Post by Creelien on Sept 12, 2019 20:21:21 GMT
Original post by Kittn
This is the tutorial for editing and replacing textures in DMC 3. This is where the most customization/personalization is done and requires practice and patience to get results. This tutorial assumes that you are already familiar with the steps in the Model Swapping Tutorial.
Tools Required
• AFS Explorer
• Python (installed)
• Jamesuminator's Pac Tools
• TM2 Converter (OptPix ImageStudio)
• Compatable Image Editing Software
(Check This Post for download links to the tools you need.)
Step One: Extracting the Textures
Getting familiar with the Pac Tools
1. Install Python and install/extract Jamesuminator's Pac Tools. I suggest giving PacTools its own folder somewhere so that you can copy the game files here that you're going to be working on without endangering the Backup folder. (You know, the one you should of made in the model swapping tutorial.)
2. Copy the model file you want to edit the textures of into the PacTool folder. Simple enough. If you want to play with default Dante's textures, for example, copy pl000.pac from your Backup folder into the PacTool folder so that the program can find it.
3. Unpack the model file you copied over. Using the handy dandy cmd.exe provided in the PacTool folder, unpack the model file. Assuming you're unpacking the default Dante model, you'd type this at the command prompt: pacextract.py pl000.pac
And hit enter. This will create a folder named pl000 in the PacTool folder and places the entire model's contents inside.
4. Locate your textures. This step should be easy enough. Now that you've extracted the model, the textures for that model will be in a subfolder of the directory created above. Default Dante's textures, for instance, are in the pl000_000 subfolder located within the pl000 folder created in the previous step. They are the files with the .tm2 extension.
Step Two: Converting and Modifying the Textures
Here's where your taste and art skill is put to the test.
1. (Recommended) Create a Backup Folder for your textures. Organization is key. You don't want to accidently save over something you'll need later, and this step will save you time in future mods that use these textures - so I strongly suggest you make a separate folder in your Backup folder for textures along with subfolders with proper names to keep them organized - especially if you plan on doing different models.
2. Convert the .tm2 files into something your image editor can open. Open the .tm2 files in ImageStudio and save them in a format your editor can read. For Photoshop, you'd use .psd for example. ImageStudio allows you to save in other formats as well, including .bmp. Pick the format you want to use and save them in the texture backup folder you created. You can change the file name if you want, to help you remember what the texture is.
3. Make a Project folder and copy the textures that you're going to edit into it. This is another optional step, but again, helps keep your files organized. This way you don't have to convert the original textures every time you want to change them, and you can keep track of what you're working on. For example, I name my project folders with something snazzy that I'll call the mod when its finished.
4. Edit the textures with your Image Editing software. I'm not going to go into a spiel about how to use these programs to produce the image you want. Most of them come with handy tutorials and >help menus of their own for your reference, but remember practice makes perfect. Trial and error for the questionable bits will let you know what you're changing if it isn't totally obvious as soon as you open the texture up. I'll only give one hint here: Layers are your friends.
5. Convert the textures back into .tm2 files using ImageStudio. Once you've done your editing, we need to make the textures into something the game can read again. To do this, open the edited texture(s) in OptPix Imagestudio. Then, go to the Image menu and select Color Reduction. On the Alpha tab of the window that pops up, make sure these settings are marked enabled. (checked)
*Reduce color including Alpha value
*Protect completely transparent/opaque area
*Don't diffuse error in rendering Alpha
Then click Color Reduction and Finish. Now your texture should have a palette beside it. Click Save As and save it as a TIM2 (.tm2) file.
Step 2.5: (Optional) Alpha Editing
In case you were interested in making things disappear.
There's no real step by step to provide here, as much as there is a bit of info so you can decide if you want to mess with it or not. First off, you'd have to have an image editor that uses channels. Photoshop does, for example. I'm not sure on GIMP(the free one) since I haven't used it in so long. Anyhow, assuming your editor allows it, you can edit the alpha channel on your texture file. What the alpha channel (AKA Alpha map) does is provide transparency values for the texture. It only works with grayscale according to the following values:
White: Completely Visible
Gray: semi transparent
Black: Invisible
This means any part of the alpha channel that is solid black is going to make the corresponding part of the texture disappear in the game. It's good for making tears and trimming edges, but use with care. And be sure to test thouroghly. Don't want any unwanted holes in places they shouldn't be or missing fingers. I may make a tutorial for Alpha editing in photoshop sometime soon. But for now and for those that don't use PS, feel free to experiment. It's the best way to learn stuff. After all, you did backup your files, right? :3
Step 3: Repacking the model
This is to get the game to load the new texture properly. It's the last step.
1. Repack the model using the Pactool. Child's play at this point. :3 Using the cmd.exe in the Pactool folder, repack the model file using the pacrepack.py command. If you are using default dante from the example, you'd type: pacrepack.py pl000
Once that is done, it'll replace the pl000.pac model file that you moved there in the beginning of the tutorial. And now all you have to do is swap it back into the game using the method you learned in the model swapping tutorial.
This is the tutorial for editing and replacing textures in DMC 3. This is where the most customization/personalization is done and requires practice and patience to get results. This tutorial assumes that you are already familiar with the steps in the Model Swapping Tutorial.
Tools Required
• AFS Explorer
• Python (installed)
• Jamesuminator's Pac Tools
• TM2 Converter (OptPix ImageStudio)
• Compatable Image Editing Software
(Check This Post for download links to the tools you need.)
Step One: Extracting the Textures
Getting familiar with the Pac Tools
1. Install Python and install/extract Jamesuminator's Pac Tools. I suggest giving PacTools its own folder somewhere so that you can copy the game files here that you're going to be working on without endangering the Backup folder. (You know, the one you should of made in the model swapping tutorial.)
2. Copy the model file you want to edit the textures of into the PacTool folder. Simple enough. If you want to play with default Dante's textures, for example, copy pl000.pac from your Backup folder into the PacTool folder so that the program can find it.
3. Unpack the model file you copied over. Using the handy dandy cmd.exe provided in the PacTool folder, unpack the model file. Assuming you're unpacking the default Dante model, you'd type this at the command prompt: pacextract.py pl000.pac
And hit enter. This will create a folder named pl000 in the PacTool folder and places the entire model's contents inside.
4. Locate your textures. This step should be easy enough. Now that you've extracted the model, the textures for that model will be in a subfolder of the directory created above. Default Dante's textures, for instance, are in the pl000_000 subfolder located within the pl000 folder created in the previous step. They are the files with the .tm2 extension.
Step Two: Converting and Modifying the Textures
Here's where your taste and art skill is put to the test.
1. (Recommended) Create a Backup Folder for your textures. Organization is key. You don't want to accidently save over something you'll need later, and this step will save you time in future mods that use these textures - so I strongly suggest you make a separate folder in your Backup folder for textures along with subfolders with proper names to keep them organized - especially if you plan on doing different models.
2. Convert the .tm2 files into something your image editor can open. Open the .tm2 files in ImageStudio and save them in a format your editor can read. For Photoshop, you'd use .psd for example. ImageStudio allows you to save in other formats as well, including .bmp. Pick the format you want to use and save them in the texture backup folder you created. You can change the file name if you want, to help you remember what the texture is.
3. Make a Project folder and copy the textures that you're going to edit into it. This is another optional step, but again, helps keep your files organized. This way you don't have to convert the original textures every time you want to change them, and you can keep track of what you're working on. For example, I name my project folders with something snazzy that I'll call the mod when its finished.
4. Edit the textures with your Image Editing software. I'm not going to go into a spiel about how to use these programs to produce the image you want. Most of them come with handy tutorials and >help menus of their own for your reference, but remember practice makes perfect. Trial and error for the questionable bits will let you know what you're changing if it isn't totally obvious as soon as you open the texture up. I'll only give one hint here: Layers are your friends.
5. Convert the textures back into .tm2 files using ImageStudio. Once you've done your editing, we need to make the textures into something the game can read again. To do this, open the edited texture(s) in OptPix Imagestudio. Then, go to the Image menu and select Color Reduction. On the Alpha tab of the window that pops up, make sure these settings are marked enabled. (checked)
*Reduce color including Alpha value
*Protect completely transparent/opaque area
*Don't diffuse error in rendering Alpha
Then click Color Reduction and Finish. Now your texture should have a palette beside it. Click Save As and save it as a TIM2 (.tm2) file.
Step 2.5: (Optional) Alpha Editing
In case you were interested in making things disappear.
There's no real step by step to provide here, as much as there is a bit of info so you can decide if you want to mess with it or not. First off, you'd have to have an image editor that uses channels. Photoshop does, for example. I'm not sure on GIMP(the free one) since I haven't used it in so long. Anyhow, assuming your editor allows it, you can edit the alpha channel on your texture file. What the alpha channel (AKA Alpha map) does is provide transparency values for the texture. It only works with grayscale according to the following values:
White: Completely Visible
Gray: semi transparent
Black: Invisible
This means any part of the alpha channel that is solid black is going to make the corresponding part of the texture disappear in the game. It's good for making tears and trimming edges, but use with care. And be sure to test thouroghly. Don't want any unwanted holes in places they shouldn't be or missing fingers. I may make a tutorial for Alpha editing in photoshop sometime soon. But for now and for those that don't use PS, feel free to experiment. It's the best way to learn stuff. After all, you did backup your files, right? :3
Step 3: Repacking the model
This is to get the game to load the new texture properly. It's the last step.
1. Repack the model using the Pactool. Child's play at this point. :3 Using the cmd.exe in the Pactool folder, repack the model file using the pacrepack.py command. If you are using default dante from the example, you'd type: pacrepack.py pl000
Once that is done, it'll replace the pl000.pac model file that you moved there in the beginning of the tutorial. And now all you have to do is swap it back into the game using the method you learned in the model swapping tutorial.