Creating New Images

Overview

(more details to follow)

In ARK:

1. Setup ARK with Filmmaker's mod bluescreen, or similar simple background
2. LeaveMeAlone, Fly (spectator mode does not work for this)
3. Set to night, cancel weather
4. Disable creature movement
5. Spawn creature
6. Position any lights needed
7. Position yourself (remembering final image will be square)
8. Enable global pause to stop all movement
9. Set all regions to white, then capture screenshot
10. Set all regions to their key colors, then capture screenshot

Image processing:

1. Load both screenshots as layers of the same image
2. Crop the image to a square region
3. Remove the background (full alpha)
4. Duplicate the white image and invert it
5. Use layer modes to Overlay the inverted layer over the color mask, removing dark areas
6. Scale the image to 256x256
7. Export the original white layer to <Species>.png
8. Export the overlayed color mask to <Species>_m.png

Testing:

1. Ensure ASB has no creature selected in its library
2. Remove the existing cache
3. Copy your new images across
4. Select a creature of the correct species

Detailed Process

In ARK:

1. You'll need a plain-color background to aid background removal later on. It may be possible to use a clear patch of sky, but the Ark Filmmakers Kit makes the process easier:
   gfi filmmaker
2. God mode, not spectator mode (which does not allow interacting with a target):
   LeaveMeAlone | Fly
3. Set to night, cancel weather:
   SetTimeOfDay 2:00 | CE stoptime (but the actual time needed seems to depend on your day/night cycle settings)
4. Turn off ambient occlusion option (removes some shadows).
5. Disable creature movement:
   PlayersOnly
6. Spawn creature:
   spawndino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Dodo/Dodo_Character_BP.Dodo_Character_BP'" 500 0 0 120
7. Position any lights needed then adjust gamma to give a clear image. You want a good balance between not too many dark patches and not over exposed, e.g. gamma 1.1
8. Position yourself, remembering final image will be square, and ensuring you are still targeting the creature.
9. Enable global pause to stop all movement (you will no longer be able to look around):
   SetGlobalPause true
10. Set all regions to white:
    SetTargetDinoColor 0 18 | SetTargetDinoColor 1 18 | SetTargetDinoColor 2 18 | SetTargetDinoColor 3 18 | SetTargetDinoColor 4 18 | SetTargetDinoColor 5 18
11. Capture the first screenshot, used for blending. Ensure you capture the entire screen.
12. Set all regions to their key colors:
    SetTargetDinoColor 0 1 | SetTargetDinoColor 1 2 | SetTargetDinoColor 2 3 | SetTargetDinoColor 3 5 | SetTargetDinoColor 4 4 | SetTargetDinoColor 5 6
13. Capture the second screenshot, used for region masking. Ensure you capture the entire screen.
14. Turn off global pause:
    SetGlobalPause false

Image processing, using GIMP as an example:

1. GIMP can capture the screenshots, resulting in two separate images of the entire game screen.
2. Copy the entire color region mask image and paste it as a layer in the white/blend image (Paste As -> New Layer).
3. Use the crop tool to crop the image to a square region containing the creature. Setting 'Fixed: Aspect ratio' to '1:1' forces the crop to be square.
4. Ensure both layers have Alpha channels (right click layer, Add Alpha Channel)
5. Create a selection for the background (using a combination of the Fuzzy Selection Tool and the lasso).
6. Erase the background of both layers (using the same selection).
7. Duplicate the white blend layer (right click layer, Duplicate Layer) and invert it (Colors -> Invert).
8. Move the inverted layer to the very top. You should now have inverted, then colors, then the plain white image.
9. Select the inverted layer and set its mode to Overlay (setting is above the list of layers, above Opacity) - you should see the color mask image brighten up in the dark spots.
10. Image->Scale Image to 256x256.
11. Show only the original white layer and File->Export to <Species>.png
12. Show only the inverted and color mask layers then File-Export to <Species>_m.png