Primary or Alpha

[Mart1001]

Hi guys...

I'm currently learning to fix the errors in my assets. I've just found an asset where the primary and alpha are different sizes and I remember reading that they both need to be the same size and to the power of 2.

Now I have the two textures open in photoshop and the primary is 128x32 and the alpha 64x32. My question is....which texture should I resize...does it really matter ?
I can't help feeling that the primary is the imprtant one(the one you see in driver) and so should I try to keep this one as it is and resize the alpha ?
I don't even know what the alpha is for and maybe someone could explain ?

I have briefly tried searching the forum but basically, I have been searching most of the day trying to find fixes for different faults and I just don't feel like I have the energy to scroll through another page of threads trying to find the answer to what I feel is a simple question. So hopefully, someone can help me.

Thanks in advance...

Mart.
ps...just incase, the asset in question:-derrick crane 2 <kuid:60238:27160>

 

[nfitzsimmons]

My approach is to resize them both to the larger dimension of the smaller one. In your example here I would resize both to 64x64. But that's just me.

 

[Mart1001]

My approach is to resize them both to the larger dimension of the smaller one. In your example here I would resize both to 64x64. But that's just me.

Right...ok mate that makes alot of sense. I'll just hang on abit though for other opinions before committing to this(I'll continue fixing other assets in the meantime).

Thanks alot for your help.

Mart.

 

[RRSignal]

I recommend resizing the alpha because there typically is less information (read: detail) than in the primary. If you down-res the primary, you are giving up detail.

 

[Shortline2]

Hello,

I would recommend not to change the size of the primary, and definitely not the ratio of it.
If it is 128x32 pixel primary making it into a 64x64 pixel file would distort any of the views in the image file making the view of the item possible strange and distorted.

I would change the alpha texture, making sure that it resizes to the closest color in the setting of the resize to still make sure the alpha is only using two colors and we (the resizer) don't mess up that info that tells if a part is transparent or not.

But, that is only my take on it.

Linda

 

[Mart1001]

Ok guys....thanks alot for your help.

I decided to go with resizing the alpha as my first assumption was that I shouldn't really be changing the rez of the primary as this is what you see in driver.
It worked and the asset looks fine in surveyor. I'll keep nfitzsimmons view in mind though as this might help in the future if resizing only the alpha should have an adverse effect.
Thanks again guys.
------------------
I now have another question that maybe someone reading this thread could advise me on.

I have alot of assets that have 'can't find or load textures'. Now I've fixed a number of these by common problems such as the texture file reading 'bpm' instead of 'tga' or files just missing which I've replaced or files simply in the wrong dir but...
What should I do when there is no apparent reason for this error ?

Example:-farmshed medium wood <kuid2:184151:307:1>
reports:-Error: Texture 'farmshed.texture' is missing or could not be loaded for mesh 'Farmshed Medium Wood.im'.
Now the texture file is present and consist's of:-
Primary=farmshed.tga
Tile=st

The farmshed.tga is present and opens up in photoshop with a resolution of 512x256.

So what is wrong with this asset and the many more I have with the same errors ? How can CM not load a file that is there and doesn't appear to have any problems ?

Any help would be welcomed....thanks everyone.

Mart.

 

[Orloldman]

Here's a link to another thread on this that may shed more light on how the meshes actually use the textures.

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=56626&highlight=power+of+2

Really good feedback. According to the replies I got there, the proportion of the meshes aren't really that important.

Duane

 

[NSWGR_46Class]

Ok guys....thanks alot for your help.

I decided to go with resizing the alpha as my first assumption was that I shouldn't really be changing the rez of the primary as this is what you see in driver.
It worked and the asset looks fine in surveyor. I'll keep nfitzsimmons view in mind though as this might help in the future if resizing only the alpha should have an adverse effect.
Thanks again guys.
------------------
I now have another question that maybe someone reading this thread could advise me on.

I have alot of assets that have 'can't find or load textures'. Now I've fixed a number of these by common problems such as the texture file reading 'bpm' instead of 'tga' or files just missing which I've replaced or files simply in the wrong dir but...
What should I do when there is no apparent reason for this error ?

Example:-farmshed medium wood <kuid2:184151:307:1>
reports:-Error: Texture 'farmshed.texture' is missing or could not be loaded for mesh 'Farmshed Medium Wood.im'.
Now the texture file is present and consist's of:-
Primary=farmshed.tga
Tile=st

The farmshed.tga is present and opens up in photoshop with a resolution of 512x256.

So what is wrong with this asset and the many more I have with the same errors ? How can CM not load a file that is there and doesn't appear to have any problems ?

Any help would be welcomed....thanks everyone.

Mart.

what it means is it has a texture that is not part of the mesh delate that texture and the text file for it and that should fix it.

 

[Mart1001]

what it means is it has a texture that is not part of the mesh delate that texture and the text file for it and that should fix it.

Thanks bearcat...but that didn't seem to help solve the errors much. I've read before about sometimes you need to delete textures as sometimes the author forgets to delete stuff he/she has being using but, of the three I tried, it just created more errors.

I didn't delete anything as I'm more cautious than that...I just dragged the files to my desktop while in small explorer window. The asset I used for my example for instance(farmshed medium wood) doesn't have any textures other than the one that's in error so of course, that didn't help.

I'll keep this in mind though and am sure that this is all some errors will require at some point in the future.

Mart.

 

[Orloldman]

I have alot of assets that have 'can't find or load textures'. Now I've fixed a number of these by common problems such as the texture file reading 'bpm' instead of 'tga' or files just missing which I've replaced or files simply in the wrong dir but...
What should I do when there is no apparent reason for this error ?


Mart.

These errors are often caused by errors in the mesh itself that TS2010 catches that earlier versions of Trainz did not. If all the appropiate files are there, these errors can often be fixed by running the *.IM file through PEV's "PEVSoft PM2IM" utility which will clear the mesh.

Duane

 

[Mart1001]

These errors are often caused by errors in the mesh itself that TS2010 catches that earlier versions of Trainz did not. If all the appropiate files are there, these errors can often be fixed by running the *.IM file through PEV's "PEVSoft PM2IM" utility which will clear the mesh.

Duane

Ah...that worked...brilliant.
I loaded into PM2IM as you said and it said something along the lines of 'loaded to remove textures' or something along those lines and wanred that the mesh will be overwritten etc. So I backed it to my desktop first just incase and clicked convert. Checked for errors, there were none and so commited. Loaded into surveyor and looks as good as new.

Thanks very much Orloldman, I'll now go and try the same on some other assets with simular problems. It feels great when you fix something doesn't it LOL.

Thanks again mate...

Mart.