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| ONLINE GRAPHICS EDITING MANUAL SECTION 3 USING PAINTSHOP PRO |
| THIS SECTION IS ABOUT HOW TO USE PAINTSHOP PRO FOR EDITING GRAPHICS FOR THE C&C SERIES RTS GAME |
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| THIS IS HOW YOU CREATE A SHELL PALET SO YOU CAN APPLY IT TO FUTURE UNITS.........ALL PICTURES THAT YOU USE IN RED ALERT 2 WILL HAVE TO HAVE A PALET APPLIED TO THEM TO MAKE THEM DISPLAY PROPERLY IN THE GAME.....EACH TYPE OF GRAPHIC HAS IT'S OWN PALET.....UNITS,ANIMATIONS,LOAD SCREENS...ETC |
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| SAVE THE PALET AS "SHELL" SINCE YOU WILL BE USING THIS PALET FOR MOST OF YOUR VOXELS AND SHP'S THE PALET ABOVE WAS EXTRACTED FROM A TS UNIT THAT I BROKE DOWN INTO PCX FRAMES FOR RESIZING. |
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| HERE'S HOW YOU RESIZE FRAMES WITHOUT MESSING UP THE PALET COLORS OR DISTORTING THE IMAGE |
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| IF YOU ARE RESIZING TS UNITS FOR RA2 YOU'LL WANT TO RESIZE YOUR PICS BY ABOUT 20~25%.....IN THIS ILLUSTRATION I AM REDUCING THE SIZE BY 50% OF THE ORIGINAL.....SO IF YOU WANT TO INCREASE THE SIZE THE VALUE NEEDS TO BE OVER 100%.....SO A 25% INCREASE IN SIZE WOULD BE 125% OF ORIGINAL SIZE. MAKE SURE TO USE THE PIXEL RESIZE FOR ALL YOUR RESIZES.......THIS WILL KEEP YOUR PALET INTACT AND WONT DISTORT THE IMAGE.....ALL OTHER RESIZES I'VE TRIED MESSES UP THE COLOR DEPTH AND MAKES THE JOB OF RESIZING VOXELS A LOT HARDER THAN IT NEEDS TO BE......MORE ON THIS IN THE RESIZE SECTION |
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| THIS IS HOW YOU APPLY A PALET TO A PICTURE THAT YOU HAVE LYING AROUND THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO INSERT IN RA2....THE PICTURE IN THIS EXAMPLE IS A FUTURE SHP ANIMATED UNIT THAT I AM WORKING ON BASED ON THE VOLKOV FROM THE ORIGINAL RED ALERT WITH A TWIST......THIS ONE HAS A VERRY LONG RANGE SNIPER RIFLE AND A BAD ATTITUDE JUST LIKE THE PERSON IT'S BEING MADE FOR...I'M TRYING TO KEEP THE DETAIL LEVELS AS CLOSE TO THE ORIGINALS AS POSSIBLE.....BUT YOU CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH WITH 256 BIT PALETS AS YOU'LL SEE BELOW. |
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| AS YOU CAN SEE.....THE IMAGE LOST SOME OF IT'S COLOR IN THE RED SPECTRUM BUT THE DETAIL LEVEL IS STILL THERE.......BUT THAT WILL CHANGE TOO AS I SHRINK THIS IMAGE DOWN TO MATCH IT TO RED ALERT2 INFANTRY SIZE.........THIS IS STILL THE BEST GRAPHICS EDITING SOFTWARE I'VE FOUND THAT IS FREE(60 DAY TRIAL)........30 DAYS WITHN NO WARNINGS....ANOTHER 30 TILL IT STOPS FUNCTIONING AND YOU HAVE TO RE-INSTALL. |
| NOTE: I HAVE FOUND THAT THE BEST IMAGE FORMAT TO USE FOR EDITING IS BITMAP. IT IS A GENERAL ALL AROUND GRAPHIC FORMAT THAT IS EDITABLE ON MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS WITH SEVERAL TYPES OF EDITING SOFTWARE. |
| IN SUMMARY: PSP CAN BE USED FOR APPLYING RED ALERT 2 PALETS TO IMAGES WITH MORE COMPLEX PALETS PSP CAN BE USED TO RESIZE TIBERIAN SUN UNITS TO RED ALERT 2 SIZES AND FORMATS. PSP CAN BE USED TO EDIT SHP ANIMATIONS AFTER BEING BROKEN DOWN BY XCC TO PCX FRAMES PSP HAS LOTS OF INTERESTING GRAPHIC AFFECTS THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BE USED FOR RA2 |
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