207 replies to this topic

[llamamonkeynpie]

I was using Vista and it worked. I just had to click File->Save As and then change it to a DDS file, I wonder what your problem could be... ;)


I also experimented a lot and managed to answer my own questions. :D

[IrishAnge1]

I created a new file 256x256
Color Mode: RBG Color 8 bit and hit ok
Then I click the Channels Button

And now things seem to not quite work.

I add the alfa channel... which ends up black but I keep reading it's not supposed to be black.

Then it says Copy/paste each of those masks in the correct channel (where do I get these... I'm using the image from the example here and have been pasting it into it, but of course it's not working correctly that way.

[MsBarrows]

llamamonkeynpie said:

Puzzled5543, I had the same problem when I attempted to use GIMP. Luckily, I just had to close and reopen GIMP and it was solved. Sometimes the simplest things cause me the most anxiety. :rolleyes:

First, the colors of the pattern don't actually have to be red, green and blue right?

No, red and green are referring to the colour channels of the texture. If your paint program allows you to directly edit the texture channels of your image, you should be fine. If not, then the easiest way to fake it is to draw in pure red (255,0,0) blue (0,255,0) and green (0,0,255) when making your image. Each channel will become a different colour layer in the final pattern, as I understand it, so whatever you draw in red is layer one, blue is layer two, and green is layer three. If your texture has an alpha (transparency) channel, that will become layer four. Again, a paint program that allows you to directly edit colour channels makes this somewhat easier to deal with.

Think of the image you're making in Photoshop (or whatever) as a map of where the final colours or textures will go. Red, blue, green, and alpha are just defining areas that could be, in game, anything at all - cream, pink, pale yellow, and mint, maybe.

Suppose you wanted to make a pattern that was smiley faces on a solid background. One colour channel would be the background (minus the circles for the faces), another would be the circles for the faces (minus lines for the mouth and eyes), and another would be the mouth and eyes. It wouldn't really matter what colour channels you stuck that information in - you could have a red circle with blue lines on a green background, a green circle with red lines on a blue background, whatever, it's just a map. It's the shapes you make that are the important information at this point, not what actual colours they are.

[MsBarrows]

Grr, got the colour values mixed up in the example I gave above - should say "is to draw in pure red (255,0,0) green (0,255,0) and blue (0,0,255) when making your image".

Attached is an illustration showing a smiley face being turned into an image to be used to make a pattern.

Attached Files

•  smiley_example.jpg   57.46K   170 downloads

[cherokeerose]

The only program I have is Jasc Paintshop 9. Does anyone know if this will work or not?

[Alerek]

I apologize in advance for the probable stupidity of this post, but this is driving me nuts.

I've been pouring over the documentation and I can't for the life of me figure out how to edit these color channels to reflect the masks. I know what it is I need to do to separate my desired image to produce the colorable counterpart in the sims, but every time I try to edit the color channels it affects the entire image. Is there some really really mundane detail I'm missing to accomplish this?

[MsBarrows]

Alerek said:

I know what it is I need to do to separate my desired image to produce the colorable counterpart in the sims, but every time I try to edit the color channels it affects the entire image. Is there some really really mundane detail I'm missing to accomplish this?

It depends on the software you're using - for Photoshop, for example, if I remember correctly what you have to so is go to the channels tab and then alt-click or shift-click or something like that on the channel you want to edit, otherwise it assumes you still want to be in the mode that edits all channels.

[Elven_Ranger]

MsBarrows, thanks for making the layers thingie much more understandable to a dweeb like me :D
Does any one know if there is a program or a way to pull apart an existing pattern ( such as a wallpaper swatch or existing tilable image ) using coral psp x? This whole process is making my brain leak outta my nose!

[Thomas|TSR]

We'll release an update today with support for PNG and BMP files (only 3 channels instead of 4). For those unable to work out DDS files this should be a of great help :)

[b-bettina]

Alerek said:

every time I try to edit the color channels it affects the entire image

Yeah, it affects the entire image, but this is how it should be done ;) Basically, the final image (RGB channels altogether) you see in Photoshop will look very very odd but as long as your channels are made right they will look good in the Workshop [because here can you assign the desired colors of the pattern and not in Photoshop - that's only used for making the mask] and in Sims 3). First, I was very unsure about it too, but you will soon get the hang of it. ;)

[openhousejack]

I know this is stupid but how/where do you open the DDS plugin. I installed it in adobe photoshop cs3 /plugins/file format.But where do I open it?

[openhousejack]

also how can you make them grayscale,ya I'm an idiot

[Elut]

openhousejack said:

I know this is stupid but how/where do you open the DDS plugin. I installed it in adobe photoshop cs3 /plugins/file format.But where do I open it?

You don´t open it, when you are done you use "save as" and it´s one of the options.

[openhousejack]

Elut said:

You don´t open it, when you are done you use "save as" and it´s one of the options.

I mean where can I find the DDS plugin.Where do we create the mask or dds file

[Murano]

IrishAnge1 said:

I add the alfa channel... which ends up black but I keep reading it's not supposed to be black.

It can be black though. You're just not seeing it then in RGB Mask Image when you loaded your texture because a black alpha means an invisible/fully transparent image.

IrishAnge1 said:

where do I get these... I'm using the image from the example here and have been pasting it into it, but of course it's not working correctly that way.

An existing pattern in colours can be hardly converted to appropriate masks. However, I attached the mask images used in the tutorial but please do not upload the made pattern of it anywhere. These mask images I made with Illustrator and Photoshop (especially the fabric texture).


@Jack
The DDS plugin you'll see if you've chosen D3D/DDS (*.DDS) as fileformat under 'Save as...'. It doesn't do any magic. It just saves the image as a DDS. ;)

Attached Files

•  redchannel.jpg   54.2K   101 downloads
•  greenchannel.jpg   91.47K   111 downloads
•  bluechannel.jpg   34.86K   96 downloads
•  alphachannel.jpg   83.86K   101 downloads

[openhousejack]

Murano said:

It can be black though. You're just not seeing it then in RGB Mask Image when you loaded your texture because a black alpha means an invisible/fully transparent image.


An existing pattern in colours can be hardly converted to appropriate masks. However, I attached the mask images used in the tutorial but please do not upload the made pattern of it anywhere. These mask images I made with Illustrator and Photoshop (especially the fabric texture).


@Jack
The DDS plugin you'll see if you've chosen D3D/DDS (*.DDS) as fileformat under 'Save as...'. It doesn't do any magic. It just saves the image as a DDS. ;)

do I create the mask in photoshop and save as DDS file?

[Murano]

See in Fig6 how the different mask are composed in Channels. Click. Fig7 shows how the image looks like in Layers.

[openhousejack]

Murano said:

See in Fig6 how the different mask are composed in Channels. Click. Fig7 shows how the image looks like in Layers.

when you say in the tutorial to make each channel layer grayscale.does it mean to desaturate them?

[Murano]

Yes, desaturate works. :) If you put the mask in one of the channels it's anyway reduced to a true greyscale which means a pixel can only hold a brightness from 0-255.

Red 0-255
Green 0-255
Blue 0-255
Alpha 0-255

[dutje]

Ok, this is all nice, after hours of trying, thinking, reading etc, i think i did it right finally. But when i go to save as, i dont have the option to save it as a D3D/DDS file. How do i get it?

I have the plugin installed.