Creating coded cels with the 3DO CelWriter

There are two tools for saving source art as a coded cel:

Use the CelWriter to save source art as a 6-bit, 4-bit, 2-bit, or 1-bit coded cel (described below).
Use the Coded-8 CelWriter to save source art as an 8-bit coded cel (described in "Creating cels with the 3DO Coded-8 CelWriter").

How to create a coded cel

Creating a coded cel usually involves two steps, discussed in this section:

Indexing the color in Photoshop-only necessary if the source art has more colors than the cel will have.
Saving the cel.

To index the color in Photoshop, follow these steps:

From the Mode menu in Photoshop, choose Indexed Color.
Select the bits per pixel you want to save:
- For 16 or 6 bits per pixel, choose 5 bits per pixel.
- For 4 bits per pixel, choose 4 bits per pixel.
- For 2 bits per pixel, type 4 into the Other field of the dialog.
- For 1-bit coded cels, type 2 into the Other field.
Select a custom palette and a diffusion dither. When you click OK, a Color Table dialog appears.
Click the Load button and use the file selection dialog to specify a 3DO-supplied color table. Note the table you use: You'll have to adjust control settings accordingly later.
From the Mode menu, choose RGB color.

To save the cel, follow these steps:

From the File menu, select Export > 3DO CelWriter.
In the dialog that appears, select the Coded type, then the Bits Per Pixel you decided to use.

Note: Don't choose 8 bits per pixel, the Coded-8 CelWriter discussed in the next section should be used for that purpose.
Click the Set Cel Flags button and make sure the cel corresponds to the color table if you created one:
- If you select 3-3-2 Color Table (REP8 clear), make sure the box "Replicate LSB's in RGB 8 bit Cel" box in the Control Settings dialog is unchecked.
- If you select 3-3-2 Color Table (REP8 set), make sure the box is checked.
Choose Save and you're finished.