Difference between revisions of "AlphaChannel"

Revision as of 11:00, 1 February 2015

An optional channel of image date in a texture file that can be used as a Transparency map, Height map, specular map, etc.

The alpha channel is usually 8 bits per pixel (256 colors), though certain file formats support different bit depths.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-An optional channel in the texture file that usually defines the [[Transparency map|transparency]] of the texture’s [[Pixel|pixels]].
+An optional channel of image date in a texture file that can be used as a [[Transparency map]], [[Height map]], [[:Category:Specular map|specular map]], etc.
-It can also be used for other things like a [[Height map|height map]] or grey-scale [[:Category:Specular map|specular map]].
+The alpha channel is usually 8 bits per pixel (256 colors), though certain file formats support different [[Transparency#Alpha_Bit_Depths|bit depths]].
-The alpha is usually anywhere from 1bit up to 8bits, depending on the amount of detail you need. Generally, the lower the [[BitDepth|bit depth]] you use, the more [[Memory|memory]] you save, but the less image quality you get. See [[Transparency map]] for more information, and some visual examples can be found on the Glossary page [[Transparency#Alpha_Bit_Depths]].
+See also [[ChannelPacking]], [[MultiTexture]].
-Different image channels can be extracted by a [[:Category:Shaders|shader]] to use them for particular effects, like alpha for physics info, red channel for glow and green channel for specular and blue channel for sound types, etc. In this way, a bitmap can store more information than just RGB color.
 == Tools ==