Photoshop Pink Mask Help..

[~DJ~]

Hey guys.. Just wanted to know how to pink mask. Yeah, I've read Tack's tutorial and I don't get one bit. Can someone explain for PS CS3?

Thanks in advance!

[Trestkon]

Image -> Mode -> Color Table

That's the one you'll be wanting

[~DJ~]

That I know off..

Which color table should I edit? I tried making the last one pink and it doesn't mask..

EDIT: Looks like tack's down. I remember OTP hosting tack's too, links anyone?

[DDL]

Depending on your editing program, and assuming your image is an 8-bit .pcx file (256 colour), the masked colour will be either the last colour in the colour table, or the first.

For me it's definitely the last, but your milage may vary.


Also, masking is not automatic, and doesn't require you to use the pink colour: the pinkness is irrelevant, you could use blue, red, black or any other colour/shade: it is conventionally used, however, because it's such a fucking awful colour that it's unlikely to be used for any actual TEXTURE, so can safely be assigned to the 'masked' role.

So once you've got that, you must either add "flags=2" to the end of your #exec import line, or select 'masked' when importing into a .utx

(sorry if this is massively patronising )

[Jonas]

Looks like tack's down. I remember OTP hosting tack's too, links anyone?

http://www.offtopicproductions.com/tacks/

[DaveW]

Make sure the area you want to be transparent is transparent when you index the colours (i.e. the checker pattern).

Index the colours. Go to the colour table and change the 256th colour to whatever you want, pink is the "normal".

Import with transparancy/mask enabled.

[~DJ~]

[img=http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/5222/wtfbbqhax.th.jpg]

Still it's the last one, 8-bit and indexed. Yeah, I have masked in unreal-ed too.

HALP

[Jonas]

Cripes.

Your problem here is that you have an image with a fuckton of different pink shades. Only the specific shade in the 256th slot of the pallette will be transparent, and I'd venture an educated guess that most of the pinkness in your image is made up of all those other shades of pink in your pallette. Are you trying to do antialised transparency? If so: you're doing it wrong. Masking in the Unreal Engine 1 is binary: each pixel is either fully visible or fully transparent. If you want something closer to proper alpha-channels, you need to use modulation (pure 128,128,128 grey will be invisible, the brighter or darker from that colour will be increasingly visible) or translucency (black is invisible, white is opague, between that it's an even gradient).

If you are trying to do masking, do not use anti-aliasing when you paint your pink areas. You must only have one (1) transparent colour when you're working with masking.

[EDIT] Here's a demonstration of the difference between modulation and masking, and how the two can be combined to good effect (if I do say so myself): http://rooc.offtopicproductions.com/blo ... y-rigging/

[DDL]

Ooh that reminds me: can I steal that?

[Jonas]

Please do, I love that scope so much I want it in every DX mod from now on

[~DJ~]

Sorry for.. MAJOR REVIVAL!

But yeah, I has problems.. how I got so many 'fuckton of different pink shades' is that when I create a new layer, one's background which is that pure pink/mask color. And when I apply brushes on the NEW layer and add effects.. basically when it get's merged.. they're all messed up.

I was wondering if there's a method/mode in which then I apply the brushes.. so they don't have these weird.. little-pixels with less opacity which then when merged gets a different shade of pink/mask color.. I'm bad at explaining.. but I need some hints for Photoshop CS4 or 5.

Anyone understands this what I just said?

[Jonas]

Don't make it on a pink background. Make it on a background of whatever you want your edge pixels to be - black, for example. Then merge the layers, and only then turn the background pink by selecting the parts you want to be transparent (make sure you use a selection tool with no antialiasing) and filling them with pink.

[DDL]

And remember, it doesn't have to be pink. It could be any colour, so if you happen to be making a texture that is quite pink anyway, use a different colour.

They just generally use that pink because..god: it's fucking HORRIBLE, and thus unlikely to be ever used in an actual texture.

[~DJ~]

Yeah well I still failed, I'll put up a video soon to show what I do exactly, and how it fails.. thanks for the replies though, it somewhat kinda worked but I probably fail too much so.. yeah, just hold on the video, please.. thanks :$

[Darma]

I just did it, it worked so yeah post the video and I could tell you what's wrong