How Are High-Definition Repaints Created?

[Rations 102]

Could someone please describe how high-definition repaints (such as those produced by McPhat Studios and, more recently, AZI Studios) are produced when the stock paint kits for the aircraft are not in high definition? I am assuming that a brand new paint kit must be designed, but how is this done, and is there an easy way to convert the existing kit to a higher-definition one?

 

I have never really learned how to use image-editing programs proficiently, but nevertheless was able to create a fictional repaint for the Level-D B767 thanks to the wonderful tutorial provided by one of the painters.

 

Now, I am hoping to create my own private repaint for the Flight1 Cessna Citation Mustang. The stock texture quality seems decent, but I am wondering what it takes to create new textures or modify existing textures so they appear to be more like McPhat Studios and QualityWings high-definition textures, with the abundant rivets and sharp details. I do not really want to take the time to create a complex repaint if the end result will be as mediocre as my Level-D repaint was (particularly with the single-shade gray for the engines!).

 

Forgive me if the process of creating a new high-definition kit is too complicated for a beginner capable of learning slowly to complete.

[specialist 51]

Many High-Def repaints are possible if "spec" file is available for the model. It's what gives that pop to the exterior. It defines the rivets and panel lines which makes it look almost 3D. The painter also has to find a fine balance in shades and layers to get the effect he is looking for. The right amount of alpha channel is also crucial to give it the shine that helps with definitions, without looking to glassy or matted.

[Sara Louise Capon 21]

Hi hi,

 

In order to answer this question,

you need a few basic things.

 

Time and patience first of all.

 

Aligning things at 1024 can be tricky at times, at 4096 pixels it can take a little bit more.

 

Matching textures is another thing, whether the shading crosses texture sheets, so need to match those up too, otherwise you get unsightly seams where they meet.

 

If the aircraft has bump maps, they too need working or if starting from scratch or for selling, remaking, again from scratch, as they won't match the hi-definition textures.

There are a few ways to do bump maps, by hand (need some understanding of the layers, and very time consuming), the use of making height maps (grey scale) and then using the nvidia tools to create a bump map, then change that bump map into a bump map that FSX understands lol.

 

Also specular maps if it has them, they then need re-making or starting from scratch, they show what you can't see in shadow, or vice-verse , what you can see as the light rolls over the surface.

 

Trial and error a lot , if they are repaints of existing models to see what does and doesn't work, as it will depend on the modeller / company as to how they set up their textures and to what levels in the modelling program.

 

And not forgetting transparencies (glass) maps, and reflection maps.

 

All in all, a lot of textures, both the ones you do see, and the ones you don't directly.

 

Best way is to start small, and play with the textures, see what does what, especially when alpha maps are also used.

 

It's a long topic lol

[MikeAdamo 51]

 

Forgive me if the process of creating a new high-definition kit is too complicated for a beginner capable of learning slowly to complete.

 

As Sara pointed out, it's a long drawn out process and if you're in the beginning phases of painting, this would be a lot of work and very time consuming. At a simplistic level (not talking about bump maps and specular maps, just a pain old texture and an alpha layer) you basically have to take a texture file built at 1024x1024 pixels and enlarge it to 2048x2048 then re-draw all the elements by hand. Every rivet, every fuse line every little detail needs to be completely re-drawn. Once you have ALL the "base" textures reworked, then you can actually start the painting process. Again, this is a quick and dirty overview but as you can imagine, it's time consuming once you start.

[Rations 102]

Thank you to everyone who provided descriptions. It seems a bit too complicated and not worth the time as of right now, as I have school work that occupies a lot of my time.

 

Sara: Based on what you told me about recreating all the details (bumps, lines, rivets, etc.) in a high-definition repaint, does McPhat Studios recreate the paint kits completely from scratch, or are some of the base shapes and textures borrowed from the kits supplied by the original publisher? For example, for the PMDG B747, would you open the PMDG paint kit and modify it from there, or would you copy the general outlines from the paint kit and create a whole new file with custom textures?

 

Does anyone have any recommendations for a custom repaint service that will be able to create HD repaints that is still in business? I have written to a few, but some of them seem to have gone out of business. I also contacted Cielosim, and its products seem fine, but I would like a few more options before I spend the money or decide to do everything myself.

[Sara Louise Capon 21]

The base paint kits come in handy as a guide,

but in order to make a sale-able product, every last little detail must be drawn from scratch,

and not include anything from the original paint kit so as not to infringe copyright.

For personal use it is okay, or for free-ware as long as the Author permits it.

 

So yes, for sales work, it is all new, but for personal, it's your call

 

As Mike mentioned though, the Base texture or Diffuse texture is a good place to start.

You can enlarge the size of the paint kit, then start painting away.

 

So the paint scheme will be a higher definition, but the Authors detail remains the same.

The details can come later time permitting and as you learn more and gain techniques.

 

For reference,

that's how I started out, painting Captain Sim C130's (still my favorite aircraft).

 

Doing RAF re-paints.

Then changing the panels and rivets after several paints,

Then playing with the specular and reflection maps to get different effects, whether the aircraft be glossy or more Matt for military,

then Finally bump maps to add details for different models.

 

Then last of all moving to interiors

[Dhierin Bechai 12]

On a sidenote I would like to point out that 'AZI studios' paints are a rip off of the work of McPhat in which a vast amount of money and hours was invested. After some investigation we found out that rivets, engines, windows, decals, doors etc. were a 1 to 1 match with our textures. So 'AZI Studios' is not another HD paint studio, what this guy does is copyright infringment!

[Rations 102]

I somewhat realized that, but there were no other comparably high-quality manufacturers. I know you do not do custom repaints, but do you know anybody who does to as high of a standard?

 

Perhaps the owner of AZI Studios is not familiar enough with English, for most of his product descriptions are also almost identical to yours. I did not know that even the details were copied!

[Dhierin Bechai 12]

Almost everything is copied from the texts on his site (which has been blocked because of infringing our copyright) to the textures he claims to 'produce'.

 

There are not many paint studios that actually do HD paints, you might want to try Cielosim if you want something, but it is not high defention (as in high px/m-ratios, bump map, spec map, as far as I know) and 30-50 dollars for a paints (as can be seen in their price tag)?

But if you really really want a repaint that nobody else does, you might want to check out Cielosim.

[Rations 102]

Just awhile ago a few YouTube FSX filmmakers were endorsing his products, so I thought we would finally have more variety to choose from in the HD repainting business.

 

It's just hard to accept something of lower quality and sharpness when you have experienced the work of Captain Sim, McPhat Studios, or PMDG, especially for all of that money!

 

I myself am a perfectionist, so I am particularly wary about spending so much on a single repaint. Thanks for the suggestions, though, and I love your work.

[Daniel_CSR 29]

It's very time consuming to create HD paints for planes, which are non HD.

Creating your own HD paintkit takes most of the time. Searching for reference images is not always easy.

Sometimes you might have to spend weeks only for searching your images you can paint with.

Sometimes you have to travel to shoot the images yourself.

Sometimes you get those images from airlines and other people.

 

All planes I do are freeware (till now) and don't got those texture maps (bump,spec). You can do some neat things in creating HD paints.

 

As Sara said: "Time and patience first of all."

 

Sometimes you have to try weather to do 2048x2048px or 4096x4096px resolution on your HD textures.

If the model got less polygons, you might switch from 4096x4096px to 2048x2048px like I did on the Project Airbus A32x HD series

 

Some examples of HD textures I did can be found here:

Cheese-Strikes HD Corner Part I

Cheese-Strikes HD Corner Part II

 

It was all done from scratch, I added new reflections (using the alpha channel) to make it look more realistic.

(Normally you use the specular maps to create shine and reflection effects).

 

Greetings, Daniel

[Rations 102]

Those are very nice repaints! My challenge is learning about how to create all the decals and details, as I plan to do a fictional, private repaint (Air ZOWEN) instead of a real-world one. I already determined the style with my low-resolution repaint for the Level-D B767. It's now just about learning how to convert the same design to the C510 and at a high definition.