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GzStarWars

Batch Palette Convert

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Is there a tool out there that will allow me to load up a bunch of image files and apply the DOOM palette to them all at once?

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I use Jasc image robot for that but it's an old program and it's not freeware (pretty expensive IIRC). And, Jasc have been bough over by Corel anyway. However, if you can find a copy, it's very good and automates every appropriate function that Paintshop Pro had at the time. The trial version is easy to find but it has a limit of only 5 files per conversion whereas the full version is unlimited.

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Thing is, after you apply the palette to, say, 100 files, you will have to go over each, fixing any stray pixels or bad sections, so overall you're not really gaining that much by mass applying the palette (since applying the palette will likely be the easiest and fastest thing you'll have to do to each file).

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You can find a program called "SpriteMaker" at http://winwolf3d.dugtrio17.com

Just navigate to the folder of your files, set "Scaling" to "No Scaling" so it doesn't resize your BMPs, then check "Convert Palette" and click the "..." button on the link underneath to select your PAL file. Right now, it only accepts the old JASC PSP 3 file format, but I can easily update it to accept other file formats and actually, that is something I will do soon.

Hope that helps some.

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Recolor BMP is quite useful to me... I just used it (and will continue to), even, and it saved me a lot of time. Thanks!

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You dont; it always works with the palette that's already in the image. For example, if you used Sprite Maker to apply the DOOM palette onto a number of images, when you open them with Recolor BMP, they will use the DOOM palette.

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Ok, I loaded up the DOOM.PAL and...

well things still turn to Wolfenstein colors. Infact I loaded a file that was already in doom palette, told it to convert to doom palette and the colors changed, so I know something is off here.

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You can see what palette is being used by SpriteMaker on the right, where it lists all the colors for the "skipped colors" option (it starts with black, dark browns, white, dark grays, dark dull greens, etc.), as well as its file name in the external palette box.

Also, most wad editing tools use color 247 as transparency for the background, so that one should be checked under "skipped colors" (it should show as cyan if you used the palette from XWE or the one in the archive), instead of 255.

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In regards to the thread's question, using PSP's scripting worked for me. For "difficult" images I usually experiment with hue before applying the palette, and automate the conversion of similarly colored images.

However I agree with myk, you'll spent most of your time calibrating the colors and correcting errors, very rarely can you get away with a "clean" conversion.

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@GzStarWars: What do you mean by "the output file was all screwy". Color-wise? Size-wise? Would you send me an example input file, your Doom.pal, and the output file just so I can see what's going on with it?

Ah yes, transparency... is that causing the problem?
I need to modify the program so you can change the transparency color value, since Doom uses 247 instead of 255. Should be a big deal to change. I'll see what I can do.

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The Butcher said:
I need to modify the program so you can change the transparency color value, since Doom uses 247 instead of 255. Should be a big deal to change. I'll see what I can do.

What does checking or unchecking "apply transparent color" change?

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At the present time, it only changes whether SM applies the transparency value (hard coded 255 at the moment) to the given input file's transparency color.

You set the input file's transparency with the checkbox beside that one. When it says "auto" it finds the color with the highest count and considers that to be the transparent color. To give it a value, click a pixel on the "original" image.

Hope that clarifies things at least some. It's a rough tool I made while working on my Orb of Dilaaria mod to help me convert some of the great stuff in the ZDoom Monster Resource WAD into Wolf3D size and my own palette.

I've already started working on an update that will hopefully make things a little easier to understand. Don't know if it'll get a help file to go with it, but maybe... sometime....

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I have used the recolorBMP when it first came out, it ran GREAT on my older comp (AMD Athlon XP 2800+ was it) But i get errors all the time on my newer (Intel Core 2 Duo E6600) one ;( But that doesnt change the fact its a graet program.

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Ok, Sprite Maker added with Fotosizer cuts down on a LOT of time without loosing any quality compared to doing it all by hand in Photo Shop.

Thank you very much for the help!

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