I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing here. I'm trying to paint a texture using either Mike 1's beard maps, or onto the Mike texture templates. I really could use some pointers here. I painted Mike's lips white, I thought. But they don't look white here. Mike's clown makeup is supposed to be primarily white, with the beard painted on. He is supposed to have red cheeks and nose. Can anyone recommend a good tutorial for this bumbling newbie?!  Ron

If you used white on the texture map, you're doing ok, Ron. Check the other settings in the material editor. If you want "pure" white, you'll need to set the ambient and highlight colours to either pure black or pure white. Play with them - you'll get the effect you want. :-)

Thanks for the tip, Eirian. I'm following Quagnon's excellent skin texture tutorial for the P4 Woman. (I figure it will give me the basics anyway.) I was doing pretty good till he said to "set your skin to 50% opacity -- that way we can see our template through the skin." OK, I've been fumbling with PhotoShop for years now. I can't for the life of me figure how to set opacity. I didn't see any obvious menu items, etc. Could some kind soul please help? Now I have to run to work. Oh darn. Ron

I only have photoshop elements, so it might be different. But there's a percentage slider on the panel that shows you all your different layers...if PS looks the same as PSE. It's basically another way of saying set the layer transparency to 50% There's got to be someone here who uses photoshop can give you a screenshot.

Perhaps this is what your trying to achieve, Ron. A few layers in Photoshop to white out the lip area and upper lids of the eyes. Then another layer using a black low opacity airbrush to follow the outline of Michaels stubble on his map. Took about 15 minutes and is relatively painless to do. If you need further assistance give me a holler.

Ron, There's a ton of great PhotoShop tutorials out there, and I'm sure if you're near a major city you can find some classes for PhotoShop, try your local art schools for example. Changing the opacity is one of the first things you should learn in photoshop, along with how to use the layers in the first place. You've also asked about Bump Maps and how to do basic texturing... these are 3d 101 questions, and good ones for a newbie to ask... have you looked for any 3d classes or books about basic principals of 3d? Again, lots of tutorials out there. (PS: Lighting is a key factor to why your lips don't appear pure white... look around your house at pure white objects, you'll see they arent really white, but shades of light gray, depending on the lighting) I also like to learn from example... "Creepy the Clown" might be a good download for you to study and learn from... to see how the lights effect the file, see how the textures work etc. You can give a starving man a fish and he'll eat for one day... but teach him to fish and he'll eat for life.

Eirian, Thanks again for a good tip. Bubba: Wow!!! That is a fantastic clown! Now I need to study up on opacity, etc. *** Doug, I really appreciate your insight, encouragement and input. One thing I hope for you to understand: I have a learning disability that often keeps me from grasping some concepts until some patient people manage to explain them in a way that "makes the light shine." I have a pile of books, including one on PhotoShop 5 (I bought that in 1998 I think. Some of these books go unused because I got lost in them. I got Poser version 1 in 1996, and never figured it out. Along came Poser version 4.03. (A year ago). I found the 3DCC, you, and other fine friends who helped me learn a lot. (I think you were my first contact in the Poser world, Doug!) That made all the difference for me. Sorry to babble on so. I live in Maine, which can be affectionately called "The Sticks." So far I haven't found much in the way of computer education around here. Well there was this one Art College that almost hired me.. but that's a long story.. *** I figured out a few things, and made tutorials to help others. Now I'm looking for help to get beyond my confusion. Thanks for all you've given me so far! Ron

you realize that Poser is on version 7 now? (finally Spell Check!) A year ago it was version 5.5 to 6? I realize you have a problem, that's why I suggested school and tutorials and not buying books. I still think I learn more from analizing other's works then anything else. Doug

Doug, (tee-hee), I think you meant PhotoShop is on Version 7?! Poser is on version 4.03! Hey, I've had Corel Draw since version 3.0 for Windows 3.0. I gave up on Corel Draw by the time I got to version 8 or so. I can look around for classes again, but I have one big problem now. I work 12:30-9 pm, and that pretty much puts me out of getting evening classes. I don't have time before work to do anything either, darn it. PS: I almost accepted a job at a local Computer Art College. However, it appeared the head of the college was engaging in some "questionable practices." I waited a month just to get my interview, then I was supposed to wait another couple months to start the job. My new wife was kicking me where it hurts to get work ASAP. So that was the end of my teaching career.. before it ever started. Ron

of course I meant PhotoShop 7... I'm current on all my software, wouldnt have it any other way. The more I learn, the better my work is. Doug

OK, I found the Opacity Setting. Eirian, it appears that it's in the same place for both PhotoShop and PS Essentials?!  Ron

OK, here's a typical gripe I have. I'm reading this excellent tutorial, and it mentions using a low opacity black airbrush. Guess what? I can't find a darned thing about how to accomplish this goal. I've looked in the PhotoShop Help files, scrambled through some PhotoShop tutorial links here at Renderosity. Come on folks, if this is a regular feature, then why isn't it documented?! Geesh!

Click on the airbrush tool, then go to your options pallet (which appears to be your fourth folder in the layers pallet). The pressure window is where you change the density of the brush. Low settings like 3 or 4 will allow you make several passes within an area without overdoing it. Pump it up and the color becomes a bit thicker...Play with it.

Thanks. It looks like I'm headed to the PhotoShop forum for some newbie questions. I have "Using Adobe PhotoShop 5," by Que books (dated 1998). Is that book too old for PhotoShop 5.5?! It's a big book, and I barely made a dent in it a few years ago.