[dEATH.Tool]

What's a matte image? Call me crazy but I honestly don't know.

Oh and to all the people in the gaming industry, have any of you ever tried to sell any original stories or characters to gaming comapanies....how hard was it or how hard do you think it'd be. This question's for a friend that doesn't trust my answer.

(mod) spell error

[This message has been edited by dEATH.Tool (edited February 20, 2001).]

[Nex]

I dont think game companies normally buy stories or characters from someone.
They have their own artists and writers.

[Sumaleth]

A matte image, sometimes refered to a mask, is a (usually) grey scale image that represents the transparency of another image. White might mean "totally transparent", black would then mean "totally opaque" and grey shades would represent degrees of transparency. (some programs have it the other way, where black is totally transparent etc.)

Selling game ideas? This is practically impossible in the game industry, purely because it's the easiest and most enjoyable stage in the creation of a game. The hard part is actually turning the ideas into a product that can be boxed and put on the shelf.

Row.

[jzero]

Sumaleth: Your definition of a matte image is more appropriate as a definition of an Alpha Channel, although there are some similarities. I dunno what dEATH.Tool was asking about precisely, but it's probably best if we give both answers.

I would say that original definition of 'matte image' is that of 'matte painting', which is a painting done on glass for use as a background in film visual effects. Our own Spooge Demon is the past master at this, as you probably know. Plenty of those at goodbrush. This effect was used lots and lots in the original Star Wars movies, before digital effects.

The definition of 'matte image' having to do with Alpha channel transparency probably comes from way that matte painting effects were achieved in films like Star Wars. The painting would be masked off by another glass panel with the specific area in which the matte would be seen on film not masked off. This is the real-world analogue to using a Layer Mask in Photoshop. See books like 'The Art of Star Wars' for plenty more info on this.

I don't have any advice on the gaming ideas question, but I do have a suggestion. Take your idea and make it into a coherent story, and you'll have better luck peddling such a thing to a comic company or even a publisher. Be sure and call yourself a 'writer', 'cause that's what you'll be.

/jzero

[This message has been edited by jzero (edited February 20, 2001).]

[dEATH.Tool]

Oh!....okay I know what a matte is now. Thanks everyone for you input...I was stoked at first.

As for the selling of game ideas...most of you said similiar things I told my friend. It wasn't me trying to sell it though.

Thanks