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Each fish has it's own folder that contains all
the files required to display and animate the fish. These files are
located on your hard disk. If you installed Aquatica 3D to it's
default location the Aquatica 3D fish folder is located at:
C:\Program Files\Aquatica 3D\Fish\
I have created a new fish module based upon
Neon Damsel for you to edit. the fish is called myneondamsel.
Download and install the new fish:
Download
My Neon Damsel Now File size: 395 Kb
Open the aquatica 3D settings box and click on
the fish tab you will see a new fish appear in the list. The fish
looks exactly the same as the original Neon Damsel. Deselect all the
fish including the original Neon Damsel, then select My Neon Damsel
only and press the preview button to view the fish.
If you look inside the fish folder you will see
a folder called myneondamel. Open this folder, inside you
will find 3 images:
C:\Program Files\Aquatica 3D\Fish\myneondamsel
1. myneon_damsel_texture.bmp This image
is the main texture image that is used for the fish.
2.myneon_damsel_textureGlow.bmp. This
image controls the brightness of the fish
3. myneondamsel_preview.bmp This image
is the preview that appears in the settings box (ignore this image
for now)
Open your image editing program, you can use
Paintshop Pro 8, Adobe Photoshop or any other image editing program
that you use.
Open the file called: myneon_damsel_texture.bmp
Make any changes you wish to the image. You can change colors or
do anything you like then press save to save your changes.
Don't worry if all goes wrong, just install the myneondamel.aq3d
that you have downloaded and it will set everything back to it's
original state.
Go back to Aquatica 3D settings and press
preview again and you will see the changes you have made to the
texture of the fish. They won't look quite right yet because there
on more step.
You also have to change the file myneon_damsel_textureGlow.bmp
this file controls the brightness of the fish, the current file
is set to reflect the brightness on the image before you made any
changes. Go back to your image editing program and open the file you
have just edited:
myneon_damsel_texture.bmp and save the file as myneon_damsel_textureGlow.bmp
overwriting the existing file. Press preview in Aquatica
settings to view your changes. If the fish appears too bright return
to your image editing program, open the glow map file: myneon_damsel_textureGlow.bmp
and darken the image or lighten it if you feel the fish is too
dark. Making adjustments to this file just controls the brightness
of the fish.
It's usually easier to edit the main texture first
then adjust the brightness later.
You can edit any of the other fish in the same
way. If they go wrong just install the original fish modules
again.
Note: that some of the fish use a file format called
Targa and not BMP. Not all editing programs can open Targa files.
Below are some image editing programs you can download (some are
free from download.com and some evaluation) that can edit image
files. Adobe Photoshop can edit Targa files too.
Editing other fish: If your editing program cannot edit Targa files
Click here to download BMP versions of
other fish.
Let me know how you get on. If you wish to
share your textures with other users send them to me and I will upload
the to the members area.
Kind regards
Roberto Dicarlo
(Author)
uploads@clubaquatica.com
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Create new fish textures