Texturing Transparency Issues

[Aini Hax]

Hi there, I've honestly tried to find a solution for this by myself but I'm hopelessly lost :(

I enjoy making my own clothes and I somewhat know how to use photoshop but I can't figure out why I have to make every Pixel I draw up 100% non-transparent (as if I'm pixeling it via MS Paint) so that it shows up somewhat nice in Second Life. As soon as I dont do the 100% non transparency I end up with my uploads looking somewhat like this:

 http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/361/opaissues.png

I usually save everything as transparent PNG file, and I make alpha maps too. But I can't figure out what the issue is :( Do I need to use a certain setting when I save my file? I also tried using Targa files but I get the same result - sometimes even not transparent at all :( 

I would really appreciate any help or a link to the right settings etc. :)

Thank you in advance! 

[Dekka Raymaker]

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Alpha-channels/ta-p/700025

type in alpha in search other info comes up as well

[Arwen Serpente]

Aini, I'm not sure what's causing that, but if the picture on the right is what you are uploading, and the pic on the left is what is being seen inworld and that brown/woodenish background is not in your graphics file, then it could be a viewer, connection and/or server issue, not a file issue. I had that happen a long long time ago and I was seeing my walls and even my viewer screen on my body. Eventually, that stopped happening, but it definitely wasn't the textures I was uploading.

Possibly try the following:

1) Save it as a tga rather than png (just to try) *Edited* Sorry, I see now that I reread your post that you tried tga.

2) Do trials with temp uploads: Use a TPV (see the TPV directory for some good choices) with temp uploads so that you can see the piece without paying time after time on your trials. OR, log into the beta grid with the LL viewer and upload and try there (uploads on Beta grid don't cost money and are basically temp uploads).

3) If those things fail, you may want to check in with the Technology forum to see if they can help because it may not be a texture issue at all.

I hope that helps (a little).

[Rolig Loon]

See http://forums-archive.secondlife.com/109/32/80851/1.html for everything you ever wanted to know about transparency in SL.

[Aini Hax]

Thank you for the replies! I sat down read through those pages and I can't find what I'm doing wrong still. I have been making alpha channels and they are all so simple I dont understand why it won't work  

Here's a picture of my alpha channel and it still comes out as horrible as the first picture I showed - if i save as .png or .targa

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/9467/alphachannelfail.png

Also I check the files both in the SLCP and the actual SL viewer and they both look like this  

[Rolig Loon]

Save as 32-bit TGA instead of PNG.  That should work.  The only other thing I would suggest is to add a background layer behind your image and fill it with the yellow-gold color that dominates in the image.  That will largely eliminate any white halo issue you might have.

[Arwen Serpente]

Aini, have you tried giving a copy of the top to a friend to see if it is also corrupted for them when they wear it (both how you see it on them and how they see it on themselves)? I ask because last week a friend of mine who was on a TPV was using a texture from the Library, but on his screen is was completely distorted. I use a different viewer and on my screen it was fine. Once he changed viewers, the problem stopped. So, maybe if there is a friend you trust, just see if it will rez properly for them. If it does, then it isn't the way you are making the top, it would have something to do with your viewer/system combo.

[Aini Hax]

I was thinking could it be Photoshop CS5 causing the issue? 

I'll try giving a friend the texture next too... but I doubt that'll help ;_;

[Arwen Serpente]

smiles, I hope that will help. Probably goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway just to be sure: if you give it to a friend, just make sure that you set the permissions at least to no transfer.