Is there any way to make "stuff" invisible?

For example, if I use the rodian model, and want to gewt rid of the big ears, is there any way to make them invisible?
I can't disable them in the surf-file, since they are the same unit as the head.

Is there any shader which does this? Or a special color?

You can use alpha channels to remove parts of a model, using photoshop, you create a layer that is painted black on the area you want to remove. You save it to .TGA when you are done so the channel is still preserved.

If you have the wookie player model by major clod, you can take a look at how the fur was created by opening the tga files.

thats the easiest way to do it i think.

Wookie model by Major Clod (http://www.jk2files.com/file.info?ID=3349)

Thanks a lot!


I have photoshop, but I'm a real newbie at it!
But I'll give it a try!

uhm, that is not removing parts of a model......that's removing parts of a skin. :) certain parts can be turned off and on using your skin files. for example, turn torso_shoulderpad off by finding the reference to it in the skin and then immediately after the comma with no spaces type *off.

i doubt that would work for the ears unless there is a direct reference to the image used to skin the ears specifically in the .skin file.

i see how making the part transparent would work in theory, but i do not understand using an alpha channel, as alpha channels are not completely transparent. they only allow for color change through existing textures.

but it should be able to work through true transparencies, just make sure you save your work in a file format that will support transparent parts of an image. (such as .gif, .png, etc)

however this also opens the problem that this model was designed to have ears and if you make transparent the skin covering it, then you will have two large holes in the side of your head. unless you can figure out how to manipulate the other parts of the skin to cover the hole left. wait, that's not an option, because the part is still there, just transparent.

I think he's talking about the part of the ears where they stick out from the body. An alpha channel/shader job should do the trick.

i knew what he meant. but if the ears were modeled as a part of the head, and not stuck on as another part of the model, then you will have holes in the head.

as far as an alpha channel, i am unsure as to how you think making something semi-transparent will make it invisible, unless the shaders(which i know nothing about....other than the fact that they are used for lighting and shadow effects) are doing the work.

i might have believed that would work until getting the correct plugin for Photoshop, and realizing that the parts being read as transparent before were not transparent areas, but merely masked areas to marked allow for semi-transparency while retaining textures. if i'm missing something fill me in.

Ok, this works bad:(.

Shaders doesn't work, since the ears are the same unit as the head, but I've tried this thing with alpha channels, but I don't get it to work.

Can someone please tell me (the official photoshop newbie) how to do this? I have tried a lot, but I must be doing something very wrong.

if the ears are part of the head, then making them transparent would leave holes in the head(if they are not just modeled separately and stuck on after the modeling of the head that is). if that doesn't bither you, then i suggest using a file format that supports full transparencies. alpha channels do not make things fully transparent, as they are semi-transparent. they allow textures to remain but enough transparency for color changes etc. i really do not remember an entire list of file formats that support transparency, but the easiest way to find out is to create a new file the exact same size as the skin file you are working with but with a transparent baqckground. then select everything you want to show up and paste it onto the new image you just created. a hole where the ears were should show up allowing the transparent bg to show through. then save it in different formats an re-open it. if the file format you saved under supports transparencies, the checkered background of transparency will show through. otherwise it will be flattened, and the checkered transparency bg will be converted to a white space. to start with save it as a .gif, as i know they support full transparency. .tga might, and as .png's support semi-transparency through alpha channels it may support full transparency as well. but be warned that the only time i have tried this, the area showed up in modview as white, though the image was transparent in photoshop and every other image editing program i had i.e. fireworks.

so to sum this all up, use full transparencies, as alpha channels don't remove textures. this is achieved through layers and not through channels. in theory this SHOULD work. but i am not sure if it will create the desired effect, as i am not sure that the rodians ears are not part of the head. if they were modeled separately and then attached to the head after the head was completed it should work fine. but if they are a part of the head model, then chances are making them invisible will leave holes in the head.

but as rodians have big ears, might i suggest just using a character that doesn't. if the big ears bother you that much, don't use the rodian. :)

Actually I'm using the reelo model... And I ain't gonna take away the wole ears, just some parts of 'em.


EDIT: Now it works!!! I made the ears transparent, and then, voila! Everything works fine!

alright, way to go! what did you do to fix it? did you make them completely transparent? if so, and everything worked okay with no gaping holes in the head, then i will assume they were a flat two sided surface added to the head after the head was modeled.

anyway, let me know how you managed to get it to work. (and i wasn't trying to be an @ss earlier, i was just messing around.)

Originally posted by eidospsogos
But the easiest way to find out is to create a new file the exact same size as the skin file you are working with but with a transparent baqckground. then select everything you want to show up and paste it onto the new image you just created.
^
|
|
I did that, and then saved it as targa:D. There is a small hole in the head, but it's very small, so I don't bother to do anything about it.