Details, details…..

I’m my last post I showed you a little of how we paint within flightsim.

This post, I’ll show you some of the things we have to contend with while painting in a virtual world.

The subject today is about how the tiniest details can make or break a paintjob.

While doing a final QA (Quality Assurance) on the KLM paint, I noticed as I was panning around it that I was getting some texture artifacts on the paint…see screenshot below.

As it turns out, this is a result of trying to save some file size bytes by using the compression format known as DXT. In case you ever wondered, DXT files are compressed versions of a BMP (bit map) file any program uses to render what you see on the screen.

Through the years, we’ve gotten updates to the DXT algorithm that have made it look better within flightsim. We are currently on version 5, and it does an ok job with redisplaying the textures you see on a typical paintjob.

However, it seems that when you use it on the bump maps, it introduces too many artifacts (at least to my liking).

 

 

To see this on the bump map, I put a DXT and 32bit BMP side by side in Paintshop Pro (that is what I use to paint, not Photoshop) and zoomed into an area to demonstrate. Since the shading is so subtle (we’re talking 1 or 2 points on the RGB scale) I hit sharpen within Paintshop a few times to pull out the artifacts for you to see easier. The background color should be 128,255,255 all over, but even a 2 point difference is noticeable when you look at it this close. Check it out below.

 

 

 

Sooooo….what I had to do was remove all those artifacts while saving the bump details on the map. I won’t go into details on how I did it, it was not that difficult though. However, I did have to do it on 3 fuse maps! :Whew: .

I don’t worry about the other maps as you hardly notice them and the effect is really only noticeable on vertical surfaces when the lighting is just right.

A lot of work? Well again that is relative, hehe. Once I had them done, it was just a matter of copying them to the other paints, and I created masters of them in case I ever need to make any modifications to them in the future.

 

What does all this nonsense mean to someone who has no interest in painting? Nothing really, but it makes a ton of difference to all the folks out there who want good looking paints. :Big Grin:

 

I know all this stuff is pretty daunting if you want to get into painting, but then again…I didn’t learn all this stuff overnight. Tons of trial and error and self-teaching.

 

What I'll probably do in the future to save download times is to create a base package with all the bump, light and spectral maps that are common to all paints. This way you can download the base pack once, then the actual paints will be a smaller download. Sound good?

 

As for performance issues with 4mb bump maps (vs 1mb which is what DXT compresses them to), I don't think with today's processors there should be much of an issue. (it runs fine on my laptop, but it is a pretty powerful one)

If I get any complaints about performance I'll handle them on a one on one basis (send the DXT versions to the person emailing me).

 

Regards,

Steve Dra

^_^ ^_^

 

^_^ ^_^

 

 

 

Oh yeah....well here's a waffle with a bunny on its head....take that! :LMAO:

Hi Steve, nice post, i found it very informative.

 

 

What I'll probably do in the future to save download times is to create a base package with all the bump, light and spectral maps that are common to all paints. This way you can download the base pack once, then the actual paints will be a smaller download. Sound good?

 

umm, dunno really. I dont have any probs downloading paints as thier file size's arnt very big, and i have hi speed broadband. ...but thats just me.Others may have diffrent oppinion on download times.

 

You have told me previosly if this was for the 195 or 75 but either way, waiting with baited breath for this 1! :good:

Guys, guys, how often do I have to say that no pictures in subsequent posts are allowed?!

 

I will leave them but that the last time!

Oh yeah....well here's a waffle with a bunny on its head....take that! :LMAO:

^_^ ^_^

 

 

:LMAO: :LMAO:

Guys, guys, how often do I have to say that no pictures in subsequent posts are allowed?!

 

I will leave them but that the last time!

 

Hey Steffen,

I wasn't sure if it was all pics or just ones uploaded here....I had linked this pic in from my web page.

Sorry. :Cry:

 

if this was for the 195 or 75 but either way, waiting with baited breath for this 1!

Hey Luke, its for the 195, and you'll be flying it this weekend!

Without any bump mapping artifacts I might add. :rofl:

 

Regards,

Steve Dra