mask problem

Community Forums/Developer Stations/mask problem

Who was John Galt? (Posted 2003) [#1]

I am trying to create a fence by using a black and white jpeg as a mask on a plane where the white parts represents the metal fence. If i understand correctly, blitz has to have r=0,b=0,g=0 ie totally black to be transparent. The problem is that i'm using photoshop to produce the black and white jpeg by using the multi-layer function. When i merge the layers together, photoshop seems to "blurr" the white parts with the black parts to create smooth blend. This means i have no control over what area i want "totally" black therefore i end up getting a very messy fence. Can anyone help?

Rob Farley (Posted 2003) [#2]

1. I wouldn't use a jpg as it's going to leave artifacts all over the place and spoil it, use a png. 2. 2D or 3D? 3. If 2D then you don't need to use black, use the maskcolor command and use something really obvious like magenta then it will be easy to see what's transparant and what isn't. 4. If 3D then use an alpha mask, this way you can have your smooth blend so the black bits are 100% transparant and greys are x% transparant, this way you'll end up with a nice smooth effect. You'll have to save your texture as a PNG or TGA with the alpha channel, then load it into blitz using the alpha flag. Basically your problem is what you're doing in photoshop though, nothing to do with blitz per se, and I'm no expert in photoshop so I can't help you there... Sorry.

Snarty (Posted 2003) [#3]

Rule 1: Dont use Jpg's for precision pixel definitions, Bmp's will do, or Png's if you need to save space. You could even use Mono if you only want two colours with either of the previously mentioned file formats. Also, you could try using the demo version of ProPixel to create the fence, that saves bmp's.

Who was John Galt? (Posted 2003) [#4]

thanks guys, will try tonight

ChrML (Posted 2003) [#5]

Definitly use tga's (my favourite), png, or bmp.