Simple Skin Questions

[High_Inquisitor]

Just a few questions I have, I want to try skinning for myself rather than mooching off of artists.

1. Can I use Macromedia Fireworks to edit the skins? I hear people using Photoshop but I perfer Fireworks.

2. How do I extract a skin to work on? Where do I find them?

3. I assume normal image editors can't read .blp files so I must convert them. I hear of .tga and I wonder how to convert it into .tga or can it be edited on a different file (.png) and then converted to .blp

4. Changing team colors I assume is a modeling issue I cannot change with skinning

5. Is there some kind of program that I can quickly test a skin to see if a mark I made worked or not while I edit it, instead of creating the entire skin then testing it only to find everything looks like crap?

6. I heard about removing weapons... what if I were to draw beyond the boundries of the weapon on the skin (for instance make a sword longer) would it actually make the weapon large or will it do a goofy wrap around or not even show the excess at all?

 

[Sopho]

Just a few questions I have, I want to try skinning for myself rather than mooching off of artists.

1. Can I use Macromedia Fireworks to edit the skins? I hear people using Photoshop but I perfer Fireworks.

2. How do I extract a skin to work on? Where do I find them?

3. I assume normal image editors can't read .blp files so I must convert them. I hear of .tga and I wonder how to convert it into .tga or can it be edited on a different file (.png) and then converted to .blp

4. Changing team colors I assume is a modeling issue I cannot change with skinning

5. Is there some kind of program that I can quickly test a skin to see if a mark I made worked or not while I edit it, instead of creating the entire skin then testing it only to find everything looks like crap?

6. I heard about removing weapons... what if I were to draw beyond the boundries of the weapon on the skin (for instance make a sword longer) would it actually make the weapon large or will it do a goofy wrap around or not even show the excess at all?

1. I don't know about that tool but as long as it has the tools and everything needed to paint etc/edit images, then yes.

2. You find skins in your mpq
You can't just get em out without the tools, so download WC3 Viewer in out tool section, open up the mpq in your Warcraft III folder and browse through the mpq with the tree list view. Skins are everywhere in the mpq.

3. You can use WC3 Viewer which can be downloaded in out tool section to convert the .blp to a .tga/.jpg or .bmp which your image editing program supports.

4. not true you can do that in WE Object editor as one of the unit's properties.

5. Yes. Use WC3 Viewer. Its very quick and flexible. Find the base model which uses your skin, go to Current file > remap textures > find the path correctly for the skin > change > find your skin you want > ok.

6. No. You can't draw the boundaries of a weapon in skinning. You can that in modelling. But you can remove weapons by alphaing. PSP and PS are capable of that.

 

[High_Inquisitor]

Okay so follow up questions...

With WC3Veiwer (I already had it to find models that would suit different tasks more up close)and I go look around the TechTree, do I simply find the skin and open? My question is do I need a .mpq convertor (also found on this site) in order to edit the skin file.

In Fireworks you can simply erase parts of an image that will make it transparent instead of white. Would that be the same as alphaing I assume or do I just use the dropper to snatch the color that represents the transparent parts of the rest of the skin?

 

[High_Inquisitor]

Okay bad move using Fireworks. Although it's great for the editing part.... Fireworks is anal retentive about how it saves. It can only save as .png if you open it as a .tga... and I don't know of any .png>.tga converter.

 

[Sopho]

1. If you want to convert .png, get Irfanview. Its free and you can download it our tool section.

2. With WC3 Viewer's tree list view, right click on the skin you want in the mpq and Extract and convert .blp You don't need to convert .mpq. The mpq is like a " bag full of pictures ".

 

[High_Inquisitor]

1. If you want to convert .png, get Irfanview. Its free and you can download it our tool section.

2. With WC3 Viewer's tree list view, right click on the skin you want in the mpq and Extract and convert .blp You don't need to convert .mpq. The mpq is like a " bag full of pictures ".

You just made my life a whole lot easier with Infranveiw......

God because I'm good with Fireworks.... but since it only saves .png half the time I was forced to use programs I have not the slightest clue to work with like GIMP and Ultimate Paint.... so now I get my brush and my warm fuzzy Fireworks layout.... ahhhh...

Beware for now I can SKIN!