Basic Painting Questions

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jimst57
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Joined: 15 Apr 2015, 09:05
Location: Rhode Island

Basic Painting Questions

Post by jimst57 »

Excuse my ignorance, I'm just getting started with repainting and have a few questions.

I'm using Photoshop with the Nvidia plugins, and working on the C-172 paint kit.

When I open the .psd file, I get 5 basic layers groups:

mesh
alpha
don't paint
paint here
background

I do my painting in the paint here layer. So far so good.

Which layers have to be turned on (eyeball on) when I save to the .dds file?
If I turn on the alpha layer things don't work. When I turn off the alpha layer things work out, but the plane isn't very "shiny".

Also, there are MANY choices in the Nvidia plugin to save as. 8.8.8, 8.8.8.8, DX1, DX5, etc.
Which one is one I want?

Thanks, and again sorry for the basic questions. I'm having success, it's just the alpha layer thing confusing me.

jimst57
Airman First Class
Posts: 54
Joined: 15 Apr 2015, 09:05
Location: Rhode Island

Re: Basic Painting Questions

Post by jimst57 »

I seem to have some success if I go into the "Channels" tab and make sure all layers (Red, Green, Blue, RGB, Alpha 1) are turned on.

I then make sure the Alpha layer, in the "Layers" tab is off.

If I then save, using the Nvidia plugin, as a .dds (8.8.8.8 inverted) file, I seem to get the shine I want on the plane.

Is this the right way to do it?

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bladerunner900
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Joined: 17 Aug 2008, 14:59
Location: South Wales

Re: Basic Painting Questions

Post by bladerunner900 »

The default dds file format for saving from A2A paint kits, is DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp / interpolated alpha, with no MIP maps, flipped vertically and using the highest Compression Quality. Also, ideally, you should copy your main texture edits over to the Alpha group in Layers as shades of grey, but for now you should be okay using the default Alpha channel.

Image

To make a new Alpha, when I finish altering it in Layers, I duplicate the Alpha group with a right click on it and selecting 'Duplicate Group...' from the drop down menu. You then merge the group with another right click on the copy but this time, you select 'Merge Group' from the drop down.

Then you have to copy that merged group over to the Alpha channel. I use keyboard shortcuts for this.

First, make sure the newly merged Alpha copy is selected then..

hit Ctrl+A, followed by hitting Ctrl+C. (here, you are selecting all and copying it to the RAM buffer.)

Then select the 'Channels' tab and select the 'Alpha 1' channel. It may have a different name but it is under the 'Blue' channel.

When you have the alpha channel selected, hit Ctrl+V. (This pastes what you copied into the Alpha channel.)

Before saving the new texture as DDS, make sure the RGB channel is selected and the Alpha group and its duplicate are not selected in the Layers tab.

It's all very confusing , I know. But we all start off the same with no knowledge and it can be quite daunting.

All the best to you and good luck.
Steve.

EDIT:
One tip about Alpha channels. Generally speaking, the darker or blacker the alpha, the shinier your finished paint will look in the sim.
Last edited by bladerunner900 on 14 Jul 2017, 15:36, edited 1 time in total.

jimst57
Airman First Class
Posts: 54
Joined: 15 Apr 2015, 09:05
Location: Rhode Island

Re: Basic Painting Questions

Post by jimst57 »

Thank you! I'll give it a try.

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bladerunner900
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Posts: 1991
Joined: 17 Aug 2008, 14:59
Location: South Wales

Re: Basic Painting Questions

Post by bladerunner900 »

You are welcome.

If you do save as 8.8.8.8, the one you want is the ARGB 32bpp / unsigned. It's a higher quality being 32 bit but the file size will be 4x larger than the default format. 64k instead of 16k in this case.

Cheers.
Steve.

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CessnaSkypilotN7365W
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Location: X59, Valkaria, Fla
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Re: Basic Painting Questions

Post by CessnaSkypilotN7365W »

Hi. I'm trying myself to take on the daunting task of repainting my newly purchased 182. I am familiar with how layers work and have painted my plane in the "Paint Here" layer that I have renamed to match the tail number ie., "Livery_N7635M"
I have added a couple stickers and my own tail number in their own layers and saving the file as a psd while working on it. When I am ready to save it as a dds file, I merge them down to the single "livery" layer.
Now the fun begins...
Did I mention I am using GIMP? It can save as a dds so I don't need the NV plugin.
Do I leave what is not visible and what is visible as they were when I opened the psd. Do I leave my new layer visible? Do I merge visible layers, thus deleting invisible layers, or do I flatten the image, or both in that order?
And what about the specular file? What do I do with that so that is matches my scheme? I understand what it does I just don't understand how to make it unique to my needs.
Now the unavailing...
I have attempted 4 times now, each experimenting a little with how to get different results. The first two times I ended up with a TOTALLY BLACK model, including wheel chocks and tie downs. The third time I thought I was getting closer with a skin wrap that looked like the entire thing as it appears when the psd file is opened. The fourth was back in black.... REALLY???
Is there a specific order the layers are stacked in, a certain layer selected as active, visible or not?? I'm getting a little overwhelmed but refuse to give up though my wife is getting a little p'd. Says I'm obsessed lol. (nah) With the time it has taken me to paint it I haven't flown the damn thing in over two weeks.
Is there somebody out there that can walk me through this? I'd be forever in your debt lol and I could get back to the real reason I got in this sport in the first place lol!
Blue skies,

Roger

PS... I edit on my laptop, windows 10 and transfer the dds files to my FS machine, Windows 7 with NV graphics card if that matters.

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