part showing part not

[Master chief]

ok this is a multi part qustion so hear goes

 

1 is there a way to have part of a texture show and part not , such as glowing letters or the such

 

2 dose the texture require any special modifications

[Caroline]

You need to have a decal with an alpha channel / transparency. I did this in Photoshop Elements with 2 png files - separate decals:

 

 

Here are the 2 pngs so you can see the transparency:

 

You need an editor that will create transparencies, like Photoshop, The Gimp, PS Elements, and I think the free Artweaver does pngs now (not sure).

 

Graphic formats that hold transparencies are:

.tga - in Photoshop Elements you define a selection, and save the selection, and then save to a 32 bit tga.

.png - in PSE you just paint on a transparent layer

 

I am not sure how you would get a 'glowing' effect - I did my glow in PSE with layer styles (hastily )

[Joe Gamblin]

Sorry, I'm not sure what you're asking. Do you mean cookie cutter decals? If you do, then yes A:M can do that. Try a search on the forum for examples.

[Caroline]

Hey, Joe - I came in and your name was at the bottom in italics, and now it's not - does that mean that whenever somebody's name is in italics that they are answering the post?

 

That would be a really nifty forum feature to know, so that if someone was already posting, just to wait a couple of minutes.

[Master chief]

ok if youve ever played world of warcraft, and been to the isle you will see spell circles on the ground that is more to what im asking

[Fuchur]

ok if youve ever played world of warcraft, and been to the isle you will see spell circles on the ground that is more to what im asking

 

Have a look at Cookie Cut-Maps... maybe that is what you are asking for.

If that it is not what you are asking for, make a screenshot and show us what you mean. I didnt play World Of Warcraft (or any other PAYED online-game... I just dont like that...)

 

*Fuchur*

[johnl3d]

texture can be a material or decal or combiination of both even mutliple decals or materials ..a screen shot would be helpful as stated ....but the method would be a combination of materials and decals

[Master chief]

ok where what im looking for with the runes and lines on the ground

[johnl3d]

will post sample when at home ...two ways can be two decal types over material or anothr decal

 

used decals here

 

 

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33150

[Master chief]

ok so can any one explain how and what an alpha channel is

[Fuchur]

ok so can any one explain how and what an alpha channel is

 

Easy: An normal image containts of 3 Channels: R (Red-Channel) G (Green-Channel) and B (Blue-Channel).

But you can add an A (Alpha-Channel) to it. It wont define the Color of the image (like RGB does) but will define the transparency of parts of the image. Black stands for 100% transparency, white for 0%. You can use grey-values too, if you need to.

 

*Fuchur*

 

PS: To create it in Photoshop:

1.) Create a new layer and paint something on it. (Make sure that it is not the backgroundlayer).

 

2.) Press CTRL and click on the same time on the layer.

That will select the shape of the layer.

 

3.) Go to "Selection -> Save Selection" and call the new channel for example "Alpha".

 

4.) Save the image as an TGA with 32-bit.

 

If you now open it in A:M, you will only see the selection you defined in the Alpha-Channel, not the rest of the texture.

There are other ways to create and save alpha-channels... search on google and you will find some of them.

[Caroline]

It's a hard thing to understand until you actually need them.

 

What graphics program do you use?

 

There's an interesting thread here about what the alpha channel is:

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16922

 

But if you look at John's ice pentagram in that other thread, that is what an alpha channel is for - if he did not have an alpha channel describing the transparency, you would not see the grass through the pentagram.