Alpha Layering - making existing wall texture look old and worn?

[Nyarlathotep]

Greetings all...

 

I am a builder in Second Life, where I can buy a lot of really nice Texture Packs to use with my build creations.  Whats more is, that I am able to download these textures onto my computer and edit them using Paint.net.

 

I like to tweak the brightness and contrast to bring out a little more detail, and then add a subtle vignette effect around the edges which gives a little bit of a vintage look. 

 

But what I am really looking for, are transparent layers that I can use to add subtle details like stains, cracks, mold, and various other details that will give the wall texture an older and more worn and decayed look....

 

But I really have no idea where I can find such things.  Does anyone have any suggestions, or are there perhaps any Mods that I can download to Paint.net that could do this for me?

[Nyarlathotep]

Bump?

[Red ochre]

Sorry you've been over-looked Nyarlathotep,

 

I think you will have to make the alterations yourself.
I would recommend trying these tutorials:

1. Concrete texture here:http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/16075-concrete-texture-tutorial/

2. Yellowmans 'grunge' tutorial here:http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/25416-make-3d-stone-text/

Also my 'Furblur' plugin is good for moss textures.

Have a play with the tutorials - there are others here that may be relevant too. If you get stuck post back here. Good luck!

[Cc4FuzzyHuggles]

I'm not sure I really understand what you are asking. Are you wanting layers? Paint.net has the Layers Window. If you want to know how to use it, here is a brief overview : http://www.getpaint.net/doc/latest/LayersWindow.html
To save things with a transparent background, save as a gif or png. To save things in layers, save as pdn, but note that only paint.net can open pdn files.
 
Or are you wanting tutorials on how to make things have an older, worn, and decayed look? If that's what you want, have you hunted through the tutorials section of this forum? There are plenty of things with techniques that you might be able to use.
 
Examples of cool tutorials :
 
Here is a Rusty tutorial -- http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/21454-rust-corrosion/
 
A very neat Rusty Barrel -- http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/26840-make-a-rusty-barrel/
 
This tutorial has a picture of a Textured Green Mass, which if blended over top of something, it could look like a weird mold : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/16686-how-to-create-a-earth-type-planet-texture/
 
Here are Bricks, with a cool texture that you could use on other things -- http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/26807-another-brick-in-the-wall/
 
Wood with a nice grain -- http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/28081-wood-texture-with-realistic-grain-amendment-1/
Some of the potential of this tutorial : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/28081-wood-texture-with-realistic-grain-amendment-1/?p=406547

Edited May 9, 2014 by Cc4FuzzyHuggles

[Nyarlathotep]

Cc4Fuzzy!   to clarify... I know how to do Layering, I know how to take a transparent file and add it over another as Layering, and blend/combine them into a single file... but what I want, are actual transparent textures that I can use to do the layering.  Ready to use, pre designed transparent textures of old mold, cracks... anything to make it look even more worn and decayed.

 

Let me give you guys an example...

 

I recently bought this Texture Set, within Second Life, that I use to build structures with in Second Life...

 

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Urban-Textures-Condemned-Buildings-Set/7138

 

I can download those textures onto my computer, and modify them if I want too.

 

What I want, are more transparent layers that I can apply over them, to make them look even more worn, rotten, decayed... more dark and grungy...

 

But i don't really know how to actually MAKE transparent textures like that, as I am really quite the beginner with this stuff... so I am looking for any pre-made sets out there that I can acquire...

 

The Tutorials that RED posted above, look like they might teach me how to do some similar things, and I am going to take a look at them; but I would still like to try to find some source of pre-made stuff like this.

[Cc4FuzzyHuggles]

Have you tried custom brushes? You can save them as png then use them as individual images to build with, or you can use them with the plugin "Custom Brushes Mini" and actually draw with them.
 
Custom Brushes fun!

This website has legal & free custom brushes and great textures : http://www.brusheezy.com/

 

Custom Brushes Mini Plugin: http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?showtopic=27937
How to Use Brushes : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/18959-how-to-use-custombrushesmini-v19/

Prushes by Paint.net Users : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/8578-share-your-custom-paintnet-brushes/

Plugin for opening abr files in paint.net (abr is the common format of photoshop brushes.) http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/25792-photoshop-brush-filetype-2013-09-01/

Layer Saver Plugin, to save all your abr files. Be sure to save them as png though, to keep their transparency. http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/9704-layer-saver-october-21-2008/

Edited May 9, 2014 by Cc4FuzzyHuggles

[Nyarlathotep]

Thanks, I'll check those out.