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need an up to date tutorial on creating alpha layers for clothes pleaseee


jamie Cheeky
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Hi well after weeks of learning blender (i am officially bald now!), then learning to make badly made mesh clothes yes i need much more practice, Ive learnt to weight and rig it etc ....im now at the alpha layer bit and completely stuck - found a fantastic tutorial on how to create alpha layers in blender 2.49 ....Ive seen it linked in these forums and ty for that! however im using 2.62 and its just not helping me at all ..I did manage to get an alpha layer made from the tutorial but it took me over a day to figure out where the corresponding stuff was and that was by luck ....so i get it into sl but it was too big for the item - I cant suss out how to get an exact alpha layer for my clothes? please any tuts that are for blender 2.6 + would be greatly appreciated can either be gimp/photoshop for the after work ....just so i dont need to fumble around and make another bosh up and get mroe frustrated ....thanks in advance !

 

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You should be able to create the alpha layers by following a few of the tutorials here: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Clothing_Tutorials (since alpha layers are system layers and not specifically mesh related)

The two first links on the page is for system/avatar templates in ps format.

Then you should check a couple of tutorials on texture painting in Blender, which will show you how to texture paint in the avatar mesh to get the result you want. A few of these perhaps: http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=Blender+texture+painting+tutorial

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ok so i get you need to do on the templates but I dont get how you can make it exact to the mesh item you made - i can unwrap the mesh item and export that into photoshop but there is just no tutorials on how to make it an alpha - i know im missing something really easy here but I  can't see how using the clothing template can get me to make an exact alpha for a mesh item i have made? any more hints al all please would be gratefully recieved thanks!

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Hi jamie. Perhaps my last reply should have been longer and more detailed. :)

There are more than one way to create an alpha layer that fits with the model you made. Below is mine, which may not  be the most efficient way. I use Blender to create the layers, and sometimes use a Photoshop type program to clean up the textures before importing. The photoshop clothing templates I linked to above is strictly only necessary if you need to do some work in photoshop. Also, creating alpha layers are exactly the same as creating other system clothing layers. The difference is you use transparency in stead of colors when making them, and apply the textures to alpha system layers in world.

What I do is this.

First, I split the screen with a 3d view in one part and the uv/image editor in another one.
After I add and assign a new image (make sure it has alpha enabled) to the uv map for the avatar body part I want to make the texture for, I enter texture paint mode. (You do the same for each body part you want an alpha for.) You find texture paint in the drop-down menu blow the 3d view where you go to select object-, edit- and weight paint mode.
I also make sure 'image painting' is enabled in the image menu below the UV/image menu so I can paint directly on to the image in the uv editor.
The, in the tool-panel in the 3d view (t-key to toggle) you should fine the brushes you need. I usually use the 'F Brush' from the brush selection. 
Below the brush selection, there is a 'Blend' drop-down. This is where you choose to paint with alpha or not. Use 'Add alpha' or 'Erase alpha' depending on what you want. This brush setting also works in the UV/Image editor.
I then paint directly onto the avatar, with my model on top so I can see where to paint. Normally, I paint the 'outline' - the borders between alpha and no-alpha, this way, (hope you understand what I mean), and then I fill in the rest in the uv editor. I also make sure I overlap the edges for the different parts in the uv map to prevent artifacts after imprting.
Save images as RGBA, import and apply on an alpha layer, and you're good to go :)

Hope this gives you a bit more to go on. If there are any specific functions you don't know where to find in 2.6x, just come back and ask. :) Perhaps someone else comes by and gives a better explanation and procedure.

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