(s). The window must line up on both sides of the wall.

I explained to her how to measure the length that the window is away from the RIGHT side of the inside of the wall using a grid. Then its as simple as putting the outside texture's window at the same hight and equal distance from the LEFT side of the wall.

Turned out its even more complex than that....

Ash has a pre-built low prim house with an outside texture that has a window on a single prim. She wants to texture the inside of the house with a window exactly matching the outside placement of said window.

1) Force daylight, and use the camera contols to take a pic of the wall. Make sure to have the camera as square to the wall as possible.

2) Save to disc.

3) Open the saved pic in PSP and crop it to the out side dimentions of the wall.

4) Resize the pic to 512 X (---) with the lock perportion funcion on.

5) Apply a grid to the pic using Tools> Apply Grid, size the grid 20 X 10 for a rectangle or
15 X 15 for a square shaped wall. You can use a higher density grid for more acurate
measurements.

6) Make a new layer. This gives you a perfect template to work from that will fit the prim fairly well in SL.

7) Using the grid to measure with, place a black box sized the same as the window at the same hight and distance from the side (remembering to measure off the opposite side) as the original window.

Now you can paint your wall as you wish, putting the window exactly where it needs to be.

Tip..... If the window is clear with cross members in it....
Force daylight, and place a solid colored prim behind the wall you are taking a pic of. Make sure that the prim color is not the same as any colors on the wall. You can then cut and paste the window from the original wall onto the new texture. (Just know that you must flip the window 180* left to right if its not 'balanced.') PSP allows you to make only that color transparent. Cut the original window from the first layer, and paste as new layer. Move it left or right where it needs to go.

If the window is a semi transparent color...

Fallow the above directions, using a white background. Adjust the transparency of the window layer to around 65% to 80%, depending on the SL version's opaqueness (this might take some trial and error.) The thing about this is that the colors of the new window will not MATCH the original, but will be close enough.

On a similar vein, I made a low prim house with windows (same basic idea, but without the precision of your method Rafe! In fact without any precision at all, but hey.)

Noticed a weird thing though last night - when I rezzed stuff inside that had transparent sections, the objects became invisible against the walls. Almost like an reverse invisiprim,
objects with transparency could not be seen when *in front of* the wall - but could against the floor or other non-transparent objects.

Ive not logged in again since to verify but any ideas? This a known feature?

Hi Patch, it is well known that placing two textures containing alpha channels close to one another will cause this effect. Try moving the object inside of your house farther from the wall to lessen the effect. In my experience the prims need to be .3 meters apart to become acceptible.

Thanks Rafe...

explains a lot. another bonus feature of SL.

another method to getting more accurate placement is to use a grid texture within SL, and then build your image in PS/PSP/GIMP with a copy of that grid as a semi-transparent layer.

here's an example of a grid. i keep on meaning to make a more detailed one, but this serves.

don't forget that if you place it on both sides of the wall so that it reads left to right, they'll be mirrors of each other, so a cutout that goes from 44 to 77 on one side would be 48 to 7B on the other.




one problem with using texture windows (apart from the alpha fighting) is that they make your walls look paper thin. One technique to de-emphasize this effect is to put in prim window-frames (i.e. a box prim mostly hollowed)... if you have the prim budget of course.