Invisible alpha artifacts showing after masking BUG? need help!

[Swordsman]

Hi all,

I'm stuck with an alpha layer problem. Tried everything, no solution in sight. It looks like artifacts are generated inside Paint.net when editing and pop thru the alpha layer. Is this a bug or bad editing on my part???

 

Here are the details:

I'm making DDS files for a car racing game to "paint" numbers and sponsors on the car.

 

Here's what I do

1-Draw numbers / sponsors over a "transparent" background (which it isn't really as the alpha isn't set yet)

2-create a mask layer (pure white background + black silhouette of image of step 1)

3-Apply mask with the Mask plugin (inverted to keep the "painted" areas)

4-Export DDS to game (or PNG, same result)

 

What I get are black boxes around areas where I had numbers etc... on the car. I tried exporting to DDS with GIMP, same effect. (not related to DDS plugin). Suspected something with the game engine, but no.

What I found using the alpha mask plugin by unchecking the "invert mask" button is that the black box are indeed hidden within the original image. Even though I never "painted" them.

Nothing shows in PDN on the final image (when I apply the mask correctly as intended), but the black box are still there somehow and make the image unusable in-game. 

Even the color dropper doesn't "see" anything, all transparent area are picked up as alpha =0.

Only thing I could think of, is that the artifacts boxes look exactly like the selection box I used to edit and place my design elements (numbers, etc..) at step number 1. It sounds crazy but I have no other explanation. 

 

Does anyone have a workaround suggestion?  I did try to do the masking operation with GIMP, but I get exactly the same results. Seems really embeded in the "step 1" image.

 

 

[Swordsman]

Here are a couple of images, the basic mask and the inverted mask results with the alpha mask plugin.

[Swordsman]

The "final" image after mask is applied. All looks normal, but it's not somehow when imported in the 3D engine.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Swordsman

[Zagna]

Misread... ignore this.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Zagna

[Swordsman]

4 hours ago, welshblue said:

Your masks are working fine for me but if you zoom in you'll see they're not as crisp as they could be.  There's some sort of blurring/ debris or is it transparency  on the outers of the shapes.

 

Could be something as simple as that ?  

 

 

When I'm making masks I always draw the shape on a new layer, then add a white layer underneath and merge - not use the paintbucket to fill the shape layer white.  Cleaner and sharper masks but not as important on basic shapes

 

My shapes are re-sized from a larger hi-resolution version which explains the blur I guess. My hypothesis is that the copy+resize box selection is the source of the "black box".

 

I think I have found a workaround by re-selecting individual elements instead of the entire layer to merge with a white layer.