How do I make a texture wholly invisible?

**Geleco** · February 05, 2014, 10:16 AM

I am editing a skin file that includes armor (James' skin) in order to make the armor and clothing completely transparent so I can use whatever armor variantmesh I want instead of the built-in armor.

However, I don't know how to make the specific armor and vest textures invisible. I tried erasing the alpha channel of the diffuse.dds files and painting them black. I don't know exactly if that is what I am supposed to do though. Does anyone who knows about .DDS files know how to invisibilify textures?

This is exactly what I did...

I erased the alpha channel for the texture (and mipmaps) for James' armor skin BUT there is this sort of clothes thing left behind afterwards. I tried to erase the vest texture but that apparently is not what causes this.

Picture of the leftover stuff that should be transparent:

http://i.imgur.com/bEkk0IL.jpg

**Geleco** · February 05, 2014, 11:59 AM

Also this appears to be related to uniform colors, as when I retire him to being a statesman this buggy leftover texture becomes white like other generals' cloaks, etc.

http://i.imgur.com/e047DUj.jpg

**HunterWolf** · February 05, 2014, 12:32 PM

Also there is diffuse channel, there are still: decal, dirt, gloss, normal, specular channels

**Geleco** · February 05, 2014, 12:36 PM

So what do I need to remove to get rid of this extra thing? I could only find 4 .dds in Models_Rome2.pack, the armour gloss, normal, specular, and diffuse. Also the rigid model does not mention anything besides those 4, nothing about decals or dirt.

**HunterWolf** · February 05, 2014, 12:51 PM

Texture decal, dirt plotted with masks. And I do not understand why you need to delete all the textures, without textures model is completely invisible, she as though missing, just a model without textures you can not see

**Geleco** · February 05, 2014, 01:09 PM

I am just trying to make the textures invisible not delete them. I successfully did it with the armor but only for the top part and not the kilt or the upper body sleeves and shoulders area that will not go away for some reason.

**HunterWolf** · February 05, 2014, 01:36 PM

possibly it is another model and other textures

**BullGod** · February 05, 2014, 03:04 PM

Paint alpha channel black in diffuse texture only. Black in alpha channel will make this part invisible. Save it as DXT5 with minimaps.
Do not remove alpha channel. If diffuse texture doesn't have alpha channel and you need it invisible - add it.

Also, you simply must make sure that you've found all textures for certain armour - arms, or other parts might use another texture file. In this case it might be some kind of tunic. In Assembly kit I've seen some of those were not fully made, as if intended to be used with/under armor.

**Geleco** · February 05, 2014, 05:42 PM

Originally Posted by BullGod

Also, you simply must make sure that you've found all textures for certain armour - arms, or other parts might use another texture file. In this case it might be some kind of tunic. In Assembly kit I've seen some of those were not fully made, as if intended to be used with/under armor.

So are you saying that this leftover texture can possibly be located somewhere other than the .dds files found in the Models_Rome2.pack? Would this extra file be located in the variant model by a hex editor?

I already tried making the tunic texture invisible and that did nothing. So I either did it wrong or that has nothing to do with the texture in question. The only other textures are teeth, eyes, head, body (possibly the troublemaker but I had issues making it transparent), eyelashes, sandals.

Also, 2 questions about painting the alpha channel 'black' with GIMP:

1. When I select only the Alpha channel and paint it 'black' it appears as white. So the full texture just looks the same as before but with white where the transparency was. What am I doing wrong there?

2. Is making the diffuse.dds transparent going to be the only thing I have to do to make the whole texture invisible? Or will I have to edit other .dds files for that same texture?

**BullGod** · February 05, 2014, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by Geleco

So are you saying that this leftover texture can possibly be located somewhere other than the .dds files found in the Models_Rome2.pack? Would this extra file be located in the variant model by a hex editor?

I already tried making the tunic texture invisible and that did nothing. So I either did it wrong or that has nothing to do with the texture in question. The only other textures are teeth, eyes, head, body (possibly the troublemaker but I had issues making it transparent), eyelashes, sandals.

Also, 2 questions about painting the alpha channel 'black' with GIMP:

1. When I select only the Alpha channel and paint it 'black' it appears as white. So the full texture just looks the same as before but with white where the transparency was. What am I doing wrong there?

2. Is making the diffuse.dds transparent going to be the only thing I have to do to make the whole texture invisible? Or will I have to edit other .dds files for that same texture?

I was just saying that f.ex cuirass texture and tunic texture might be in two different files. I don't know anything about that particular model though.
But yes, hex editor should tell you all about textures used by that model. But isn't it composed of more than one mesh by any chance?

1. I don't know GIMP, I use PS, so I can't help you there. Masking color is black - white makes texture visible - just make sure alpha channel is black (to be exact, color values must be 0 for texture to be fully transparent).

2. You don't need to touch other textures - alpha channel serves different purposes there.

**Geleco** · February 05, 2014, 06:30 PM

OK, I will try it with Photoshop and see what happens. If that doesn't remove the leftover texture I will look through the variantmodel and see if I can find any kind of reference to some other sort of texture.

And yes, the armor and tunic are two different sets of .dds files.

Also, it is only one variant model located at \variantmeshes\_variantmodels\man\skin\james\xxxxxxxxx (whatever the name is). His armor and vest are part of the model since he is unique. I just want to remove everything but his head, arms and legs so I can use whatever armor I want.

EDIT: The only thing out of place that I can find in the variantmodel file is this:

http://i.imgur.com/n9foxrD.png

".../test_mask.dds"

No idea what that is.

**BullGod** · February 05, 2014, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by Geleco

EDIT: The only thing out of place that I can find in the variantmodel file is this:

http://i.imgur.com/n9foxrD.png

".../test_mask.dds"

No idea what that is.

Don't bother yourself with it. Probably some skin overlay or whatever. Also probably not used, as it is "test"

I'm not sure you really need to use PS, especially if it's a problem. I just don't know how exactly do this in GIMP, so I can't tell you precisely, but if you have white Alpha channel, then you can always invert the color.

I've looked at the model and textures. You should probably edit alpha ch. in those two:

james_armour_diffuse.dds
james_tunic_vest_diffuse.dds

It should do.

**Geleco** · February 05, 2014, 08:04 PM

That's exactly what I did and it still leaves that leftover thing behind. I don't know what else I need to edit.

**BullGod** · February 06, 2014, 04:48 AM

If that's true than I don't know how to help you. Basically it works like I said and it doesn't matter if there is some overlay texture, like dirt, or something else, as making diffuse masked should prevent from drawing anything else in masked area.