I've got a homework assignment due soon, but the requirements are pretty broad. One of my ideas for meeting all the requirements involves overlaying multiple images with alpha channels (transparency).
To be more specific, I am thinking about making an application to choose the color and
pattern of a skydiving jumpsuit. The colors will be chosen by three slider bars for the suit color, and three for the trim pattern. The only way I can think to do this is overlaying three images with alpha channels, and then making those images color channels correspond to the color selected by the user.
In other words, the first image will be a rectangle of a solid color, selected by the slider controls. The second image will overlay onto that, and will be of a different color. The transparency of the second image will be determined by the pattern selected, but the color will be chosen by another set of sliders. The third (and final) image will be a cutout of the suit shape, essentially a stick figure with thick body. The stick figure part itself will be transparent, and the rest will be white (background color of the application). This SHOULD give the impression that it is a single image, and the component parts of the suit can be changed independently.
Is this even possible in
Java, and if so, are there any special classes I should look into, or can it be done using just JLabels with images that have the correct alpha channels?
Thanks,
Mike