Little runthrough of the process of creating textures
by fedefuso
I got fotoshop, different version though… I would advise to use this, granted a LITTLE confusing at first but it works very well (Havent tried any other programs though, so cant compare)
Little runthrough of the process of creating textures. You probably know that the texture consists of a picture and txf file in the active mod folder. Start game (best not fullscreen, easier for switching between programs)and go to customiser, to the mod texture u want to edit. If u changed the picture of the mod (and saved it over the previous picture) you can click the dress off/on and the new picture is loaded so you can see what you changed (this is probably a step you will have to repeat MANY times , save pic→check changes).
As for the txf files, during editing of texture best set on “RGBA_8888” “AlphaBlend/WriteZ”: This allows the picture to contain Invisible/transparent parts (this might create errors, like some part of the model being invisible, but it can always be changed later on; its just the easiest during editing).
As for the actual editing: Make a new blank file in your program with the pixel size being a multiplication of 2. Some textures are not square, but the hight and width need to be a multiplication of 2, just keep the height/width ratio of original picture. Example: say the original picture is 2×8 pixels(ratio: 8/2=4), then you can make a new file of 512x2048pixels (ratio: 2048/512=4). Dont go higher than 2048pixels for either height or width (game limit).
Open the original texture picture in the program (both blank file and pic open). Drag the picture to the blank file. This will create a new Layer: Layers are extremely important, they are basically just pictures on top of each other (hence the term layer…). You can change the following order of the layers:wich picture comes over the other, wich one comes below. Layers are useful because certain operations are possible (depending on program), examples:
-transparency: if the layer on top is made transparent by a certain amount, the layer below will show a little (if lowest picture is made transparent, nothing changes sinces you cant see it). If a layer is made completely transparent, well then you cant see it of course.
-Now say you draw an ellips→ this object will also become a new layer(so 3 layers in total now, in this order: Blank, picture and ellips on top). If you make a selection (magic wand tool in fotoshop)of the ellips, there will appear a dotted line around the shape of the ellips: the SHAPE of the ellips is selected. This selection remains even if you switch layers. So If you go to the layer (=picture) below there is still the ellips selection present, now right click in the selection (little menu appears) were you can chose cut or copy via layer. If you select cut, the ellips will be cut out of the picture and a new layer will be created with the SHAPE of the ellips but with the CONTENT of the picture(=layer 4). So if now you make layer 4 and the ellips object transparent: the result the original picture with an ellips shape cut out, through wich you can see the blank layer laying below the picture. If you save this as a png type file over the texture file and load it on the model: an ellips shape is cut out of the texture. (This is basically everything I used to make the sixties dress)
-Creating shapes: ANY shape can be made out of a combination of ellipses and straight lines. However, every object (line or ellips) you create will be made into a new layer and can not be easely selected together. Layers need to be “MERGED”. Example: say you want to make a square shape using 4 lines: every line is a new layer, so you can select every line but not the square shape. If you merge the 4 layers, they will be … well merged into one layer. If you now select the square with the magic wand tool, the square shape is selected allowing you to cut sqaure shapes out of other layers.
This is basically what I do to make textures. Theres also color options but thats pretty straight forward. Some handy tips:
-Make a grid with each line a different color as top layer for orientation
-Make a few markers on the textures (make other layers transparent by say 50%): where nipples are, belly button, middle of the neck
-make a symmetry line: draw a line from middle of neck to belly button. Use this line to make the dress symmetrical, it is the middle of the dress. (as you will see: a vertical line through the belly button in the texture will go through the belly button and hence through the middle of the belly, however it will not go through the middle of the tits)
I can upload some screenshots of some intermediate steps if you want, or I can send you a complete fotoshop file for one of the completed dresses (then you can appreciate how much work goes into it )
Anyways thats how I do things… Hope it helps (Seems a lot to read but I tied to make it complete and easy to understand:))
