Transparent textures

[JMEppright 2]

Gentlemen,As I transition from FSDS to GMAX, I am trying to create a chain link fence. I know how to do it in FSDS. How do you do it in GMAX? My texturing paint program of choice is Paint Shop Pro ver 7.

[arno 1]

Hi Mike,No difference there. The transparancy is in the texture file, so that works the same if you work with FSDS or GMax.

[JMEppright 2]

As I remember, in FSDS, there was an embedded utility I could use to designate a transparent color. I'm not very literate with the paint programs. Is this alpha related?

[arno 1]

Ah, it is a long time ago I used FSDS (FSDS v1 that was), I think such an utility was not there then :).I guess that tool then made the alpha channel of the texture for you. But you can also do that very easily in a paint program. You indeed need to create an alpha channel. If you then save it in a format that ImageTool can also read, it is very easy to convert it to a DXT texture.

[Guest sapper42]

As Arno stated its in the texture, using for example, PSP create your fence panel and add the required areas in the alpha channel. save the alpha to the image and export as a TGA file.Map the TGA file to your Gmax object as per normal and when you place the fence in FS9 , open the TGA file in eg: Imagetool and convert it to DXT1 and save as a BMP file into your FS9 texture folder for our scenery.rgds Jeff

[JMEppright 2]

Let me see if I've got this right. Using my Paint Shop Pro, create an appropriately sized transparent texture. Add an alpha channel that displays my fence. Save as a TGA file. Then convert to a DXT1 file for use in FS9. Am I missing anything here?

[Guest misho]

Hello,The simplest thing to do, IMHO, is to save your work as Photoshop file - I just checked, PSP HAS that option. Have your chain link fence on a layer above "background" (Lower most) layer, and have "nothing" in the background (it should display as a checkered pattern. SAVE AS PSD (PhotoShop)Now, the beautiful part: Imagetool OPENS PSD (PhotoShop) files with the thransparency without any problems and It creates alpha channel (Colorkey, I think) from hte transparency. Convert to DXT1, create mip maps and save as bmp - you're done! :)