• 🏆 Texturing Contest #33 is OPEN! Contestants must re-texture a SD unit model found in-game (Warcraft 3 Classic), recreating the unit into a peaceful NPC version. 🔗Click here to enter!
  • It's time for the first HD Modeling Contest of 2024. Join the theme discussion for Hive's HD Modeling Contest #6! Click here to post your idea!

[Skin Help] How do I preserve teamcolor/transparency?

Status
Not open for further replies.
- I have the archer skin file extracted in .blp format
- I changed it to TGA via blp lap software
- Now I add some drawn markings to it by using photoshop and save it
- When I reconvert it to .blp the team color/transparent parts are made black and on the ingame model they also are included with the model's mesh.
- How do I fix this?

P.S: I'm a noob to skinning models, so bear with me.

I'll give reputation and credits.
 
Level 6
Joined
Jan 3, 2020
Messages
65
You should not use Photoshop anymore to import or export your images in TGA. Since Photoshop CC, the alpha channel is no longer saved in TGA. Maybe there are some scripts to fix that and export in TGA with alpha channel, but I never found one myself, so I'm just saving the image in PSD or PNG, open it with Gimp to properly save the image in TGA. Gimp saves in TGA with the alpha channel.

The alpha channel stores the transparency datas of the image.
Unlike an image in PNG for example, the TGA format stores the transparency values of the pixels in a separate channel (using a fusion mask on your layers is the usual way to affect the alpha channel of your image). But that's an option, and you can save in TGA without the alpha channel. And as I said, Photoshop doesn't give you the option anymore : no alpha channel with TGA. (the alpha channel is merged, and pixels who should be 100% transparent turns opaque white)
When converting your TGA to BLP, software like Warcraft 3 Viewer warns you that your TGA doesn't have any alpha channel and will add one for you. But it'll be an alpha channel 100% white (white = opaque), so no transparency.

- If you want to export an already existing texture like in your case, open the TGA directly in Gimp, and either do your things in Gimp, or export it in PSD (Gimp can do that perfectly), open the PSD in Photoshop, save it in PSD, open it in Gimp, and export it in TGA.


But it doesn't explain why you have an issue with your teamcolor. In War3, the teamcolor consists of a separate material using a ReplaceableTexture. Where the teamcolor is displayed on a model is not stored in your "real" textures. So either you're just confused with the render of your texture because your TGA has no alpha alpha, or you have two separate issues.

I can illustrate my explanation with images if you want.
 
Level 6
Joined
Jan 3, 2020
Messages
65
Any software/tool converting BLP <> TGA will save the alpha channels automatically. I personally use Warcraft 3 Viewer for that, but the BlpConv provided with Retera Model Studio or any other converter will do the job.
Then you open the TGA with Gimp and work from there. Just don't import or export a TGA with Photoshop CC.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top