Anyone know how to make them?
There was a topic in the graphics forum 2 crashes ago and i can't remeber how to do them.
Can Anyone help?
Full Version: Transparent Decal
There's a few articles about it over at MekTek by Solar Mech that are pretty good and explain it better than I could.
They are in the Guides section.
Hope that helps Beaker
They are in the Guides section.
Hope that helps Beaker
Beyond that, we could do a mini clinic right here! What software are you using Beaker? It makes a bit of a difference. The main thing is that you have to use an Alpha Channel for the transparancy. The key to 64x64 decals with transparancy is keeping it under 5k in size (4.9k or less to be safe). It's not always easy to do, and in a lot of cases requires some cleanup of stray pixels.
The 5k thing was very frustrating.
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"Buckaroo Banzai, born to an American mother and a Japanese father, thus began life as he was destined to live it... going in several directions at once."
i'm using PSP7
Upgradedfrom 5 about a week ago. i'm still trying to figure out where the h*** half of the options have been moved to <_<
Edit: I know how to make regular decals. i jst want the transparency so it doesn't have the daft background anymore
Upgradedfrom 5 about a week ago. i'm still trying to figure out where the h*** half of the options have been moved to <_<
Edit: I know how to make regular decals. i jst want the transparency so it doesn't have the daft background anymore
I'm using PSP 6.something.
The key appears to be in the choice of "Mode" and in the number of bits you select when you save the image as a TGA. With the 64x64 decals, 8-bit seems to give you the best hope of getting under the 5k limit. I've got my alpha-channel stuff loaded in the same tool palette with Layers and Info. They've been there so long that I don't remember if that is the default location or not! Have they moved in PSP 7?
I also have not experimented with larger file-size images that are NOT transparent. Can you get away with that? How big can you go?
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"A brilliant neurosurgeon, this restless young man grew quickly dissatisfied with a life devoted solely to medicine."
The key appears to be in the choice of "Mode" and in the number of bits you select when you save the image as a TGA. With the 64x64 decals, 8-bit seems to give you the best hope of getting under the 5k limit. I've got my alpha-channel stuff loaded in the same tool palette with Layers and Info. They've been there so long that I don't remember if that is the default location or not! Have they moved in PSP 7?
I also have not experimented with larger file-size images that are NOT transparent. Can you get away with that? How big can you go?
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"A brilliant neurosurgeon, this restless young man grew quickly dissatisfied with a life devoted solely to medicine."
PSP6 is my tool of choice for the decals, although I also have Photoshop. Main reason is that I haven't spent enough time with Photoshop, and I've grown accustomed to PSP over the last few years. On to the goodies.
I'm with you Lemur, that 5k limit is a real pain, and tears out the heart of a lot of decals. By the same token, I can understand it. Being on a 56k, I can imagine getting on a 16 player server and having to download up to 30 10k files before hopping on. I know that 300k isn't all that much, but I get anxious enough as it is. I'm sure that's the reasoning behind the 5k limit.
The biggest problem with saving a decal as an 8-bit TGA is that you only get 256 colors and NO alpha channel, which eliminates the transparancy on 64x64's. That's fine if you have a square decal (ie the Donegal Guard decal I did in the CBT decal pack), but doesn't help if you've got something other than a square. To get the Alpha channel you have to save the TGA as a 24-bit image. That will of course inflate the size, but you do have the ability to compress the image as well. Photoshop does a MUCH better job on this than PSP6 does, but PSP works well enough.
If I'm going to do a 64x64 with a transparancy, I'll flood fill as much as possible. One other little trick that works well for me is to reduce the colors down to 256, and in some instances even 16. That does a lot of the cleanup work for me up front. I'll usually re-save at that point (it'll re-save it as a 24-bit) and check the file size. If the decal is around the 4k size or less, then I'll go straight to the "Mask" and add the Alpha transparancy. I think it was SolarMech's decal tutorial using PSP that I originally learned from.
If it's still in the 4.5K range adding the Alpha may or may not work. This pretty much depends on how the pixels are set up. If you've got large areas with the same color you may be OK. If on the other hand you have a lot of areas with single or few pixels of a different color than the surroundings, you'll probably run into problems. This is where you have to do some manual cleanup. Typically I'll zoom in to about 10X normal size which will let me see each of the pixels individually. Then I'll use the Paintbrush tool set to one and change the color of the offending pixels. Depending on the amount of work, this can take as little as a couple of minutes, to 1/2 and hour depending on the decal. The main thing to remember is to try and eliminate as many pixels as possible that stand out. Being able to create a continuous line of pixels can significantly reduce the size of the TGA.
If you want an example of what I'm talking about. Take a look at the Genyosha decal in the CBT pack I did. The original outer border of that decal had most of the pixels on the diagonal to each other. This is fine in theory and looks great at normal sizing, but works horribly when it comes to creating the transparancy, and can easily double the size of the file. By changing pixel colors on the square as opposed to the diagonal, I was able to reduce the file size by almost 2K. That's pretty damn significant when you've got a 5k max your working with!!!! At normal viewing the decal is a bit blockier that it was originally, but it isn't significant enough that it's going to be noticed in MP!
Hope this info helps out a bit!
I'm with you Lemur, that 5k limit is a real pain, and tears out the heart of a lot of decals. By the same token, I can understand it. Being on a 56k, I can imagine getting on a 16 player server and having to download up to 30 10k files before hopping on. I know that 300k isn't all that much, but I get anxious enough as it is. I'm sure that's the reasoning behind the 5k limit.
The biggest problem with saving a decal as an 8-bit TGA is that you only get 256 colors and NO alpha channel, which eliminates the transparancy on 64x64's. That's fine if you have a square decal (ie the Donegal Guard decal I did in the CBT decal pack), but doesn't help if you've got something other than a square. To get the Alpha channel you have to save the TGA as a 24-bit image. That will of course inflate the size, but you do have the ability to compress the image as well. Photoshop does a MUCH better job on this than PSP6 does, but PSP works well enough.
If I'm going to do a 64x64 with a transparancy, I'll flood fill as much as possible. One other little trick that works well for me is to reduce the colors down to 256, and in some instances even 16. That does a lot of the cleanup work for me up front. I'll usually re-save at that point (it'll re-save it as a 24-bit) and check the file size. If the decal is around the 4k size or less, then I'll go straight to the "Mask" and add the Alpha transparancy. I think it was SolarMech's decal tutorial using PSP that I originally learned from.
If it's still in the 4.5K range adding the Alpha may or may not work. This pretty much depends on how the pixels are set up. If you've got large areas with the same color you may be OK. If on the other hand you have a lot of areas with single or few pixels of a different color than the surroundings, you'll probably run into problems. This is where you have to do some manual cleanup. Typically I'll zoom in to about 10X normal size which will let me see each of the pixels individually. Then I'll use the Paintbrush tool set to one and change the color of the offending pixels. Depending on the amount of work, this can take as little as a couple of minutes, to 1/2 and hour depending on the decal. The main thing to remember is to try and eliminate as many pixels as possible that stand out. Being able to create a continuous line of pixels can significantly reduce the size of the TGA.
If you want an example of what I'm talking about. Take a look at the Genyosha decal in the CBT pack I did. The original outer border of that decal had most of the pixels on the diagonal to each other. This is fine in theory and looks great at normal sizing, but works horribly when it comes to creating the transparancy, and can easily double the size of the file. By changing pixel colors on the square as opposed to the diagonal, I was able to reduce the file size by almost 2K. That's pretty damn significant when you've got a 5k max your working with!!!! At normal viewing the decal is a bit blockier that it was originally, but it isn't significant enough that it's going to be noticed in MP!
Hope this info helps out a bit!
Hi.
I have tried to make custom decals, both 'normal' and unregular shaped with transperent, but not succeded. On the MW4Online board I was recommened you at Banzai Insitute. Though after reading this thread I tried again but with no luck. Can you help me please?
Franschi
I have tried to make custom decals, both 'normal' and unregular shaped with transperent, but not succeded. On the MW4Online board I was recommened you at Banzai Insitute. Though after reading this thread I tried again but with no luck. Can you help me please?
Franschi
which proggy do you use?
What DesertStorm says!!!!
Without knowing, the only things I can think of are to make sure that your decals are either 32x32 or 64x64, under 5k and are in .tga format. Adding a transparancy to a .gif or .jpg will NOT work for the game. Gotta be TGA!
Without knowing, the only things I can think of are to make sure that your decals are either 32x32 or 64x64, under 5k and are in .tga format. Adding a transparancy to a .gif or .jpg will NOT work for the game. Gotta be TGA!
Ahhhhhhhhhh I have tried to make a transparent decal since this game came out. I have read the articles and still, just a rectangle with a decal stuck in it. I have used PSP7 PSP6 and PhotoShop I think it is that whole alpha channel thing.
Is psp8 beta an upgrade to 7 if so how much $$.
Made a few decals a couple of years ago, including a completely transparent "invisible" decal for those with no unit affiliation. The transparent or irregularly shaped decals have a 32x32 limit from the extra alpha channel taking up space. Likewise the 64x64 decals can't have any transparencies and are limited to square shape, but are noticably higher resolution.
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