Texture Size

I'd like to go about creating some new textures but I need the specifications... I know they need to be 24 bit Targa files, but is there a preferred size? (i.e. 128x128 or 1024x1024)
Any other tips?

Hi Haven, 24 bit tga is correct.

The importer likes things to be in powers of 2 up to 1024 x 1024 (not multiples like 640x480)

If you are making a texture try to set your canvas to
16x16
32x32
64x64
128x128
256x256
512x512
1024x1024

Other gotchas include:
If you have an alpha channel, you MUST save it as a 32 bit texture.
If you do NOT have an alpha, you MUST save it as a 24 bit texture. Otherwise, the texture will be invisible, and your beautiful artwork will be a beautiful window.

Hope this helps.

-Peter

I would just like to add that the importer does fine with sizes like 1024X512, 512X128, etc. and don't ever,EVER set a TGA bit depth to 32, it will come in as completely transparent.

Well now, I have ta retract the 32bit thingy, I had ether Nada or BP mention they Mported 32bit & it came in just fine.

it wasn't nada, so ask bp

and it had transparency working fine.
(nice circle horse logo thing on a transparent bg)

let's make a quick alpha texture:
make a new image, transparent, 128x128 pixels.
draw a mask. add some blood. add more blood. or sustitute gravy.

menu Layer/ Merge Visible
ctrl+A (select all)
hit the left arrow key, then the right arrow key (this nudges, so only our pixels are selected)
menu Window/ Show Channels
in the bottom of the Channel box, click the "Save selection as channel" button
(the 4th channel, the one you just made is the alpha channel. whatever is white in this channel will be fully visible, whatever is black will be transparent)
menu File/ Save As.. iwuvbp.TGA
at 32 bit

maybe someone can write a tute for making alpha channels in Paint Shop Pro or other apps.

bp

I dunno if this is an ugly hack, or what,the way I always do it is... but the way I always do it is :

menu Layer/ Merge Visible
ctrl+A (select all)
hit the left arrow key, then the right arrow key (this nudges, so only our pixels are selected)
ctrl x to cut selection
Ctrl n for a new window (set to transparent background.)
ctrl v to paste my thingy
export as 32bit tga.

came out ok when I did it

I think it's more steps than bp's method, but it's all keyboard commands, and I hate my mouse.

Celerity, what version are you using? i'm using Photoshop 6 and when i try to export, the only option i have is Export > Paths to Illustrator...
bleh.
i refuse to upgrade yet again! =]

bp

not export.

I'm using 7, but save as is the same in 6

(save as, ctrl-shift-s)

Speaking of textures, 3 questions...

What is the benefit of 128x128 vs 1024x1024? If I use a texture included in the inventory, it stretches out disproportionally. Unless I'm doing something else wrong (could use some advice there) would a 1024x1024 texture alleviate that problem?

I am using Corel Photopaint. I had no problem importing an image of my cat (she's pretty cute, you have to see her) in 128x128 targa. I'm going to attempt to import a bunch of textures for tonight but in Corel, I see no way to change channels, which brings me to the next question...

Pardon the ignorance, but what is alpha? And can someone give me a quick tutorial on channels? This may be a moot point if my textures import without problems, but it always is nice to learn something new

The benifit, IMHO is really more accurately termed as a trade-off. The smaller the texture, the faster the load/render time, the larger the texture, the greater the level of detail. I used a 1024X on my arm tatoos so it doesn't look like a creature from the old Space Invaders arcade game.

The distortion you are seeing is probably (though I donno what you are working on) due to dimension differences in the surfce you are mapping. Ex: if you have 2 cubes using the same map (said map being 1024X1024) and 1 of the cubes is 10.240m square and the other is 10m square, SL will make the map fit on both cubes,, there will be no perceived loss of image quality, but if you are mapping a cube that is 10.240mX10m there wil be squashing on the short axis of the cube,, so the texture map will render distorted, unless you start playing with the UVscaling parameters (UV is sorta equivelent to XY, in relation to texture axes and object axes, respectivly).

Alpha is an extra chunk of data that uses the luminosity levels to provide opcity information to SL (and other gfx programs) it usually is in grayscale, white being fully opaque & black being fully transparent, and all shades in between being translucent.

Corel huh? Good luck.

I'm an avid user of Paint Shop Pro, I love it and its the first thing I learned as far as image editing and such. So I will be lookin into writing up help/ideas regarding Paint Shop Pro as I learn what works for what I do and try.

think of looking through the red lens of a pair of 3d-glasses. everything appears as shades of red, from bright red to black. if you quantized(separated) the shades into 256 levels of red this is what you see in the red Channel in photoshop(although it may appear as greyscale, depending on your settings). TGA and BMP are either 24bit or 32bit textures. the 24bit comes from 8 bits(256 shades) for Red + 8 bits for Green + 8 bits for Blue.

as Zoli said, the Alpha channel is a 4th channel which, instead of holding color information, holds transparency information. if you hear "alpha", think "transparency". for making an alpha map in your image app, i suggest searching it's help for words like Alpha, Map, Transparent, and Transparency.

i understand you can now also upload JPG textures for textures. JPG textures are 24bit only, they do not support alpha channels. JPG is a "lossy" format, meaning that when you save the image it will loose some detail, so, when you save your texture as JPG, save it at Highest Quality to reduce the detail loss. if you are uploading a JPG texture which you downloaded from the web, resaving it at Highest Quality from an image editor Will Not improve it's quality. instead, simply upload the JPG which you downloaded from the web.

Trying photoshop for the first time, so I'm sure I'm just missing the option where I need to set this -- when I go to save as a TGA, the option to save alpha channels is greyed out...

Can someone point me in the right direction?

TIA
#!

Shot in the dark here, but my guess is you are trying to save an 8bit image,,, open the image in PS, goto Image/Mode/ in the drop down image area, and make sure RGB Color is the current mode, if it has a check by Indexed Color, that would be the problem there.

Also, you should make sure you have Alpha NFO to save,.. goto Windows/Show Channels/ that will either spawn the channels window, or tab you over to channels from layers/paths. you should have at least 5 channels associated with your images .. RGB, Red, Green, Blue, & Alpha 1, respectively. If you do not have a channel labeled Alpha 1, click on the "Create New Channel" Icon at the botom of the Channels window, right next to the trashcan, this will automagically set you up an Alpha channel that is black,,, pure transparent,, you need to fill in the areas you want opaque with white (as though you are painting on a layer) and shades of gray where you want translucency.

Those are the only 2 things that readily come to mind.

your shot in the dark, that is.

looks like that's exactly what my problem was.

I haven't finished the image yet (last few days have been a bit busy), but I think I'll be able to now.

Thank you so much =)

#!

Glad 2 B of use