TGA and transparent backgrounds

Hi everyone. I am new to these forums and have come up against a barrier in a mod that i am making for an old game (Wizardry 8) which uses tga graphic files for all its textures.
I don't seem to be able to make a file with both opaque and transparent texture in it.
Example would be a leaded window where i would like the window part fully opaque (i say leaded but actually it would be gold)
I know this is something to do with masks and the Alpha channel but i have not figured it out.
When i blank out the window part then the other colours in the image become semi-transparent and if i don't i get black window that i cannot see through.

Could someone tell me or point me to a thread that explains how you get a transparent background while pr0tecting the rest of the image from any kind of transparency ?

PS. I am using PSP 5, but also have Adobe photoshop

As far as I am aware, tga files do not support transparency.

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what sort of workaround you will have to perform.

They certainly do support transparency or they could not exist in the game i am editing which they do.

Hi welcome to TG

tga can have alpha channel [transparency] - photoshop supports this - not sure about psp5

if you post up an example to explain what you mean it might help :)

Humble apologies!

Ok try this.

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/4...eegreenou4.jpg

This is a tree that in the game there is no black background of course and the the tree part is entirely protected from any transparency and is completely opaque.

When you load the mask from the alpha channel in psp 5 the tree shows as black on a white background.
I tried working backwards by deleting the mask and then creating another one to re-produce the masked image, but i am missing something because it just does not work.
I either get the black background or no background with a semi-transparent tree which is no good to me.
This is ipg image was originally a tga file that i altered for imageshack.

I will be happy to know how to do this using any image editor.

Never worked with TGA myself. Had a quick Google and found referrence to saving TGA without Alpha using layers.

Quote:

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I started out with PS7 on my current PC, and apparently that version had a feature where you didn't have to create alpha channels in order to save a targa with transparency - you just created your image, adjusted the transparency of the applicable layers, and saved it as a 32-bit targa.

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It didn't go on though.

Maybe a clue?

A tutorial about using Masks in PSP 5 is at
http://www.mardiweb.com/web/masks5/masks501.htm
Page two of the tutorial shows using a black and white mask to make the black background of a rose image transparent.

The mask you mentioned where the tree is black on a white background. I think that if you reverse (make a negative) of that mask you may have what you need.

here is a 32bit tga of your tree ithas a transparent background - it was created in toon boom

when you open it in photoshop and look at channels you will see that the alpha channel is there

this confirms that you can get the tga to have alpha channel - still working on how to do it in photoshop - think I would be happier with gimp

ok progress - screen shot from gimp - rough and ready as I only removed black rather than spend time making a mask - but gimp will open and save 32bit alpha tga without turning a hair

I think it must have been gimp I was thinking of in the first place [keith - I too make mistakes :p] - gimp is free - if you want to go that way let me know :)

Steve,

E3 does TGA format. I was able to read and write a transparent file.

Rich

Hey thanks everyone. I did not expect so much effort to answer the question.
I will take a look at gimp.
The only other freebie i know of that is quite powerfull is paint.net

If i ever get to create my leaded window i will post a game screenshot.

never knew that Rich - thanks

Dodd - I've been looking at photoshop - it appears that although it supports 32bit tga - it doesn't show transparent like png - but black :rolleyes:

http://www.photography-forums.com/t7...le-format.html

might help

I would use gimp, myself I think

good luck :)

Steve,

I believe Painter is simailr. You need to use the channel to make a selection. Rich

yes painter is similar and it doesnt do png format or transparent tif - have to use psd to import/export on layers - the bottom layer [canvas] can never have transparency in painter - and unlike photoshop background layer it cannot be deleted.

I try to steer clear of the channel selection stuff myself where I can as it always seems the long way round for what want to do - so I'm rusty :o

perhaps it is easier to ask.

If you wanted to make a leaded window where the leading is completely opaque and the glass in between the leading is transparent, How would YOU do it.
I am assuming that alpha channel masking is the only way.
Is there another ?

do you mean that the glass is 100% transparent - ie nothing there, or partially - and which program? :)

Well since glass is never 100% transparent i mean partially enough to see that there is glass there, but yes to totally opaque leading.


As for which program...any that will acomplish the task.

what i have

psp5
psp7
paint.net
adobe photoshop 10
gimp (just downloaded)

Well yes to simplify things the glass would be totally transparent since i can always use the game editor to make the glass as a seperate object and then put the leading over it as another object until i know enough to do it all in one tga file.


As for which program...any that will acomplish the task.

what i have

psp5
psp7
paint.net
adobe photoshop 10
gimp (just downloaded)

if any program fisrt choice vector or bitmap [raster - pixel]

my choice would be vector and xara xtreme - but you could use inkscape which is free and the vector partner of gimp

if you go bitmap gimp is a good choice

heres a stylised example of what you can do in a vector program - this is just done with a shape and very basic - you can of course draw it

and in gimp draw window on transparent background and fill with semi transparent white

if you are working the other way round and want to remove an area - post it, up and we can take a look at what needs to be done

in both these examples the 'window shape' is on a layer above the shell pic

Photoshop supports tga files with true transparency in place of alpha channel. http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.ef999eb

You can download a tga plug-in that supports alpha channel.

Here is something toplay with. It's very simple. Just save it as a tga file and see what you can do.

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/6251/leadingdm3.jpg

Is this a challenge or are you asking for someone to do the work for you?

Neither. I have cracked it myself with a few prompts from you guys.

It would seem that i did everything right except saving the image with the Alpha channel in it.

Anyway here is the result.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/7...dwindowee5.jpg

The leading is not small enough for the final result, but at least i know how to do it now.

I created the alpha channel mask with psp7, but re-saved the image after opening it with adobe photoshop.
When using the "save as" option in adobe you are given the option to tick an alpha channel box which in psp you are not.
This was the difference that made the whole thing work.

Thanks for all the responses.

A window tile.

Rich

glad you got it to work :)

nice window tile Rich :)