[Tutorial] Making a Poster Overlay

[XFunc_CaRteR]

I've never had a problem saving it as a compressed tga.

Go here: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/TF2/Modifying_the_Mission_Briefing

Read Point 2 under "Making a TGA Image".

If the author of that wiki is wrong, maybe you should contact Valve and tell them they are wrong.

 

[Angry_Ed]

Not sure if this can be answered, but I'm having another problem with my overlays. I've done everything according to the tutorial (albeit using Photoshop) and yet for some reason I'm getting a thin white border around the edges of my overlay for no discernible reason. The line seems to be only a pixel wide so it's even more confusing. I did double-check and the image size was set at 512x512, and if it hadn't I wouldn't have been able to run it through vtex anyway from what I understand. I've gone back and tried, repeatedly, to use alpha channels to make sure everything that isn't the poster will be rendered transparent, yet this border continues to persist. Below is an image showing what I mean, if anybody knows what might be causing this, I would appreciate the assistance.

(to make it easier to see I've circled/boxed in the artifacts in question)
EDIT: Direct link to image is here for those who are having trouble seeing it

 

[Spammish]

I can't see the image, you could always just import it to photoshop and crop the border off.

 

[Angry_Ed]

I could but the border doesn't seem to show up on the VTF when I import it to Photoshop. As near as I can tell the only time the artifacts show up is in Hammer and in TF2.

 

[Gundam]

Thanks nineaxis! After reading your tutorial I feel like a custom texture pro!

Here's my first (shitty) attempt.

 

[Spammish]

Train looks excellent and bottom text looks good but I would suggest changing the top font to suit better. And Angry Ed, have you tried opening the original image somewhere with a background that isn't white to see if you can see it there?

 

[Angry_Ed]

Opening it up in Photoshop and giving it a black background behind the image shows nothing out of the ordinary. I also tried removing the white background parts in the VTF itself, leaving it transparent where the alpha channel should be taking care of it anyway, and it still produces the same inexplicable result. I'm starting to wonder if it's just photoshop that's the problem and I should try doing it through GIMP instead.

EDIT: Alternatively, by messing with the U and V settings in the overlay properties I can crop out the offending lines, but this is not the best method for fixing this in my opinion simply because it will lead to there being one side of the poster just slightly more cut off than the other. Not that anybody would be able to easily tell.

EDIT EDIT: Also I tried doing this through GIMP and got the same exact problem. I am officially perplexed.

 

[DataTraveler]

Great tutorial helped me a lot. But I have one problem. Why my posters have white color? how to remove it?

 

[Angry_Ed]

It seems you forgot to have an alpha channel on your source image. Did you make sure you had a transparent background and then saved the .tga in 32 bit (if applicable)?

 

[DayShadow94]

this helped so much with my friends map, i'm just the texture guy

 

[Ginger]

My first 45 mins mock up, still having troubles getting it ingame, even with lotsa help from ZPQ

 

[patonki]

hello
I made one poster before I saw this thread

I was told this doesn't fit TF2!
So then I made one following these instructions

It was looking great in hammer

but after a compile problems arose

My god there is a white line there! Thats not in the texture!
How would I go on about deleting this!?

 

[Spooks]

Hey! I think I might've got it. It may have to do with the fact that Hammer tiles overlays like this (increased the V End property here):

So if that's the cause, making sure all the edges of your overlays are transparent (deleting pixels by as little as what, 5px? 1px?) could be a permanent solution. Give it a try!

 

[patonki]

It is working now!

So you could try that, guy who posted a page ago. Chop a couple of pixels from the edges.

 

[Boylee]

Or select the 'Clamp S' & 'Clamp T' options when creating the vtf file. These options lock the horizontal and vertical coordinates to stop parts of the texture 'spilling' from top to bottom or vice versa.

 

[Confidence Man]

So I'm having some trouble here, I'm trying to make a simple white text overlay like the Gray Gravel signs, but all I get in hammer is a pink checkerboard 64x64 opaque texture.

In GIMP, I create a 512x512 transparent background, then add the text, save as tga, and convert to vtf. Does a sign like this need a different vmt than the one posted in the tutorial?

I can find my texture in hammer but like I said it's just a little checkerboard.

 

[XFunc_CaRteR]

So I'm having some trouble here, I'm trying to make a simple white text overlay like the Gray Gravel signs, but all I get in hammer is a pink checkerboard 64x64 opaque texture.

In GIMP, I create a 512x512 transparent background, then add the text, save as tga, and convert to vtf. Does a sign like this need a different vmt than the one posted in the tutorial?

I can find my texture in hammer but like I said it's just a little checkerboard.

Each vtf has its own .vmt file. Inside the vmt it needs to point to the right location for the vtf.

 

[Godslayer57]

So I'm having some trouble here, I'm trying to make a simple white text overlay like the Gray Gravel signs, but all I get in hammer is a pink checkerboard 64x64 opaque texture.

In GIMP, I create a 512x512 transparent background, then add the text, save as tga, and convert to vtf. Does a sign like this need a different vmt than the one posted in the tutorial?

I can find my texture in hammer but like I said it's just a little checkerboard.

Lets get this for an example :

"LightmappedGeneric"
{
"$basetexture" "signs/yourtexture"
"$decal" 1
"$decalscale" 0.25
"$translucent" 1
"%keywords" "tf"
}


Whats highlighted in red is what you change to the files name eg sign and the folder eg signs

 

[Ginger]

Lets get this for an example :

"LightmappedGeneric"
{
"$basetexture" "signs/yourtexture"
"$decal" 1
"$decalscale" 0.25
"$translucent" 1
"%keywords" "tf"
}


Whats highlihted in red is what you change to the files name eg sign.

"LightmappedGeneric"
{
"$basetexture" "Foldername/yourtexture"
"$decal" 1
"$decalscale" 0.25
"$translucent" 1
"%keywords" "tf"
}
I made a different folder to the tutorial, and sat for hours wondering why i couldn't see it, my mind just passed it completely

 

[Confidence Man]

Yeah, that was it, I wasn't changing the "yourtexture" to my texture name.