Level Select Thumbnail Help

[Larz T]

I am trying to make some Level Select Thumbnails for a .wad and I already know how to do it but I do not like the result of the picture however. It looks pixelated like this:

Spoiler: Pixelated.

Rather than smooth looking like this:

Spoiler: Smooth and Sexy.

Now is it supposed to be that pixelated, or is there a way that I can make the thumbnail less pixelated?

 

[Shadow Hog]

This isn't an SRB2 issue, this is most likely an issue with your image editor of choice.

If you don't mind me asking, what is said image editor? Some are better at resizing than others. I wouldn't resize an image in MSPaint, for instance, while Paint.NET or Photoshop can do a very good, anti-aliased downsize.

 

[Larz T]

This isn't an SRB2 issue,

I was thinking this topic was more of a "Anyone have tips?" topic rather than an SRB2 issue.

If you don't mind me asking, what is said image editor? Some are better at resizing than others. I wouldn't resize an image in MSPaint, for instance, while Paint.NET or Photoshop can do a very good, anti-aliased downsize.

Well I have been using MSPaint. I do have Gimp though. Will that work with downsizing the image?

 

[Torgo]

What I would do is take several pictures at 640 x 400 in software mode. (You can use windowed mode if you have to). Once you have done that, scale the image(s) you like the most using an image editing program like GIMP, paint.net, or photoshop.

There are a couple of ways to scale the image, so I would look at multiple scaled down images before I saved the one I liked the most. If you use GIMP, I would first convert the picture to RGB so it looks nicer when you scale it down, you might have to do that in with other programs as well. When you scale it down, you have to scale it down to 160 x 100. In GIMP there is an option for interpolation, which is the option to play around with until the image looks right. Try cubic, linear and sinc methods to see which one looks the best.

After you scale it down you have to convert it back to the palette. You can do this with your image program (if you have the srb2 palette already imported) or use XWE or SLADE to convert it. (look at this page for more information on the palette) From my experience, XWE does a really good job at converting it, the colors it picks are usually very close to the original feel of the picture. SLADE is probably pretty good, I haven't personally used it for that since SLADE came around after I stopped making wads. GIMP is pretty good for converting, it works well enough for converting scaled down pictures. Using the WAD editor probably going to be the easiest method.

There you go! Try to look for interesting geometric areas to take pictures of.

 

[Larz T]

Problem Solved

Thanks! It looks so much better now!

 

[Shadow Hog]

SLADE is probably pretty good, I haven't personally used it for that since SLADE came around after I stopped making wads.

It's great for a direct "map this to the closest color you can" color mapping, but if you wanted to dither it any, you're better off using the image editor's options.

Granted, some think dithering is ugly as sin, and they're not entirely wrong... it's more of a personal preference than anything else.

 

[Torgo]

Dithering the entire picture usually looks bad. If you don't use it everywhere, it might not look too bad (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GJ4NccQWAY where he only has 15 colors to pick from (well 16 if you count transparency))