Graphic Artistry: Lesson #2

[lilith]

I've another question, it's about saving the file in the DXT5 format. In the program I'm presented with 2 options for saving with DXT5:

DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp interpolated alpha

DXT5_NM XY 8 bpp using DXT5

I chose the first?

*crosses fingers*

[InsanitySorrow]

That's the right one

[lilith]

Woot! Fantastic! I'm so glad when I guess right

Thank you!

Edit:

I don't want to flood the thread with posts every time I have a new question

My Alpha Channel 1 does not look anywhere near yours; it's definitely not grayscale :/

I am presented with choices in making a new channel and obviously what I'm doing is incorrect, but it is the 'default' as in I did not change them.

The choices are:

Color indicates: (Default is selected as Masked areas)

Masked Areas

Selected Areas

Color: (Default is selected as Red)

Opacity: (Default is selected as 50%)

My alpha channel ends up being completely white or solid black, help?

(It should be painfully obvious - I've never done this before )

[InsanitySorrow]

I think I forgot to mention this, right-click your top layer in the layer channels tab, select flatten image. Select all and copy it, then undo your flatten layers so you have everything back. You should now be able to paste that into the alpha channel.

I think that's why you're getting those options instead of a proper paste.

[lilith]

My image is already flattened? I've no layers left, I think.. if I remember correctly, it wouldn't let me save without it combining things.

I tried the select all and copy, but I still end up with a solid black alpha channel.

I think what I'm missing is, you're saying "paste" and I've no right click options on the channels tab other than the size of the pics (small, medium, lg, etc). Ctrl V results in nothing; adding a new channel from the little menu button on the right gives me the solid black alpha.

Thank you so much for your continued support to me; if I can provide screenshots or a better description of my inability to grasp this... please let me know

[InsanitySorrow]

Yeah I have to use CTRL+V, if that fails usually Edit > Paste will work.

What version of PS are you using?

[lilith]

Adobe White Rabbit Version 12

Even if I have the channel tab selected (it's showing on top) Ctrl V and the paste options result in a new layer on the layers tab; nothing in the channel tab. My edit options for paste include the standard paste and paste special; paste in place, paste into and paste outside.

I got it to work the way you describe it once; I'm trying to think what was the difference then...

I think it was before I flattened my image to save, but I only had the chainmail/fur areas still under selection, so it gave me an alpha channel for just that. So, if that could be the case, is there a way to un-do saved flatten layers? No, I didn't think so. I think I might have to start anew.

[InsanitySorrow]

Make sure you have the Alpha layer selected when pasting, it should paste in.

What you're using is a pre-release version of what I have (CS5), so it should work the same.

If you've flattened your layers and the undo option doesn't go back far enough to undo it then yep you'll have to start again. Adobe haven't included a tool to separate the layers, though I wish they would

[lilith]

That's it! It's because my layers are all flattened. I suddenly became smarter, thank you

Which means, yep, I'll have to start anew, but that's OK... It won't take me as long to get back to this point and a bit beyond, repetition ingrains good working skills! (laugh or cry - you see my choice )

Thank you so much!

[InsanitySorrow]

You're welcome

[lilith]

Alright then, after much hair-pulling of the teacher... Here's my work

I hope I got all the screenshots requested, if you need clearer images or better information let me know.

Lesson Work

Final PS Chainmail Edit Cuirass

Cuirass Normal Map

Cuirass Alpha

Cuirass Environment Map

Cuirass File Path Meshes

Cuirass File Path Textures

Cuirass in Nifscope

Cuirass in Nifscope with correct paths

New Cuirass in CK

New Cuirass in game

Homework & Extra Credit

Final PS Chainmail Edit Boots

Boots Normal Map

Boots Alpha

Boots Environment Map

Boots File Structure Meshes

Boots File Structure Textures

Boots in Nifscope

Boots in Nifscope with correct paths

New Boots in CK

New Boots in game

Final PS Chainmail Edit Gauntlets

Gauntlets Normal Map

Gauntlets Alpha

Gauntlets Environment Map

Gauntlets File Structure Meshes

Gauntlets File Structure Textures

Gauntlets in Nifscope

Gauntlets in Nifscope with correct paths

New Gauntlets in CK

New Gauntlets in game

Phew.... I think I got it all. Emphasize: Think

[InsanitySorrow]

Looks great , Full marks

I really need to get moving on posting Lesson #3

[lilith]

I'm sooo happy! And so is what's left of your hair I'd imagine

Thank you so much for your lessons, I've learned a lot so far!

[InsanitySorrow]

Looking forward to seeing what you all do with what you have learned

[ResolveThatChord]

Okay, I think this is everything:

Diffuse map:

Specular map:

Normal map:

Environment map:

Folder structure:

NIF texture paths:

Creation Kit:

In-game:

[InsanitySorrow]

Yep that's everything

[Carah]

Assignment

Steel Armor

Normal Mapping

I used Tamira's method. It was too shiny for my preference.

Alpha Channel

I had the same issue as Tamira when creating the alpha channel. My approach was a little different, but ended up with the same results.

Environment Map

Folder Structure

Nif Texture Paths

Armor in the Creation Kit

HomeWork

Boots and Gauntlets

Extra Credit

Boots and Gauntlets as a new iten in the CK

New Steel Armor Outfit In-Game

Texture pattern issue with boots

I didn't like the gaps appearing in the chainmail on the boots. To remedy this I modified the boot pattern.

This is what the original texture looked liked in NifSkope

With modified pattern.

Edited April 28, 2012 by Carah

[InsanitySorrow]

Good work, full marks

[camaro_69_327]

GA Class 2 Using GIMP.

Classwork

Texture with final Chain edit

Normal map. not sure if its me or GIMP. But I can do it 2 ways .to make it look like the class PIc i have to remove the alpha channel that comes with the DDS file in GIMP.

Normal map (with removed Alpha channel)

Normal Map (this is how i did it for everything) Retained the original Alpha channel.

Both look good in the game . One less step leaving the Alpha channel.

Pasted alpha channel

Environment Map

Folder Structure

Nif Texture path

New Item in the CK

In-Game Screenshot

Assignment

The boots....this is a pic of how it looked when extracted from the BSA

they looked bad in Nifscope and the game. So i used the Alpha channel from the Original normal map (for the outline). and this is what I came up with.

They then looked good in Nifscope, CK and the game.

Gauntlets

Extra Credit

All together on the ground in the Game. Took me a bit to get this (I know now not covered ) but Fun to figure out none the less) (at first I thought I was doing something wrong because the menu was wrong and the model on the ground was wrong.)

[InsanitySorrow]

Full marks, you can move onto Lesson #3 , which you have already

[Dhoone]

Wow I thought I'd finished the retexture and went to try it in game but when I looked at the armor on the floor of the external cell and in my inventory it still had fur and when I equipped the armor in game (although the fur was now mail) my players hands and head disappeared!! I guess I'll start again from scratch and see if I can make it work.

Please let me know how to avoid any of the above again if you can please =P

Just an edit, I want to start from scratch but I just want to make sure that I've completely deleted everything. I've deleted the meshes and textures from the custom directories and deleted the plugin file, should that have completely removed all of the "work"?

Edited June 8, 2012 by Dhoone

[Dhoone]

Thought I'd have waited at least a day before I tried again but was to excited to hold it off so I've completed the lesson before you could even reply to my previous post =P.

Here I should have everything required for full marks!! If not please let me know so I can get onto it first thing =P

Pictures:

• Texture With Chainmail: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=MailRetexture.png
  
• Normal Map: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=NormalMap.png
  
• Alpha Channel: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=Alpha.png
  
• Environmental Map: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=EnviromentalMap.png
  
• Folder Structure: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=FolderStructure.png
  
• Nif Texture Paths: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=NifTexturePaths.png
  

Other Items:

• Boots Texture With Chainmail: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=MailBoots.png
  
• Gauntlets Texture With Chainmail: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=MailGauntlets.png
  

New Items In Creation Kit:

• Chest In CK: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=SteelArmorMail.png
  
• Boots In CK: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=Boots.png
  
• Gauntlets in CK: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=Gauntlets.png
  

In Game Screen Captures:

• Chest In Inventory: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=ChestInv.jpg
  
• Boots In Inventory: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=BootsInv.jpg
  
• Gauntlets In Inventory: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=GauntletsInv.jpg
  
• All Items In External Cell: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=OnGround.jpg
  
• All Items Equipped: http://s1165.photobucket.com/albums/q593/dhoone/GraphicsArtistry%20Lesson%202/?action=view&current=Equipped.jpg
  

That shooooould be everything, hope I've made it easy for you to mark!! Thanks in advance for taking time out of you day for this!!

[InsanitySorrow]

I'm late

You've passed, well done

[donnato]

Ok IS, this has gone pretty well and the CK edits showed the changes in the little windows but when I drag and drop into the render window, it still has fur...??

EDIT: When I went in game, the folded armor showed the fur, but like the others mentioned, it converted upon activating it.

Edited November 12, 2012 by donnato

[InsanitySorrow]

You'll need to adjust the ground model (_go file) if you want it to show properly when dropped, it's not important for the class though.