I need help with .TGAs
Wednesday, February 4, 2004 by Killer_Thigh | Discussion: Skinning
How do I make a .tga so there are transparent parts? I've looked at other tga files and I try it myself but the part that should be transparent stays visible. What is the advantage to tgas over bmps?
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kongit
Reply #2 Wednesday, February 4, 2004 10:22 PM
Reply #2 Wednesday, February 4, 2004 10:22 PM
you can set skinstudio to export tgas that you want to edit as pngs, and it accepts pngs and converts them to tgas for buttons and whatnot so you don't ever actually need to fiddle with tgas.
To make a transparent tga you have to edit the alpha channel. If you don't understand that just use pngs.
To make a transparent tga you have to edit the alpha channel. If you don't understand that just use pngs.
Killer_Thigh
Reply #3 Wednesday, February 4, 2004 10:30 PM
Reply #3 Wednesday, February 4, 2004 10:30 PM
How do I get pngs in there? I can't select it from the list. I really don't know much about ss, thanks.
Koasati
Reply #4 Wednesday, February 4, 2004 10:39 PM
Reply #4 Wednesday, February 4, 2004 10:39 PM
Go to Tools > Preferences > Editing > Image editors.... Enable the "Convert TGA files to PNG before using image editors"
PixelPirate
Reply #6 Thursday, February 5, 2004 12:34 PM
Reply #6 Thursday, February 5, 2004 12:34 PM
The tricky part with targa files is that you have to have an alpha channel in it that define the visible and the transparent part of the image. In Photoshop you make a selection of all your layers, go into channels, create a new one, and fills it with the paintbucket, then you'll have the alpha channel and the tga file is ready for use. You have to use this procedure to create toolbaricons in SkinStudio. If you have your doubts, try to open an existing tga file, and check the channels.
kongit
Reply #7 Thursday, February 5, 2004 2:46 PM
Reply #7 Thursday, February 5, 2004 2:46 PM
you can use png for toolbar icons. skinstudio will convert it to tga. Why bother with an alpha channel?
PixelPirate
Reply #9 Thursday, February 5, 2004 5:23 PM
Reply #9 Thursday, February 5, 2004 5:23 PM
PP was not aware. PP remembers the next time. However, it's still good to know how tga files work, and how they can be made. Other applications may not be as helpful as SkinStudio...
kongit
Reply #10 Thursday, February 5, 2004 6:29 PM
Reply #10 Thursday, February 5, 2004 6:29 PM
ah yes, but you import any png into skinstudio and it will save it as a tga. then you can use the tga elsewhere.
DigitalCHET
Reply #11 Tuesday, February 17, 2004 1:06 AM
Reply #11 Tuesday, February 17, 2004 1:06 AM
WOW!!! How did I not know about this!!?!? %^#@!%#$%!!!
Now I can use translucency on my skins!!
!
Now I can use translucency on my skins!!
!
Sput
Reply #12 Tuesday, February 17, 2004 7:22 PM
Reply #12 Tuesday, February 17, 2004 7:22 PM
I'm getting good milage out of using PhotoShop 7 with tga files...you do have to remember to make sure you don't have a "background" layer and to save them as 32 bit instead of the 24bit that Photoshop sometimes defaults to, but 90% of the time it's just open/edit/save without any hassle.
kongit
Reply #13 Wednesday, February 18, 2004 10:47 AM
Reply #13 Wednesday, February 18, 2004 10:47 AM
my biggest problem with using tgas in most image editors is that you cannot actually see the transparency, so often I got a halo around the object. When I started using png i never had to worry about the halo effect.
Sput
Reply #14 Wednesday, February 18, 2004 2:23 PM
Sorry - I know exactly what you mean, but I can't help finding that way of saying it funny.
I've found Photoshop 7 shows the transparency of TGAs fine (against the checkerboard pattern)...certainly doesn't need to mess about with channels etc, just work on a transparent stack of layers.
As a tip, it's useful to include solid plain black, white and 50% grey layers at the bottom of the stack to be able to quickly check the appearance against the full range of background intensities.
Reply #14 Wednesday, February 18, 2004 2:23 PM
| ....that you cannot actually see the transparency... |
Sorry - I know exactly what you mean, but I can't help finding that way of saying it funny.I've found Photoshop 7 shows the transparency of TGAs fine (against the checkerboard pattern)...certainly doesn't need to mess about with channels etc, just work on a transparent stack of layers.
As a tip, it's useful to include solid plain black, white and 50% grey layers at the bottom of the stack to be able to quickly check the appearance against the full range of background intensities.
kongit
Reply #15 Wednesday, February 18, 2004 5:10 PM
Reply #15 Wednesday, February 18, 2004 5:10 PM
I used photoshop 7 once at a friend's and it didn't show the transparency it just showed black. the transparency was in the alpha channel. maybe you are seeing pngs, or psds not the actual tga. whenever I have opened a tga in any graphic editor I have always not seen transparency, but instead usually a solid color (most often black) with the transparency in the alpha channel. Maybe its just me. 
Sput
Reply #16 Wednesday, February 18, 2004 6:47 PM
Reply #16 Wednesday, February 18, 2004 6:47 PM
kongit - nope, I mean tga files...I just created a new empty transparent file, added some bits with transparency, saved it as a 32bit tga. Re-opened it, and took the screen shot to demonstrate...it works a charm - honest:
There are some reasons why it may have failed for you - not least would be if someone has turned on "use video alpha" in photoshop when the graphics card isn't compatible.
There are some reasons why it may have failed for you - not least would be if someone has turned on "use video alpha" in photoshop when the graphics card isn't compatible.
Z71
Reply #17 Thursday, February 19, 2004 2:07 PM
Reply #17 Thursday, February 19, 2004 2:07 PM
This might have been touched on already. Just wanted other people to know, that if you can't afford Photoshop-you can still do .tga images.
Just make sure that there is transparency showing in your .png file. If not, skin studio will change it to a .bmp image.
Hope that helps someone.
Just make sure that there is transparency showing in your .png file. If not, skin studio will change it to a .bmp image.
Hope that helps someone.
Koasati
Reply #18 Thursday, February 19, 2004 2:35 PM
Reply #18 Thursday, February 19, 2004 2:35 PM
Z71.... I just answered your question in the other thread, but I see you have it figured out....
Z71
Reply #20 Thursday, February 19, 2004 5:25 PM
Thanks. I didn't know if I should of put it in the other thread, so I posted it here. Thanks,again.
Reply #20 Thursday, February 19, 2004 5:25 PM
| but I see you have it figured out.... |
Thanks. I didn't know if I should of put it in the other thread, so I posted it here. Thanks,again.
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Reply #1 Wednesday, February 4, 2004 10:10 PM