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PKF_647   Posted 12th Feb 2004 8:14pm
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What program do i need to use to edit
.Vbm files? not just view..but edit also
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DVL_Shad0w   Posted 12th Feb 2004 8:56pm
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I think you need decent manager and Adobe photoshop 6.0 ...
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 Foe   Posted 12th Feb 2004 9:12pm
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Red Faction VBM's Tutorial
by Foe & GrimReaper
How to make a VBM to use in Redfaction





1: First create a folder on your C drive to store the tga files in such as C:vbm You can use windows explorer to create the folder.

2: Put the makevbm.exe file in the folder you just created.

3: Open paintshop pro or whatever image editer you have and make the TGA files you are wanting to animate using any standard RF resolution such as 32x32, 64x64, 128x128, 256x256, 512x512 or any combination that red will use. You can make from 2 to however many you want. Note: The more tga files you use the bigger the vbm will be.

4: Save the TGA files at 24 bit with or without a alpha channel to the vbm folder you created earlier. The alpha channel is only needed if there will be transparency in the vbm.

5: Now rename the tga files with the sequences -0000, -0001, 0002 and so on for all the tga files. This sequence tells makevbm what file order to put the TGA files in so it will animate them in the right order. Example: l4y-0000.tga, l4y-0001.tga, l4y-0002.tga, l4y-0003.tga and so on. If you have more than 10 tga files they will need to be named like this l4y-0010.tga, l4y-0011.tga and so on.

6: Now click start....Run and type cmd in the command box. A dos window will open. Now type c: to change to the root of c: drive. Now type cd vbm to change to the vbm folder that you created earlier. Note: If you have windows explorer opened to the folder you have the TGA files and the makevbm.exe file in when you type cmd in the command box it will automatically be at that folder.

7: Now at this point you should have your TGA files and makevbm.exe file in the vbm folder. To check this you can type dir and it will list the files in the folder.

8: Now to make the vbm file. You will need to know what FPS you want to run the animation at and what type of colormode you want to run. Below are the command line switches you have to choose from.

Colormode: 565 Use this when no transparency is needed <------This is the one you will probably use mostly if your TGA files do not contain an alpha channel.
4444 Use this when you want varied alpha channel with semi-transparency.
1555 Use this when you want either totally opaque or totally transparent

Framerate: I have used anywhere from 5 to 30 so you could experiment with this to see what looks best for your animation.

9. Now type in the command makevbm [colormode] [framerate] [prefix.tga] You do not have to type the -0000, -0001 or so on.

10: Example command line makevbm 565 10 l4y.tga <--------would make a animation running at 10 FPS.

11. Now if you have the Descent Manager VBMVIEW32 installed you can doubleclick the vbm and it should start playing in the viewer. If you don’t have it installed you will need to look at it in Redfaction to see if it is working right.

12. One important note, A vbm will show up in Red as a 32x32 grid but it will work fine in redfaction. The best way I have found to scale the vbm is to add a TGA of the same resolution to the brush where the vbm will be and scale it like you want and then replace the TGA with the vbm then save/ build pack file and hit f7 to see if it is going to work ok.

12.One little tip, If you have a animated gif or avi that you would like to make into a vbm just use Animation Shop to extract the frames from it, and convert them in Paintshop to tga files and make your vbm as outlined in this tutorial.

Hope this helps, and have fun!
B"H    Modified Jun 25th, 08:02pm by Forum Moderator
PKF_647   Posted 13th Feb 2004 4:37am
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Thnx a million ,u gave tonnes of help....
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Trigger   Posted 18th Feb 2004 1:26am
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If you want to view the VBM without having to load your map - use the VBM viewer. Sometimes the colour goes wrong in it but it will show your animation.
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RF Grim Reaper   Posted 18th Feb 2004 1:57am
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Ive tried this a few times and it wont work for me...
I run cmd and type c: to change to the root c drive, thing is, it doesn't

I start in Cocuments and SettingsDavid>
I type c: and it just goes back to that ^ It works with other drives like my D drive etc. I tried it going to D[cd drive] then back to C, it went to Cocuments and SettingsDavid>
instead, damned thing.

Im using XP home if that makes a difference
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RoMeK   Posted 18th Feb 2004 2:45am
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grim type in cd.. then hit enter, then type in cd.. again, then try
||||||||||RoMeK's -CDC-||||||||||    



PKF_647   Posted 18th Feb 2004 3:35am
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what i need now is a VBM extractor...to break it down into its frames
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Crusader   Posted 18th Feb 2004 3:37am
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Yea how do you get the tga files out of the .vbm. I was going to edit the bars in the rf interface but cant open them.

Ohh, and great tut. Everything worked for me... I did all that to change the background and turns out all I needed to do was make a tga file. (mars_background)
   Modified Feb 18th, 03:39am by Crusader
PKF_647   Posted 18th Feb 2004 3:42am
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and for sum reason...the transparent pics dont work 4 me
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 Foe   Posted 18th Feb 2004 3:51am
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Quote
1555 Use this when you want either totally opaque or totally transparent
Use this when you images are transparent.

To take each VBM frame by frame you need Animation Shop or something similar. But if you have created each frame and are joining them in the VBM, you should have each individual frame anyway.
B"H    
RF Grim Reaper   Posted 18th Feb 2004 8:26pm
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Quoting Romek
grim type in cd.. then hit enter, then type in cd.. again, then try

That doesn't seem to work either
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 Foe   Posted 18th Feb 2004 8:31pm
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What does the cmd say when you enter cd..
enter, then repeat it? What response do you get?
B"H    
Crusader   Posted 18th Feb 2004 9:32pm
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Just use d: instead of c drive
   
RF Grim Reaper   Posted 18th Feb 2004 10:29pm
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I just get Cocuments and SettingsDavid>
everytime, before I do anything, after entering cd, or just pressing enter, and no matter how many times I try it...

My d: drive? thats one of my cd drives and it probably wouldn't work from a CD
Maps | Stargate MOD | Daves Place | Moddb Site    Modified Feb 18th, 10:32pm by RF Grim Reaper
 Foe   Posted 18th Feb 2004 10:35pm
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RF Grim
You are typing just like this:

cd.. *Press enter,
Cocuments and settingsname.name>cd..

cd.. *Press enter.

This should bring you to C:
B"H    
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