Hi!I'm trying to paint "my own 737" and it going on nicely, but there are a few questions. Maybe the "pro's" here can help?- I'm using Paintshop Pro 5 Limited Edition. It seems this program can not modify alpha channels, so I have to do this with DXTBmp. Is a newer Version of PS-Pro able to to modify alpha directly? Maybe PS-Pro V6?- Is there any way to preview the painting done without starting FS9?Currently I have to * finish work in PS-Pro (flatten layers and so on)* start DXTBmp* load Targa* load Alpha from another file* save work in DXTBmp* Start FS9* load the aircraftAs you can image this takes a long time, though I'm using a real fast machine. There must be a better way to preview, right? Thanks a lot in Advance!

Hi!Well, first: Please sign your posts with your real name as stated in the forum guidelines.I'm using Paint Shop Pro 7, and to be honest, I never did care very much about the alpha channels as they are prety fine in the paintkit.Paint Shop Pro 7 does read and save the alpha channels (and I guess you can modify them, but I never did:D ).As far as the preview is concerned, I guess that's the way ALL the painters do it (maybe Pete Sterling has another secret program for that...:-lol ).And it shure takes a long time, but it's worth it.CheersThomas

If your machine can handle it. Have FS run in the background with another plane chosen. Then choose the plane you want to preview, choose another while doing changes. Quicks up the process some.Have funMads

I wish someone would write that secret program:-lol No, I do it the old fashion way, paint, start FS, screenshot, then back to the paint program.

Hi,>Well, first: Please sign your posts with your real name as>stated in the forum guidelines.oops, thought I have it in my signature - fixed :-)>I'm using Paint Shop Pro 7, and to be honest, I never did care>very much about the alpha channels as they are prety fine in>the paintkit.well, some colors are to shiny without modifying alpha......>As far as the preview is concerned, I guess that's the way ALL>the painters do it (maybe Pete Sterling has another secret>program for that...:-lol ).okay, but one should have a tool like Active Camera then. I don't have it (and won't buy it, IMO to expensive for what you get).

It's even a bit easier. As I wrote in another post, in the key assignment list of FS2004 you can assign a key to reload the aircraft, so there is no need to switch between two planes.GreetingsThomas

Hi!>If your machine can handle it. Have FS run in the background>with another plane chosen. Then choose the plane you want to>preview, choose another while doing changes. Quicks up the>process some.already tried that. While PS-Pro 5 LE is running, some other programs don't work anymore. My TV-card shows no picture, and most textures in FS9 are missing while PS-Pro runs. Strange.....

Hi Robert,I use Paint Shop Pro 5 for the majority of my painting. You don't need to go through all the steps you've listed.The beauty of a targa file is it allows you to keep the alpha and edit the paint on it at the same time. You don't to continually import the alpha after each modification to your paint.You do however need to open FS9 to check your paints. I usually keep it open, swap to another aircraft, do my editing, then change back. Most of the time the changes are visible. :)What I do is save a copy of the targa files in my aircraft folder in the FS9 directory. I open them, then just minimize them. I then open my fuselage master, do the requried editing. Save it, I then flatten all the layers, I then save it as a BMP. I do this so I have an updated and most importantly saved version of the psd. Saving it as a BMP allows me to easily cut and past, and also prevents accidently saving the flattened psd.. (Which I've done once.. :()Copy & Paste the textures onto the targa, then save. Using Image Tool, open the targa, save it as the aircraft texture BMP.Then swap to FS9 and check it.You can edit the alpha in PSP if you need. You need to go to prefs, then select editor. Browse to the PSP5.exe.You simply load the targa with alpha, you'll see it appear in the top right of the screen. Double click on it, this will open it in PSP. You can edit what you need, click save, close PSP and then use DXTBmp to save the targa. Then simply use image tool to save the targa as a bmp and check it over again.

There IS an MDL viewer.. payware for 29 bucks.. Saw it in Computer Pilot Magazine. Gotta check the name.VinPMDGwww.precisionmanuals.comhttp://www.vinscimone.com/dancnkid.gif

Think its called FS Painter by Abacus.I'd rather stick $29 towards my next PMDG purchase :-lol

Hi Thomas,are you the one who did the great TWA and Astraeus repaints? If so, thank you very much :).I made one observation, though. You said:>I never did care very much about the alpha channels as they are prety fine in the paintkit. Paint Shop Pro 7 does read and save the alpha channels (and I guess you can modify them, but I never did.):(. Unfortunately, I can't help you with PS Pro, as I'm using Photoshop. However, converting the textures should work without any paint program. Here's how I did it:I opened the texture in Imagetool (comes with FS2002), converted it to 32-bit, saved, then opened it with DXTBmp, deselected 'Include Mips' under 'Prefs', then imported the alpha channel, and saved it in 32-bit format. Now I have a shiny non-blurry aircraft, but the texture has increased in size from 682kB to 4MB (same size as the PMDG textures).Cheers,Gosta.http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

>Hi Thomas,>>are you the one who did the great TWA and Astraeus repaints?>If so, thank you very much :).>Hi Gosta,yes, that's me.:-hah But the fact that I saved the textures in DX1 format was not for performance. It was simply a mistake...x( I'm still learning and improving my repaints. Now I save them in DX3 format.At this time I'm not doing repaints. I'm trying to find some time to fly this nice A/C and to learn more about it. On the other side I'm trying to improve my painting skills (metallic look, dirt, streaks...).GreetingsThomas

Hi all just bought the plane 4 days ago and I'm now beginning with some repainting.. :) About the file formats... I've looked into some of the base files and noticed some are saved as RGB BMP files and not as DXT... Am i missing something? At the moment I have terrible trouble with the tail section which seems mip-mapped toi minimum detail, i have to zoom in once to see it correctly.. anybody an idea as to how to fix it? Is there some listing for the users repaints? May I distribute my repaint as I wish or has it to be approved in some way? (I know i can't redistribute original painting files ;) )Thanks in advance for any answer and "great job" to the developers and beta team. Luca Benelli