2014 HELP: Textures, Pictures. How to make and use them

Textures, Pictures. How to make and use them 

-
How to use textures and pictures in Second Life
-

V3.2 New Snapshot window

Click image to enlarge

Vocabulary

• Picture, image: a file that can be rendered as an image
• Texture:  Geek for picture
• Format:  Coding conventions. Common formats: .jpg, .png, .tga
• Layer:  A layout of the image showing the amount of one color (or something else)  that is present at each point.  
• Alpha layer: A layout showing the level of transparency at each point.
• Alpha channel: Like  the Red, Green, Blue, channels but displays as transparent 
• Targa: .tga format.  Handles the alpha channel.

-

Image processing tools:

• Photoshop: Professional software, professional cost
• The GIMP: Open source software. Free. 
• http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/
• http://gimp-savvy.com/BOOK/
• Grokking the Gimp
• GIMPShop.  Free version of the Gimp designed for Photoshop users.
• Paint.Net (Free)

Texture sources

• Sharecg
• Opengameart.org
• http://www.freetextures.org/
• Render textures
• CG Textures
• John "Solo" Susek
• Mayang's free textures
• La Base de Textures Libres
• Jerusha Hardman's website
• Absolute Background Textures Archive

Image sources:

• Picture taken with almost any digital camera
• Picture from Second Life: Snapshot button
• Basic Camera Controls: See, Zoom, roam, and tag
• Screen capture: Jing
• Image capture with Fraps or other video capture software
• You can remove the User Interface (UI) with Ctrl+Alt+F1
• Gimp-Savvy Archive.  25,000 pictures you can download (free of copyright)
• Burningwell.org 
• Google search, images (check restrictions on use.)

Imagery types offered by Burningwell.org

• Activities
• Animals & Bugs
• Cityscapes
• Landscapes
• Objects
• People
• Plants
• Textures

To use textures in Second Life

• Upload:  Uploading 101, textures, sounds, animations
• Uploading assets
• Clothing and skins Tutorials 
• Use: Create: Make a poster
• Use: Put on a prim to make it look like wood, brick, etc.

Download textures (pictures,graphics) from SL
-

If you have a texture in SL and want to download it to your computer, do this:

• Find the texture in your inventory;
• Double click to display it.
• Click save as button (if you don't see it. you don't have full perms) 
• Follow instructions for saving to your computer.

The downloaded file will probably be in .tga format.  You may want it in a different format.  Or you may want to work with it.  My preference for working with images (textures) is 

The Gimp 

It is free and does about what Photoshop does.  If you are familiar with Photoshop, you will prefer that.  Either program will read a .tga file, let you work with it, and output it in any standard format.

Notes

• Linden Snapshot and Machinima Policy 
• Adjust the sunlight in your world to suit you

Grid created by alpha channel 

to make holes transparent

*****

• For more on these topics, circle Selby Evans in Google+ 
• What do we do in Virtual Worlds? 
• Kitely: low cost virtual worlds
• Search on page with Google Chrome: Ctrl+f, search bar upper right 
• Google search this blog: Search bar, upper left--or:
• Put site:virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com at the end of the search terms 
• What is Second Life?
• Annotated screen shots made with Jing
• Creative Commons License, attribution only. 
• Second Life, Linden, SLurl, and SL are trademarks of Linden Research Inc. 
• This blog is not affiliated with Second Life or anything else. 
• Ads are from Google 
• - 
• Drop by my place in Second Life 
• Location Link. Click to go or drag to the viewer screen: 
• http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cookie/136/100/22
• Feel free to send me an IM, notecard, or friend request. 
• Thinkerer Melville/Selby Evans