Below is the MAAM SIM DC-3 and the nose area where the red and white roll down to me has been quite the challange to get rounded. It is like one pixel takes me this way and one pixel the other way takes it in to far. The top part rolled nice, however the bottom just does not want to cooperate. The bitmap it looks perfect, but when viewed it ends up like this. Any ideas, I'm all ears.

 

FS repainters are at the mercy of the model creators and their texture mapping.

 

Sometimes it is simply not possible to make the sim plane look like the RW picture.

 

It often comes down to pixel by pixel adjustments and compromising design over appearance.

 

What format are your textures?

 

32bit will preserve the details best, and if you are using the plane in FSX you might try using larger textures, that is change from 1024X1024 to 2048X2048. That will give you 4 times as many pixels to work with.

 

Also make sure you are not using mipmaps.

 

Good luck.

 

regards,

Joe

I am saving in extended bitmap textures DTX3. That is a good idea making the canvas 2048x2048 and zooming to 800 or 1600 while working, then when done go back to the 1024x1024 and saving. I will give that a try.

 

Thanks for your reply and the advice.

I am saving in extended bitmap textures DTX3.

 

You are eliminating 75% of the raw data when you use DXT3 compression.

 

Try saving as a 32-bit Extended Bitmap and see if that helps.

 

If you can't keep the textures as 2048 (FS9?) I don't think you will gain anything by editing them as 2048, then resizing them to 1024, as again, you are eliminating 75% of the original data.

 

regards,

Joe

Saving them to 32 bit wont help.

The idea to go the2048x2048 resolution is good.

Saving them to 1024x1024 for FS9 afterwards wont`t work , as Joe said.

 

BUT when we are dealing with FSX a far better result can be achieved on 4096x4096 textures.

DO NOT be afraid of a drop in framerate due to these huge texturesheets.

There will be NO noticeable drop.

 

 

Keep in mind 1024, 2048 or 4096 files can be used mixed on a model.

 

You might use a 4096 diffuse in combination with a 2048 bumpfile and use the 1024 option for the specular.

 

 

It all works perfectly.

 

 

Leen de Jager

That sure is some good advice here, I'm currently working on a different model and started using the 4096x4096 cleans up alot better then the 1024x1024. Your right files are bigger when saving. Was impressed with the results on the feather behind pilots window on the pic below using the 4096x4096. I will get back to the DC-3 when I finish this one up and hit that nose again, and let you know how all went. I have a habit of going overboard sometimes when painting, but it keeps it fun and interesting.

 

I don't think you will gain anything by editing them as 2048, then resizing them to 1024, as again, you are eliminating 75% of the original data.

 

 

This is not strictly true, it depends on the interpolation method you use when resizing the file, which will have some bearing on how the smaller file turns out. By default, Photoshop uses Bicubic interpolation for resizing and cropping, since the this is a good bet for the vast majority of professional Photoshop users, who will typically be resizing photographic images for use in the print industry outputting to a CMYK split, or banging out sRGB profile stuff for web usage.

 

So the default setting isn't necessarily the best setting for repainters.

 

This is because Bicubic interpolation is geared toward best preseving gradients and blends when the resolution is dropped, so for many airliner repaints, which typically have more flat areas of colour, cheat lines and hard edges, a better choice for resizing repaints textures for games and sims would probably be 'nearest neighbour' interpolation, which concentrates on sharp interpolation to preserve lines and edges more accurately when the resolution is dropped.

 

You can change that in the PS preferences, although like most preferences for CS applications, changes are file-specific if you make the change when a file is open, or application-specific if you make the preference change when only the application is open. You can also change it on the fly in Photoshop, if you use the 'Image Size' dialogue box from the Image menu as opposed to simply using the crop tool, since using the crop tool defaults to whatever the main preference setting is on.

 

Al

Interesting stuff, Al. Thanks for passing it along.

 

Regardless of the method used, resizing an image file from 2048 to 1024 decreases the pixel count by 75%. Math is math, and pixels are the language of FS repainters.

 

Also note that any use of the crop tool when resizing FS textures will screw up the mapping and result in one ugly looking plane.

 

regards,

Joe

"pixels are the language of FS repainters"

 

Very well said,indeed.

We need that high resolution to paint as precise as possible.

Down-scaling afterwards destroys the result.

 

Betters said ANY change of the size of the texture ALWAYS has a negative effect on its quality.

 

When painting is done NEVER change the size!!!!

 

I know there are painters who always paint initially on high resolutions and downsize the textures to be used in the sim , saying that gives a better result than actually paint on the final resolution.

 

With all respect , they are totally mistaken.

It makes painting more easy , thats a fact , the result however unsharp.

 

Painting at the actual resolution ,especially when its on 1024x is very hard.

Nevertheless the best result can be achieved painting this way.

The only problem is you have to be a damn good painter.

 

Never let your painting program decide where to move pixels you placed.

They should stay where YOU placed them.

Thanks for all the replys, rest assured from now on it's 4096 all the way, drawing and saving. I have used it and like the results far much better. I have been saving the smaller 512x512 bmp's like prop blades, and spin props in the 32bit888 format. There was no need for the 4096 on them. Thanks again for the replys, they were all sound ideas and heck I feel like I just advanced to a newer and higher level of quality doing repaints.