Hacking R4 theme gradient problems

[ackers]

Looks hot I know, but then when I put it on my DS you can see all the blocky gradients thus making it look not so hot. Any one have any suggestions? I tried all sorts of random techniques to smooth it for an hour last night but i can't get it it to be perfectly smooth. Using PSP but I have Photo Shop.

 

[Killermech]

The pc can display quite a bigger number of different colors on the screen at the same time compared to the ds.
That's why gradient graphics that can be displayed smooth on the pc, will most likely be 'blocky' on the ds.
Use less colors in the gradient.. will make it slightly less blocky.

 

[Lukeage]

The DS screen is only 18-bit. If you see some of the earlier (or cheaper) LCDs, they are only 18-bit too and gradients on them look terrible too. It is usually less noticable on the DS however due to the screen being smaller.

 

[jelbo]

What I do when it bothers me is lessen the colors with a PC app (I use Paint Shop Pro 9) with a nice dithering filter. If you don't the DS will effectively dither the image, but in a way that gives the ugly color bands you talk about.

 

[.TakaM]

dither-ized it for you, that will look much better on your DS
It'd be cool if the R4 could auto dither to compensate for the missing colours, but wel.. it doesn't

 

[ackers]

dither-ized it for you, that will look much better on your DS
It'd be cool if the R4 could auto dither to compensate for the missing colours, but wel.. it doesn't

Cool, where's the linky?

EDIT: Ahh the image didn't load up the first time so i expected a link.

EDIT2: You saved it as .png so when I save it as a .bmp it does not show on my DS at all... could you save it as a .bmp (remeber it needs to be 144kb).

 

[.TakaM]

what linky?
there's the image right there, try it out

 

[matriculated]

I have a short tutorial about how to get rid of that banding if you have Photoshop:
http://irshell.org/showthread.php?tid=20

 

[ackers]

I have a short tutorial about how to get rid of that banding if you have Photoshop:
http://irshell.org/showthread.php?tid=20

Thx 4 that will check it outnow.

EDIT: Ugh my trial has ended... great.

 

[matriculated]

Does anyone know if Paint Shop Pro can use Photoshop plugins? I think they can. I think Gimp does too.

 

[.TakaM]

EDIT2: You saved it as .png so when I save it as a .bmp it does not show on my DS at all... could you save it as a .bmp (remeber it needs to be 144kb).

right click
copy
open paint
paste
save as bmp

 

[ackers]

EDIT2: You saved it as .png so when I save it as a .bmp it does not show on my DS at all... could you save it as a .bmp (remeber it needs to be 144kb).
right click
copy
open paint
paste
save as bmp

That's what i meant...

Well i got PS working again and tried out that filter but it did not fix those horrible bands

EDIT2: well I just threw a load of 'noise' at it from that plug-in to compensate for the gradients and it looks much better now (even though it has less quality now)! Don't think I can do anymore to improve it so i guess I'll go upload it.

 

[.TakaM]

I just pasted it into paint, saved it as a bmp, and used it on my DS.
It works fine

 

[ackers]

I just pasted it into paint, saved it as a bmp, and used it on my DS.
It works fine

Weird... i tried it and it save as 156kb bmp or something like that... it must be 144kb for it to work. And i tried all the bmp types.

For all the effort it wasn't worth it anyway. The quality simply isn't good enough. If I were to do it properly i guess i'd just make the bckgrd black with out the gradients; but even that 'aint easy.

 

[.TakaM]

save it as a 24bit bitmap

 

[mufunyo]

If you have Paint Shop Pro 6:
Colors->Decrease Color Depth->64K Colors (24 bit)-> (*) Error diffusion

If you have Paint Shop Pro 9:
Image->Decrease Color Depth->64K Colors (24 bit)-> (*) Error diffusion

If you have Photoshop:
Get a decent image editor

 

[OSW]

If you have Paint Shop Pro 6:
Colors->Decrease Color Depth->64K Colors (24 bit)-> (*) Error diffusion

If you have Paint Shop Pro 9:
Image->Decrease Color Depth->64K Colors (24 bit)-> (*) Error diffusion

If you have Photoshop:
Get a decent image editor

photoshop is the best!