How do people make skins?

[sebby]

So yeah we all know that people make skins for HIVE. Basically they grab a Random Units Texture Modify it and they upload it here.

But how do people make them?. what programs i need?

 

[Panda]

@Footman16

 

[Gnuoy]

So yeah we all know that people make skins for HIVE. Basically they grab a Random Units Texture Modify it and they upload it here.

But how do people make them?. what programs i need?

Would be more appropriate topic for the texturing thread Texturing & Surfacing

But pretty much they make a 2D image then map it over a 3D model.

 

[Footman16]

So yeah we all know that people make skins for HIVE. Basically they grab a Random Units Texture Modify it and they upload it here.

But how do people make them?. what programs i need?

We use a few tools.

One is a CASC or MPQ viewer to access the .blp or .DDS files of the game the textures themselves and then extract them. Then we use something like BLPLab to convert the textures from .blp to something not niché and proprietary into something like .PNG or .tga (not .jpg because it doesn't allow for alpha). Then we open it up in software like Photoshop or GIMP (GIMP is free and open source, Photoshop is not) where we then draw it.

Real artists usually have a drawing tablet which is basically an electronic pen they have to draw directly onto the computer with pressure sensitivity etc. I just use a mouse because I'm a masochist.

I really should make a tutorial at some point for it. It's not hard to get started but learning to draw stuff well can be. Mr Goblin has some great tutorials on how to achieve certain looks.

Once drawn you just convert back and see how it looks on the model of choice.

 

[sebby]

We use a few tools.

One is a CASC or MPQ viewer to access the .blp or .DDS files of the game the textures themselves and then extract them. Then we use something like BLPLab to convert the textures from .blp to something not niché and proprietary into something like .PNG or .tga (not .jpg because it doesn't allow for alpha). Then we open it up in software like Photoshop or GIMP (GIMP is free and open source, Photoshop is not) where we then draw it.

Real artists usually have a drawing tablet which is basically an electronic pen they have to draw directly onto the computer with pressure sensitivity etc. I just use a mouse because I'm a masochist.

I really should make a tutorial at some point for it. It's not hard to get started but learning to draw stuff well can be. Mr Goblin has some great tutorials on how to achieve certain looks.

Once drawn you just convert back and see how it looks on the model of choice.

I Have the MPQ Viewer. but idk how to really use it.

i need to get CASC. never heard of CASC before but alright

You open it up, then open up the Warcraft3.mpq or the expansion MPQ if you want the TFT units, models etc.

Spoiler

View attachment 597938

Then at the top you'll "Extract" you can use that to export the files. You can also drag and drop I believe from Ladik's onto file explorer or your desktop or wherever. Boom, that's it, you've got the file.

CASC is only for later patches, if you have older patches with MPQs then MPQ editor is fine. I have both. There's a CASCviewer online here.

ok ive got a Texture i wanned to edit. but how do i edit it. im trying to open it with something like Paint.net but it says that it doesent know the BLP filetype

 

[Footman16]

I Have the MPQ Viewer. but idk how to really use it.

You open it up, then open up the Warcraft3.mpq or the expansion MPQ if you want the TFT units, models etc.

Spoiler

Then at the top you'll "Extract" you can use that to export the files. You can also drag and drop I believe from Ladik's onto file explorer or your desktop or wherever. Boom, that's it, you've got the file.

i need to get CASC. never heard of CASC before but alright

CASC is only for later patches, if you have older patches with MPQs then MPQ editor is fine. I have both. There's a CASCviewer online here.