Gimp layer effects/ shaders

Moogoo

I was looking at Ron's photoshop stuff and some have layer styles included. obviously these being .ASL can't be used in GIMP. But what I was wondering is, using the GIMP layer effects plugin is it possible to use DAZ shaders as layer effects, or the JPG that comes with most shaders as layer effects?

Is it possible?

Has anyone done this?

How do you do it?

Even if it is possible is it worth doing?

 

Thanks.

 

dtrscbrutal

I have converted .psd images for use in gimp many times. It can be a big pain to do however. You need a program that can open the file type you are converting and save them as .jpg, .png, etc. I used an ancient version of Photoshop.

The converted files will likely have a background that may cause a problems if used in gimp. Using gimp on the converted file, you can lift the image off the background or recolor the background to something that is easier to use in gimp. (ie. white with a Divide mode layer, or black for a Difference mode layer.) Lifting the image (removing the background) can get very tricky and tedious if there are gradient/blurred edges.

Worth it? Hard to say, how bad do you want need the image/asset? Gimp has all the tools you need to create such layer assets. If you have the skill/inclination to create what you need yourself, probably not.

McGyver

Depending on what layer effects you want, some are available in Photoshop Elements, but they are very limited and the GUI is more like those free programs that come with printers, than actual Photoshop... but there are a few layer effects available, I forget which since I avoid using Elements as much as possible.

Moogoo

After messing around the Runtime>Textures file is actually a really nice resource for layer effects or just layers in general if you have a nice collection of shaders and textures. alot of the shaders are just .duf files with single colour jpg's but some have some really crisp jpg textures that can be copied to the clip board and used.

People with real artistic ability and not using a laptop trackpad might be able to do some really nice things with layer effects.

scorpio

Your question 'is it possible to use DAZ shaders as layer effects,'

makes no sense, a shder is information th erender engine uses each willuse a different shader system.

If you are referring to shader presets then the jpg/png images are subject to copyright and the Eula, ok to use for personal use but must not be passed on without the correct permission or licence.

Moogoo

why would i pass on my textuers?????????

if you read my posts you would realize i said all what you said.

McGyver

Which jpeg that comes with a shader?... is it a seamless/tileable image that you are interested in using, or the grayscale bump maps or normal maps?

I'm probably misunderstanding what you are trying to do because unless the shader uses a procedural material, the jpeg image should be easy to find and use...
But if it's a procedural material you wish to convert to an image format like jpeg, that's a different story... you'd have to "bake" that somehow to a 2D plane... I know it's possible in Blender, and technically that's the mechanism behind Filter Forge and Genetica (procedural to image)... 

This is how it's done in Blender...

I don't know if that's what you are needing... basically to convert a procedural texture into an image format.

I'm sorry I'm not familiar with the process to do that in DS, if it's even possible.

If I'm completely wrong about what you are trying to do (and there is a good chance of that), it might be more productive if you show an example of what you are trying to do, or explain it a bit more... I think I'm confused because if it's an image based shader, the image files should be found in the textures file.

If there are none, then it's probably a procedural shader.