Transparency !!!

[Jorge_Pad]

Hi People of the scenery design,
I do scenery , 3d objects, and lot of other things in scenery since some yerars.
But , if there is one thing that I can´t did until now, this is to create a new texture that works with transparency....Letters in airport name , for example.
I tried all that you can think in programas, PSP, Martin Wright utilities, Imagetool, and so on....
Please, who can aid me, in a few words, to do a texture (bmp, dxtx,y, z) ...
that works in FS9.
My best thanks in advance.
Best,
Jorge

 

[Siggy]

Hi Jorge,

I think you need a Targa image (.tga) for that. In PSP create a new bitmap, then go to Layers/New Mask Layer/Show All. In your layer palette select the Mask layer and draw into it. White values are opaque and black values are transparent and I guess (haven't tried) you can use any shades in between. Then save the whole image as a .tga (make sure you choose the file type in the 'Save as type:' drop-down box in the Save dialog as 'Truevision Targa (*.tga)'.

Hope this helps. The experts may know more about this. I have only played with this a bit.

Cheers,
Siggy

 

[arno]

Hi Jorge,

Adding transparancy to a texture is easiest done by adding an alpha channel to the image in your painting tool. Then you need to save the texture in a format that keeps this alpha channel (for example TGA or PSD). If you then read this image into ImageTool it will recognise the alpha channel and you can save it as DXT1 or DXT3 for use in FS.

In this article on the Wiki it is described how you can do it with Photoshop. I am sure the principles are the same with PSP:

http://fsdeveloper.com/wiki/index.p...to_create_transparant_textures_with_PhotoShop

 

[Jorge_Pad]

Thanks Siggy and Arno

Thanks guys,
You are very
I ´m very for your help, in the first time that I ask aid in this forum..., I have return. That´s cool and encourage me...
About the question, I think that loose some very small thing to do the right thing.
I allready had tga , and I saved alpha channel, but when I put the dxt' s in the scenery, there is the black tag on the object
I ´ll go read the article from Arno and I tried to follow the Siggy track..
I ´m sure that I ´ll be there....
Thanks for all.
Jorge

 

[arno]

Once you have loaded the image into ImageTool you can also check if it has recognised the alpha texture correctly. In the view menu there is an option to show it. So you might want to check if it really made it into your texture .

 

[Jorge_Pad]

My results

People
Yes, it is not easy, at all...
In this attachemente bellow tha shows my poor result wilth alphas...
All that I got, was the sign in black colors and with a range of visibility very short. I have to go onto the words to see them....
I use NovaSim, and if I turn on the option 'flickering off" the sign desapears...
Ohter problem is that I can´t to edit and save wiht alpha the words in a different color than black!!!
I wonder to save in another collor...
That´s the situatiion...What can i do...
Thanks

 

[tgibson]

Hi,

You must move the sign away from the building - it cannot be right on the wall. You can move it far enough away before it will become very noticable.

What I do for transparent letters is to use DXTBmp from Martin Wright Graphics.

1. Create your image in PSP or Photoshop (or other program), with the letters surrounded by a contrasting color (where it is supposed to be transparent).

2. Copy the image and add an _alpha.bmp ending to the name (or something similar). This will become your alpha channel.

3. Edit this image so the letters are pure white and the transparent areas are pure black. Any other areas should be pure white (or they will be transparent!). White = 255,255,255. Black = 0,0,0.

4. Save both images.

5. Start DXTBmp. Open your main bitmap.

6. Choose Alpha/Import Alpha Channel. Choose your xxx_alpha.bmp file you just created. Your alpha channel will appear in the box on the right.

7. Save the image as a DXT1 image (NOT DXT1 No alpha): File/Save/Extended Image, DXT1 in the drop down box.

Load into FS - you should have transparency.

Hope this helps,

 

[arno]

You must move the sign away from the building - it cannot be right on the wall. You can move it far enough away before it will become very noticable.

Adding a ZBias should already be enough. In that case you can keep them at the same position. The ZBias will give your logo/text a higher priority.

 

[Jorge_Pad]

Sucess , thanks for all (specially Tgibson)

Thanks for all people of this forum.
Today I got this result, for me is pretty good.
I tracked the Tgibson advise and I get there.
Thanks to Martin Wright too.
Here it goes the neon (Seção Contra Incêndio) in Portuguese and Firehouse in English.
And I have night texture (lm) also.
This forum is cool.
Thanks folks.
Jorge