Creating Lara Outfits

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Now click the mesh text window until its drop-down menu goes back up, leaving the text with a blue background. You can now use the up and down arrows on your keyboard to scroll through the objects and see them at the same time in the window. You'll find all of her weapons as well as a lot of things that aren't readily discernable. For example, scroll to Mesh#105 and tell me what the object in the window is. Go ahead and rotate it and look at it closer. Use the Zoom in feature if that will help, or look at it in a wireframe mode. Any idea yet about what it is? Okay, turn to your "List_of_Meshes" section. Look up Mesh#105 and you'll see that you're looking at a shotgun shell.

Now let's learn how to change the mapping of a texture to a tile. With the shotgun shell still in your window, make sure that you are in a "Textured" mode. In the left window scroll down to Texture #222 and select it. This texture corresponds to my texture "222" as found on the second page of our Bitmaps. Looking in the "Master_Key" section I can quickly see that it is used to texture an area on Lara's "lower back." For now we'll use this as a texture for our shotgun shell as well.

With Texture#222 selected in the left window, click on any area of the shotgun shell. You change whichever tile you've click on to contain this texture. If you want to accurately select a tile to texture on the mesh you can also change textures in the "Wireframe" mode. Right now go ahead and have fun rotating and texturing the shotgun shell. When you've finished with it, go ahead and take some time out to alter some of the other objects. Get used to the program a bit. Whatever you do, DO NOT save anything!

Return Here When You're Finished Experimenting

Close and then reboot your StrPix3 program. Click on File... and select Open. Maneuver to your...

C:\Program Files\Core Design\trle\Laras Closet\Starter

folder and load in the "Starter.WAD" file. In examining my "Lara_Color_Mesh" pages I've decided that Lara's pant cuffs must be on or near the bottom of the olive mesh or at the top of the red mesh. Taking some notes, I've checked my "Mesh_Color_Key" and have found that the olive colored mesh is Mesh#33 and Mesh#36. From past experience I know that Mesh#33 is the left leg and Mesh#36 is the right leg. I've noted that the red mesh is Mesh#18 and Mesh#21. In looking at my "Lara_Color_Mesh" pages I've written down that Mesh#33 and Mesh#36 include the following tiles in order as they go from the front around her legs...

246, 247, 248, 156, 250, 252, 251, 253, and back to 246.

In looking at Mesh#18 and Mesh#21, I've written down the following tiles in order as they go from the front around her legs...

169, 168, 170, 171, 172, 173, and back to 169.

These are all of the textures that I'm going to save as separate image files. Note that because of the way StrPix3 fails to orient textures properly on the tiles, you can NOT go by what you see in the tiles accurately enough to determine where the cuffs of her pants are. Hopefully this will soon be corrected and you will be able to see the textures displayed properly.

Let's save these tiles out now as images. First let's do the upper section. Click in the Mesh text box and select Mesh#33. Switch to the "Wireframe" view. Hold down the Control key and RIGHT click and drag to zoom in a little on the mesh. Based on what we've seen so far we can guess that we are looking at the back of the left leg, so let's rotate it around 180 degrees until we think we have the front of the left leg showing. The high part of the meshes will be on the right. Now, hold down the Control key and LEFT click on the tiles until you locate the two sections that are Texture #246. You can look up tile 246 in your Master_Key and then check its location on the Bitmap and from there you will see it is the same small image in the Bitmap as is currently selected in the left bitmap window. Now that we have found both of the 246 tiles, click on the "Export" button at the bottom left and Save this image in our "Laras Closet\Workspace" folder as "Text246.bmp."

Working around from left to right, hold down the Control key as you LEFT click on the next two tiles. You should find them both to be Texture#247. Click the "Export" button and save this image out as "Text247.bmp."

Working around to the next two tiles, you should find them both to be Texture#248. Click "Export" and save this texture as "Text248.bmp."

In our Lara_Color_Mesh section, looking at the bottom left drawing on the second page, we can see that the next tile around her leg is the bottom half of 156-249. (The same texture has two different tile numbers.) In Control-clicking the next tile we find that it is Texture#249. Save it as "Text249.bmp." The next tile is 250. Save it as "Text250.bmp.". The next texture around is 252. Save it as "Text252.bmp."

The next texture around is 251. Save it as "Text251.bmp." If you look closely at the two drawings at the top of the second page of your Lara_Color_Mesh section you'll see that there are two 253 sections -- one visible from the front and the other visible from the rear. In Control-clicking the next two tiles we find them both to be Texture#253. Save this image as "Text253.bmp." Control-clicking on the next tile shows that we are back around to Texture#246. Since the right leg is a mirror of the left leg, we already have all of its textures.

Now let's save our textures from Mesh#18. Make sure you are in the "Wireframe" mode. Select Mesh#18 using the text window. Then, assuming that we are looking at the back of her leg, rotate the leg until you get to where you are thinking it's the front part. Hold down the Control key and click on the tiles until you locate Texture#169. Click the "Export" button and save this image as "Text169.bmp."

Control-clicking the next tile to the right shows it to be Texture#168. Save this image as "Text168.bmp." Control-click the next tile shows it to be Texture#170. Save it as "Text170.bmp." The next texture is Texture#171. Save it as "Text171.bmp." Continuing around, the next is Texture#172. Save it as "Text172.bmp." The next texture is Texture#173. Save it as "Text173.bmp." Continuing around we find that we are back to Texture#169 which is where we started.

We now have all of our textures saved as separate image files.

Exit from the StrPix3 program.

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