Editing Alphas with GIMP?

**Red Harvest** · March 27, 2006, 10:53 AM

How does one go about editing the alpha channel with GIMP? I'm a "reluctant" skinner. Seems pretty simple concept to copy a section of alpha from one skin and past that section onto another...so far GIMP won't cooperate. Is this another thing that has to be done in outside tools and then imported back in?

Anyone have a step by step?

**Alexanderthefantastic** · March 27, 2006, 11:54 AM

I cant even open skins with GIMP! How come?

**tFighterPilot** · March 27, 2006, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by Alexanderthefantastic

I cant even open skins with GIMP! How come?

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=43015

Red Harvest, to make parts of the skin invisible you can simply use the eraser tool.

To view the alpha channel, go to Dialogs\Channels and uncheck red green and blue.

**Red Harvest** · March 27, 2006, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by tFighterPilot

Red Harvest, to make parts of the skin invisible you can simply use the eraser tool.

To view the alpha channel, go to Dialogs\Channels and uncheck red green and blue.

Yes, I already tried unchecking the others and such. I can view it just fine, but I can't seem to copy and paste it. I can copy and paste the RGB but not the alpha.

I'll have to try the manual erase, but I would rather copy and past to get the precise geometry.

**Red Harvest** · March 27, 2006, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by Alexanderthefantastic

I cant even open skins with GIMP! How come?

You have to download a DDS plug in for GIMP. There is a tutorial here by tFighterpilot for one that actually works (early ones I tried did not.) However, I've had a few problems with this particular plug in...for some reason when saving it generates blank mipmaps on my system, so I have had to do that externally using DXTBmp after I finished editing the skin. I don't know why the DDS editor mip mapping works for some.

**tFighterPilot** · March 27, 2006, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by Red Harvest

I don't know why the DDS editor mip mapping works for some.

Interesting sentence there, it should be "I don't know why the DDS editor mip mapping doesn't work for me" but oh well :p

**Red Harvest** · March 27, 2006, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by tFighterPilot

Interesting sentence there, it should be "I don't know why the DDS editor mip mapping doesn't work for me" but oh well :p

No the original wording is correct. I'm an old hand at software and building machines. I've tried uninstalls/reinstalls, various versions of GIMP, and driver updates and checked everything anyone has suggested, but it still doesn't work. However DXTBmp does the same mipmapping task perfectly. That is a dead giveaway that there is a problem with the plug in, not with the user.

I've seen some other comments about problems with the DDS plug-ins by GIMP users so I know I'm not alone.

**Alexanderthefantastic** · March 28, 2006, 04:42 AM

Oh right so I need a plugin... Im going to try and find that now

EDIT: got it now but the computer freezes whenever i try to load a .dds file?

**Burninator** · March 31, 2006, 03:22 PM

Mine works well, in fact i like the Alpha/image interaction better in gimp, it's a direct relation to whats visible and whats not. I delete all mips, save as dds, dxt1 and generate mips, and it works a charm. the only problem is that gimp wont let me paste greyscale into the alpha layer for gloss......

**Red Harvest** · March 31, 2006, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by Burninator

Mine works well, in fact i like the Alpha/image interaction better in gimp, it's a direct relation to whats visible and whats not. I delete all mips, save as dds, dxt1 and generate mips, and it works a charm. the only problem is that gimp wont let me paste greyscale into the alpha layer for gloss......

dxt1? Aren't you supposed to use DXT5?