[page=tutorial]
This assumes that you have already got the textures organised & converted to TGA files.
You will need:
The original texture/bitmap;
The GIMP (I used 2.2);
IBboard's Texture tool.
NOTE: If you want to have badges displayed on your texture, then make sure that the surface that you want the badge on is bigger than 64x64 pixels big.
A WTP often consists of tga 'layers.' Basically, they're identified as the texture's title, with an extension added onto it.
For example, a texture name could be Zany_Pie_texture.tga
The base layer, or whatever would be Zany_Pie_texture_default.tga OR Zany_Pie_texture_dirt.tga etc.
Here's an explanation & method of how the layers can be
made:
_Default - this is the base layer. The grey bits that're here are supposed to be team colourable (unless you want to keep them without colour). I back-up the file before I start to modify it, so that I can put the colour bits back in.
First, get this file & convert it to greyscale, then convert it back to RGB. Now, the things that you don't want to be coloured (such as metals) but that already have some colour in them, you copy back from the back-up onto exactly where the grey version is.
Magic wands/selection tools, colour selections wtc. will be what you'll want to use to re-apply the colour things, as well as copy & paste.
Make sure that you add an alpha channel, or it won't work.
_Primary/secondary/trim/weapon/Eyes(trim 2) - These are greyscale tga files which corrospond to the certain colours (guessable) configured in the Army painter. Note that eyes is called Trim 2 in the army painter, as the eyes tga file isn't always used for eyes!
Remember that only the areas that you actually want to be colourable should be in these layers.
This' how I make mine:
Copy your _default tga file & then make X layers (X is the amount of the above layers that you want to use. Primary & Secondary would be 2 layers, for example).
The background should be black.
Black out or cut-out the areas that WON'T be colourable.
Use the lasso tool, or whatever you wish to select the areas you want. Hold down shift if you want to add to your current '1st' selection.
Cut these into whatever layer will be for whatever (such as Primary). Make sure that you don't get 2 parts of a texture in the same place though, or you'll get a messed-up texture!
Keep on at this until your 'base' layer has nothing but the background layer.
If you can match up all the parts in your new layers to fit the original image's colourable areas (though not merging them), then it's probably good.
Save each individual layer as a greyscale TGA file by hiding all the other layers apart from the background layer, which should be black.
_Dirt - This is IMO the most annoying layer to make.
This' how this one works:
The brighter a part of the greyscale bitmap is here, then the less it's coloured in the Army builder.
Basically - white areas are not coloured, whereas black or really dark places are coloured the most.
Copy your default layer again, re-naming it appropriately like with the other layers. Colour the areas that won't be affected by the army painter white.
There're 2 ways of doing this:
1. Darken the image to the point at which you can still see the contrasting areas at a reasonable level in the image, modifying the contrast a little if you want to.
Invert the 'colours' on the bitmap. This however can possibly reduce quality & variety, & won't always match the other layers, especially if there're lots of non-colourable areas in-between colourable places.
I don't really know that much about the consequences though as I don't use this method.
2. Darken the image, like above.
Then use the fill tool (or whatever) to colour all the non-colourable areas white.
Now - any edge-highlights or extreme highlights should be darkened down. I use the path tool (though a line tool would be WAY better) to manually dull out the edge highlights to be the same colour as the 'majority' of the texture (the base colour etc).
Then finish off by manually removing or brightening any other non-colourable areas.
Badge Layers:
These are usually the quickest to make.
NOTE: If you want to have badges displayed on your texture, then make sure that the surface that you want the badge on is bigger than 64x64 pixels big.
This' because a the badge layer is basically a completely 0 0 0 black bitmap of your texture, with a 64x64 white box.
TO do this effectively, as well as knowing where to put the badge, copy your Default layer again, but this time NOT removing anything from the image.
Salect the entire image, & make sure that the background is black. Cut the selection & paste it into a new layer. Set its transparency to whatever suits you, if you want to.
Next, make a new 64x64 white bitmap image. Select all of it, & then copy & paste it onto where you want it to be on the badge layer.
Now, delete the actual texture layer that you cut & pasted into a layer for reference, leaving the white box on your black background.
Now if you think you've finished, then use the texture tool to make a WTP , & select all your tga layers, including the _default layer, & let it compile it.
Note that it might display errors, in which case just correct them.
Common problem:
Sometimes, some WTP files make the parts of the model that use this texture to disappear.
This' because the _default layer is transparent. To fix this, paste on the original default layer (if you backed it up), & then flatten the image in the GIMP.
Now, add an alpha channel & then save it, then re-compile it.
Thanks to:
Relic & THQ - for Dawn of war, & the modding tools.
The Modding community...
The makers of the GIMP, for their EXCELLENT program.
& IBboard - for his texture tool!
