How do I swap channels in a plt?

[Legacy_Grymlorde]

               

Goal

Swap the leather2 and leather1 channels on the buccaneer boots (pmh0_shinr015).

 

What I've done so far:

1. Used NWNexplorer to export the plt.

   
2. Opened up the file in GIMP [I've tried open & open as layers]

   
3. Renamed the leather2 and leather1 layers

   
4. Moved the renamed layers so that leather1 is on top

   
5. Exported the file

   
6. Put the new file into a hak and created a test module.

 

Result

The textures look blurry.

 

What am I doing wrong?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

Does this work?

• use pltedit to open the plt


• menu>tools>replace colors


• replace leather 1 with tatoo 1


• replace leather 2 with leather 1


• replace tatoo 1 with leather 2

It works horribly in win10 for me, but I don't know what you are using. It used to work a lot better, now it has some anti-alias crap on the brush that I can't stop.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Grymlorde]

               

Does this work?

• use pltedit to open the plt


• menu>tools>replace colors


• replace leather 1 with tatoo 1


• replace leather 2 with leather 1


• replace tatoo 1 with leather 2

It works horribly in win10 for me, but I don't know what you are using. It used to work a lot better, now it has some anti-alias crap on the brush that I can't stop.

 

No, I get the exact same result as GIMP. Which is: the channels swap, but the texture loses fidelity. The metal 2 layer also loses fidelity strikes me as odd because I'm not even touching any other layers.

 

On a paranthentical note, the model points to shin009 for the danglymesh. I've tried swapping layers with GIMP and now pltEdit. I've tested with and without the shin009 plt in the hak. No difference whatsoever.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

3. Renamed the leather2 and leather1 layers

4. Moved the renamed layers so that leather1 is on top

I tried what you did, but Leather 2 needs to be above leather 1. That is if your layer list is in this order from bottom to top:

• skin


• hair


• m1


• m2


• c1


• c2


• l1


• l2


• t1


• t2

You said you put leather 1 at the top after you changed their names. I first swapped the position of leather 1 and leather 2, then renamed each to the other. On export, it works perfectly for me in the toolset. I tried this with pfh0_chest060, and was able to swap leather 1 and leather 2.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Grymlorde]

               

 

This is the result I get (original on the right side of the pic) whether I use GIMP or PLTeditor03. The channel swapping certainly occurs but the fidelity is lost. FYI, GIMP uses the reverse order of what you recommend. I tried reversing the order and it was a mess.

 

Any other suggestions? I sure do appreciate the help so far!

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

 

This is the result I get (original on the right side of the pic) whether I use GIMP or PLTeditor03. The channel swapping certainly occurs but the fidelity is lost. FYI, GIMP uses the reverse order of what you recommend. I tried reversing the order and it was a mess.

 

Any other suggestions? I sure do appreciate the help so far!

I had already reversed the order, in saying that it was from bottom to top.


When you save the image, are you using the save option, or actually "export' as PLT?

 

Also, when you open the file, do you use open or open as layers?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Grymlorde]

               

I had already reversed the order, in saying that it was from bottom to top.


When you save the image, are you using the save option, or actually "export' as PLT?

 

When I try it In GIMP, I export as PLT. Whereas when I try it with PLTeditor I 'save as' in a new directory.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

So if you view the two varieties in Nwexplorer? are they different size? Or same size with different quality. Because it seems like your size is the primary issue.

 

The one I picked to try out was 512x512, imported as such, and is the same size in nwexplorer after I export a _b copy

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Grymlorde]

               

For the bicep, the source is:

 

NWN Main Data \ data\textures_02.bif \ Textures, PLT \ pmho_bicepr004 

 

According to GIMP, both the source and the copy are 1.0kB 16x32 Grayscale-alpha, 10 layers

 

(I've got 1,275 haks in my hak folder, so I can't view haks directly in nwexplorer)

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Frush O'Suggill]

               

It sounds like your using the low res versions from NWN Main Data instead of the higher res plt's in NWN Tesxture Packs. 16x32 is pretty small

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

So what you are doing is using the small (possibly smallest?) image copy of one of three. When in the texture packs, the pack chosen is the one you tell it to be chosen in the graphics menu in-game. Once you put it in override, you have basically told it to ignore the texture pack for that file name, and then you use your own copy. You need to work with the largest image instead, so if you want to use that one, check out the other two texture packs in the same directory for the larger one, export that, and then do the switch.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Grymlorde]

               

OK, I found the high(est) resolution textures in NWN Texture Packs \ Textures_Tpa and solved the process problem. Thanks!

 

For the record, using PLTeditor to replace leather and tatoo textures worked perfectly with the high res plts.

 

However, I cannot find high res plts of shin015 which was what prompted this thread. But since this process issue is resolved, I'll create a new NWNexporer thread.

 

Thanks MD!