Redirecting you to the new site. Please update your bookmarks.
If you aren't redirected, click here.
Alpha Protection
Many people don't like to include modify permissions on their merchandise to protect themselves against theft, however, there is a way to protect your sculpties from theft and STILL include modify permissions.
The easiest way to steal an object's sculpt map is the screenshot method. The thief opens up the edit window, clicks on the sculpt map, and then takes a screenshot. He's then free to crop the sculpt map from the screenshot and re-upload it into Second Life.
However, there's a cure.
I've learned (through a fairly reliable source) that CopyBot also has trouble with with alpha'd sculptie maps. CopyBot will save the map, but saves it as a JPEG file with an alpha channel. Even Photoshop has trouble reading the alpha channel on these JPEG images, so the format gives potential thieves a difficult time.
Not that I expect this to be the case forever.
*
We need a way to make the image appear transparent while still retaining the RGB values of the pixels.
This is done with Alpha Channels, but each file format and application does this differently.
The Theory
Any builders will probably be familiar with Alpha Channels in Second Life. If you've ever seen a wall texture or something that had a window cut out of the middle, this is done with an Alpha Channel. Second Life textures can use alpha channels to add transparency to an image - but the transparent parts can still retain their RGB values! So in theory, you can create a completely transparent sculpt map that still has the RBG data necessary to form your sculptie.
Only in theory?
Well ... it really depends on your image editing software and the file format you choose to save in. In my experience, the full version of Photoshop is the only application that I've found that can do EXACTLY this. Other applications can get close enough, though.
*
Please select the guide for your image editing software to continue.
If you don't have any of the applications listed, choose any, read through it, and then read your applications documentation to try to reproduce the desired results. If you're successful, please email me a guide.
Application-Specific Guides
After trying to help my sister reproduce alpha channeling and mirroring in both Paint Shop Pro and Gimp, I've come to the conclusion that every image editor does this so differently that I need to create a guide for each one.
If your application isn't listed here, choose any guide and read through it to get the general gist of things, then refer to your software's documentation. If you're successful in reproducing the effect, please email me a guide. Be sure to include full-screen snapshots of the process.
The Guides
Photoshop
Photoshop Elements
Paint Shop Pro
The GIMP
*
