Opacity Maps and DAE's in Show Tool
by Jason Gitlin · in Torque 3D Professional · 09/10/2009 (12:14 pm) · 6 replies
I've been curious about transparent objects. I've been having trouble getting them to work properly and even more trouble getting png's to export their alpha channels out of Photoshop (even while using save for web and SuperPNG). It seems to work about half the time for me. Anyways....why not have t3d support a good ol back and white opacity map? Is that outdated? From what I understand the only way to get transparencies working now is to have an alpha embedded into a png. That is an annoying and difficult task (don't believe me? do a search and count the number of threads of people having trouble with that). It's also a format that's been outdated for quite some time as Photoshop, and even superpng have switched to saving the transparency data rather than the alpha.
Are there any plans with t3d to change the way or better streamline the implementation of opacity data? With either a simplified method (ie b&w opacity maps) or adding support for png's with transparency data? If there aren't any such plans, why not?
Also another little tidbit: Can we upgrade showtool pro to support collada data? It would be nice to preview DAE assets especially since collada is now the "new" thing.
Are there any plans with t3d to change the way or better streamline the implementation of opacity data? With either a simplified method (ie b&w opacity maps) or adding support for png's with transparency data? If there aren't any such plans, why not?
Also another little tidbit: Can we upgrade showtool pro to support collada data? It would be nice to preview DAE assets especially since collada is now the "new" thing.
#2
yes that is out-dated and require significantly more texture memory if you have alot of transparencies. It is very simple process. I would suggest using superPNG by fnord it is free. If you are intent on using png files. Personally I recommend using all .dds files. For this you need to get the Nvidia DDS filters from Nvidia http://developer.nvidia.com
Show tool is dead.
was replaced with the shape editor in T3D.
www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/17963
09/10/2009 (1:50 pm)
Quote:Anyways....why not have t3d support a good ol back and white opacity map? Is that outdated? From what I understand the only way to get transparencies working now is to have an alpha embedded into a png. That is an annoying and difficult task (don't believe me? do a search and count the number of threads of people having trouble with that). It's also a format that's been outdated for quite some time as Photoshop, and even superpng have switched to saving the transparency data rather than the alpha.
yes that is out-dated and require significantly more texture memory if you have alot of transparencies. It is very simple process. I would suggest using superPNG by fnord it is free. If you are intent on using png files. Personally I recommend using all .dds files. For this you need to get the Nvidia DDS filters from Nvidia http://developer.nvidia.com
Show tool is dead.
was replaced with the shape editor in T3D.
www.garagegames.com/community/blogs/view/17963
#3
09/10/2009 (1:50 pm)
Transparency/opacity/alpha works perfectly well for me, but then I use the Gimp, and I find it fairly odd that I've seen numerous complaints about something so standard that a free tool does without a problem.
#4
installing SuperPNG corrects this in photohop.
sorry here it is :
http://www.fnordware.com/superpng/
09/10/2009 (4:03 pm)
well the problem people run into is the way that photoshop reads PNG files by default. In photoshop transparency and alpha are not the same thing.installing SuperPNG corrects this in photohop.
sorry here it is :
http://www.fnordware.com/superpng/
#5
As for png's, I could only get SuperPNG working about half the time, but I have yet to try the latest version because I've read on these forums that they've switched to saving transparency just like adobe, and the only way to get a true alpha was to use an older version.
As for gimp, I've always heard about it, but never really got to try it as Photoshop is pretty much an "industry standard." I also happen to be in the unique situation of working at a studio that isn't allowed to download and use gimp BECAUSE it is free! Wierd right?
I'll have to give DDS a shot later, but right now we've got a coworker claiming he's got png's working so we're just going to throw all opacity work at him...hehe =)
Thanks again
09/14/2009 (9:09 am)
Thanks for the help, I didn't even know about the shape editor. (just wish I could preview shapes from a working folder instead of the torque directory)As for png's, I could only get SuperPNG working about half the time, but I have yet to try the latest version because I've read on these forums that they've switched to saving transparency just like adobe, and the only way to get a true alpha was to use an older version.
As for gimp, I've always heard about it, but never really got to try it as Photoshop is pretty much an "industry standard." I also happen to be in the unique situation of working at a studio that isn't allowed to download and use gimp BECAUSE it is free! Wierd right?
I'll have to give DDS a shot later, but right now we've got a coworker claiming he's got png's working so we're just going to throw all opacity work at him...hehe =)
Thanks again
#6
Also, if you're using alpha channel for specular/etc, avoid having 100% transparent pixels, since Photoshop will overwrite the color in them with whatever it thinks is good (usually, white).
09/14/2009 (2:53 pm)
Photoshop's default for PNG alpha is to use the combined transparency of all layers. To manipulate the alpha independent of the color you must use layer masks.Also, if you're using alpha channel for specular/etc, avoid having 100% transparent pixels, since Photoshop will overwrite the color in them with whatever it thinks is good (usually, white).
Torque 3D Owner Gary Hoffmann
There's two ways I usually do it:
For PNG, I usually copy the opacity map (copy merged if you have multiple layers). Go to the image you want to apply it to, add a layer mask, go to the channels tab and select your mask, paste the opacity map. Save as PNG.
For DDS & TGA, it seems like the transparency has to be on a separate alpha channel, instead of being allowed to be in a mask. In this case, instead of adding a mask, just go to channels and click new channel (the default will be alpha) and paste the opacity map. Also, when you save, make sure "Alpha Layers" is checked.
This has worked for me every time.