Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

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mountainhighair
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Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by mountainhighair »

Hello, I would like to ask anyone who has done paint kit work on the Corsair. I have been doing lots of work on the Aircraft Factory Corsair paint kit and it seems that the 3D model has a bumpmap built into it, in addition to the _B_ bumpmap files supplied with the plane. I have reworked the panel lines so that they agree with the "Wireframe" layer, however, there seems to be a bumpmap built into the model that I cannot get rid of.
Has anyone else run into this problem and have a solution?

Thanks, guys

John
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ebo
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by ebo »

Have you than created your own bump map files? If you have a Nvidia card they have a plug in for photoshop that is able to create these bump maps. It is not so straight forward but ince matered it is a great tool.

I recreated some textures at 4096 for the alphasim Harvard, the freeware PC6 and also am working on the DC3.

Redoing panel lines and rivetting according to blue prints.

Once all the main textures are done you need to recreate your bump maps with these for the lines and rivets to show up in the model.

I am not sure how much of these bumps and lines are actually modelled. If they are there is not much you can do.

Yoy can check this by creating an empty folder of the aircraft in FSX and create an entry in the aircraft.cfg. then open thexaircraft in FSX or FSrepaint (which I only use to check my paints and find illusive parts). With no textures applied yiz should see the bare model.

If it turns out black then make the textuere files a light to dark gray and you should see whatever is part of the model and what is created by the bump maps.

Sorry for lecture on some repainting aspects but I hope I have answered your question

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Lewis - A2A
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by Lewis - A2A »

mountainhighair wrote:I have reworked the panel lines so that they agree with the "Wireframe" layer,n
Have you reworked panels to line up with polygons of model, I don't understand this part?

thanks,
Lewis
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mountainhighair
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by mountainhighair »

Ebo, thanks for the info. I will look into the Photoshop plugin. I usually use Paintshop Pro 8 as it is my favorite, then PSP14 since it uses memory better. I'm not a fan of Photoshop, but whatever gets the job done, I will use it. I also like to save files in DXT888-32 bit for my own use. That format creates huge files, but they are not distorted and work on my computer. You might try playing with that in DXTBmp? It makes for exquisite graphics.

Lewis, yes I'm recreating the paint kit and panel lines to match that of the "wireframe" layer included in the Aircraft Factory Corsair paint kit. I noticed especially when the wings fold that the panel lines didn't match, but the "wireframe" layer is totally correct and does match the 3D model. In short, the paint kit did not match its own wireframe layer. Not sure what was going on there and don't care to speculate. I'm a tinkerer type, so I just gotta get things right. A "pixel counter" I am!

Anyway, I found the answer to my own question. The Bumpmap file has an alpha layer, while the other files for the Corsair do not. I just had to find that out for myself. So I got it figured out. Now I'm going to tinker around with how the bumpmap interacts with FSX and what I can get out of it. This is fun stuff to experiment with. I did a ton of work on the older WoP2 Mustang, but it did not have a bumpmap. So now I am putting myself through "bumpmap school" so to speak.

Thanks guys
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by Lewis - A2A »

Sorry you mis-understand the wire frame is a wire frame of the 3D model. You cannot create panel lines with it as all you would be doing is copying the polygon wireframe which has no bearing on actual panel lines etc.

thanks,
Lewis
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by mountainhighair »

I'm using the wireframe as a guide, as it is intended to do. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that. I was saying that the wireframe layer doesn't agree with the panel lines on the stock paint files supplied with the AF Corsair. Said another way, the panel lines on the stock paint files don't agree with the 3D model.

John
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by Lewis - A2A »

Yes that is correct panel lines should not line with with a wireframe, the wireframe just shows the polygon view and has nothing to do with panel lines, rivets etc on the actual aircraft. It sounds like you are going to use the wireframe view to create panel lines?
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by mountainhighair »

I think I know what you are saying - that a wireframe should not be used for panel lines across the open flat surfaces of an aircraft. But in many areas the wireframe can be used to find the edges of particular parts. For example, the wireframe shows where the ailerons, flaps, etc are placed; and with the Corsair it also shows where the wing folds, and the gear covers are placed. So this is how I am using the wireframe. Same as anyone else uses a wireframe I would think. The Corsair stock paint set does not match the model. This is what I'm working on correcting, hopefully without stepping on toes and sounding too egotistical.

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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by Lewis - A2A »

Aha! I see, from your description, I took it that you were going to re-draw the panel lines to match up with the wireframe rectangles which of course would be a little crazy. But I see what you mean now lol :oops:
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by mountainhighair »

I made the decision to create a Repainter's tutorial on my website. LORD HELP ME! I know I have bitten off more than I can chew, but it's just something I must do. Even keeping it "simple, stupid", I know it's going to drag out and get complicated, but I'd like to make my own dent on the subject and help beginners get a foothold on the basics. Creating repaints that are 50% of excellence is quite easy. I'd like to help others get to that point. It's that other 50% that I am going to try to avoid.
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by Lewis - A2A »

That sounds like a great idea + I also really agree banging together good repaints with a semi decent paintkit is very easy to get started with, if you post in our repainters forum too i'd be happy to help spread the word about it amongst the A2A user base. How are you thinking of doing it, text and images or youtube video type?

cheers,
Lewis
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by mountainhighair »

Hi Lewis, thanks for the offer of spreading the word. I'll take you up on that.

The tutorial will be text and images on a webpage. I've watched Youtube tutorials before and find them inferior for software type teaching compared to a webpage. I can always add youtubes later on if I get the itch. I'll stick with teaching about the different types of files that paint an aircraft, then go into layers, vector lines, brush and fill textures, shading and weathering... That list alone will keep me busy for a while. I'll need to get into Photoshop again to learn the tool titles that are used. I use Paintshop Pro, but they have the same tools. I just need to make it understandable for both of those programs, especially since most seem to use PS.

John
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by Lewis - A2A »

I'm the other way around and much prefer a video to be able to play and pause and go along with at will, but each to there own and I certainly look forward to seeing what you come up with for sure! Thinking about it maybe make it a pdf also for viewing on tablet devices, might be useful for people working along to the tutorial on there PC, saves having to switch windows all the time etc.

Anyway as I say post on our forums and I'll re-tweet and facebook etc as the basic questions still commonly pop up.

cheers,
Lewis
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by mountainhighair »

Lewis, thanks for the input. I have a basic format and topics that I am working on now, but down the road I would like to hear from beginners, or even beginner-wanna-be's, as to which topics they would like explained. For now I am proceeding with my recollections of what it was like starting out and how lost I was back in the day. I like teaching, and I'm pretty good at it because I always remember what it's like to be an FNG and having bosses who don't have a clue about explaining things. It can be frustrating. So, I guess we'll see if I'm really "pretty good at it". I hope so.

Eventually I can do some Youtube videos and expand my horizons. Right now I'm just trying to finish up the AF Corsair while also getting in some stick time. It's hard to work on graphics while also doing some quality flying. Somewhere along the line I got off the WoP3 Mustang and got enthralled with the Corsair. I'm almost done with both paint kit mods. Those are my two favorite warbirds. My heart is torn, and time is limited. lol

So many planes... So little time...
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Re: Corsair Paint Kit, bumpmaps and model problem.

Post by Lewis - A2A »

For beginner questions have a look at our repainters forum to see a little example then its prolly worth going over some of the larger FS community forums, I'm sure theres plenty of threads out there showing the common questions

thanks,
Lewis
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