How to make proper RGB mods, or convert non-RGB to RGB. (1 Viewer)

[SyntaxTerror]

Hello

I had to explain in PM how to draw 'proper' RGB clothes (i.e. like konashion's ones, with lines the same colour as the shade, but darker), so I copy it here.
The second post explains how to convert non-RGB hair mods to RGB adjustable ones.
This requires that you already know how to draw an SWF mod. You can learn this with Synonymous' SWF costume mod tutorial.

Procedure:

1. Draw the lines on one layer, make them 50% pure black (stroke size should be 2 to 3).
2. Convert the lines into fills (Modify>Shape>Convert lines to fills). Doing this makes zooming smoother.
3. Copy all and paste it 'in place' (Ctrl+Shift+V) in another layer, placed under the lines' one.
4. Use the Paint Bucket Tool to fill this polygon.
5. Select all, then change the colour to 100% pure black.
6. Make a symbol of this selection (F8), you can name it like you want or even leave the default name, it doesn't matter.
7. Type rgbFill or rgbFill2 (depending on what slider you need, case is important) as 'instance name' in the Properties tab (right side of the screen).

It is possible to make the RGB fill layer 50% transparent, so you'll be able to see the lines layer. To do so, Shift-click in the 'Show/Hide' column of the Layers tab.

This is the basic method to make plain colour RGB clothes or hair, but you can add shades or colour gradients to improve the relief:

If you want to add shades, you have to add another layer (or work in the Lines layer, but it can get messy) with gradients going from 100% alpha to 20-40% pure black.
You can also use the same technique to make colour gradients, that will make better looking reliefs, especially for darker colours and allow gradients of different colours. For this you need to transform the alpha-to-black gradient into a symbol and change its instance name to rgbFill2 for example, if rgbFill is already used for the fill colour.
If you add a colour gradient to your RGB mod, I advise adding the lines to this rgbFill. You'll have in the same RGB symbol the 50% pure black lines together with the alpha-to-black gradient.

For RGB adjustable hair mods, I usually assign rgbFill to the fill (main hair colour) and rgbFill2 to the shade and the lines, then add 50% pure black lines on top of these RGB layers (note that for hair mods the 'shade' usually has no gradients, it's just a plain colour darker than the main one, this is how most anime hair are drawn).

If the hair also have a highlight, it will be a 30% pure white layer on top of the others.

I won't explain how to draw gradients here, because it can become quite difficult as Animate/Flash Pro allows only linear and circular gradients and body shapes can get very complex (e.g. feet). Often, getting the gradients right require quite a long time, and explaining the different techniques would require a whole thread entirely dedicated to it.

Good luck.

 

[SyntaxTerror]

This post explains how to convert a traditional anime cel-shading hair mod (i.e. with 2 or 3 colours: fill, shade, and highlight) into an RGB adjustable one. It also works with dynamic hair mods, which only require a bit more work.

This method can be executed on a decompiled SWF recompiled into an FLA (using JPEXS decompiler), but it is easier to copy the layers from the recompiled FLA into the templates of SDTMod.fla (or of my custom Hair template.fla), because the ActionScript codes need to be edited to work properly.
Simply use the same value for the targetElement of the symbols definitions in the Action tab (you'll have to modify the Hair Template's ActionScript if you use SDTMod.fla, whereas all hair layers have their own template on Hair template.fla).

I strongly recommend creating custom shortcuts for 'Convert Lines To Fills', 'Duplicate Layer' and 'Delete Layer', as they are used often.

1. Select a symbol (e.g. 'Hair Template' in SDTMod.fla) and Break apart (Ctrl+B) the groups/symbols into it, to keep only strokes and fills.
2. If everything is not already in one layer, merge everything into a single layer.
3. Select all and Convert Lines To Fills (Modify > Shape > Convert Lines To Fills) if it hasn't already been done.
   It will produce a better looking mod, as lines do not scale at the same rate as fills when zooming, and flickering occurs if the contrast between adjacent colours is too high.
   It can also allow making pointed lines and corners that will resemble more the basic game hairs (check this quick tutorial on YouTube, although it can be easier to modify the Bézier handles with the subsection tool instead).
4. Duplicate this layer two times. You can rename the three layers as follows (it is not mandatory, but can help for future edits):
   1. The upper one (at the top of the list of layers) will be the one containing the 'lines' (and the highlight if one is present).
      It must contain only the lines, turned into 50% pure black, and possibly the highlights, turned into 30% pure white.
   2. The middle one will be the 'shade'.
      It must contain the shade and the lines (or only the lines if there is no shade), turned into 100% pure black, then converted into a symbol (F8), which instance name is rgbFill2 (case is essential, note that it is the <Instance Name> in the Properties tab, not the name of the symbol).
   3. The lower one will be the 'fill'.
      It must contain the lines and everything in-between, turned into 100% pure black, then converted into a symbol, which instance name is rgbFill.
5. Repeat that for all the other symbols containing parts of the hair, and publish. This mod will be hairRGB-compatible.
   To make it Vanilla-compatible and/or to add preset colours (using this method), you'll have to add lines for every rgbFill/rgbFill2 symbol with this syntax:
   • for static parts : <instance name of the static symbol>.rgbFill.transform.colorTransform = rgbFill; / <instance name of the static symbol>.rgbFill2.transform.colorTransform = rgbFill2;.
   • for each segment of the dynamic parts: <instance name of the dynamic symbol>.<instance name of the segment symbol>.rgbFill.transform.colorTransform = rgbFill; / <instance name of the dynamic symbol>.<instance name of the segment symbol>.rgbFill2.transform.colorTransform = rgbFill2;
     • Note that symbols that do not exist must not be added to the Settings, otherwise the other RGB symbols will remain black.

I will likely add pictures of this process the next time I convert a standard hair mod into an RGB adjustable one.