MSF Repaint Help and Tips

[F50ACE 1]

Hey Everyone,

 

We can us this topic for the discussion of MSF repaints and any tips or help associated with repaints for MSF.

 

188AHC requested it, so I set it up.

 

Thanks,

[OO-JML 2]

60 hours?? :Shocked: I had a "hunch" and figured out that was going to be the case.

 

Sounds like it's going to be painful. I am not going to quit. The project plane is too funny to quit now. Well... to me anyway.

 

Photoshop is out of my reach right now money wise... so gimp 2.8 it is. Gimp is not necessarily "user friendly". However when you get the hang of it, it is not too bad.

 

As far as the RGB + Alpha goes, I will have to read up in gimp on that. Or maybe OMGBBQ32, can you explain?

 

Thanks,

-fryer

Hello Fryer,

 

I can't really explain.

R = red color component

G = green color component

B = blue color component

Alpha = Grayscale layer to influence the reflection of the area. White = very bright. Black = no reflection.

 

JML

[HiFlyer 9,358]

Free version of Photoshop.

 

I have uncertain feelings about this download but the original post was allowed to stand, and the OP stands by it, so.....

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/396555-adobe-cs2/

[F50ACE 1]

I haven't ever used Photoshop mainly cause of finances, so I went with gimp. Keep in mind that with some software its best to use the tutorials(gimp being one); however, hard-headed me doesn't like read that junk, so I just play around with gimp and see what does what. :Nerd:

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

RGB (Red+Green+Blue) = complete bitmap

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alpha Channel

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started a tutorial on basic concepts in repainting and the use of the GIMP, but I have so much to do at the moment and it may take a little while.

 

Best regards.

Luis

[Air1 136]

Thanks Luis. I downloaded GIMP a couple of weeks ago but have not been able to really look at it much yet. One of these days!

 

Steve

[F50ACE 1]

By the way, gimp can use both .psd and .dds texture formats. Just make sure to install the dds plugin 1st, and place the plugin in the appropriate folder. http://registry.gimp.org/node/70     C:\Users\%USER%\.gimp-2.8\plug-ins

[HiFlyer 9,358]

Well I see an issue right away. I have been manipulating layers and not channels at all...........

 

Edit: Quick Experiment 1

 

 

To be continued.............

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Get my sunglasses out! B)

 

Best regards.

Luis

[fryerlawrence 7]

@ OO-JML  Thanks

 

@ F50ACE  For the life of me I could not get Gimp to work originally.  All I could see was what I call a "grid fence" in front of what I wanted to edit.  I thought I would not be able to use Gimp.  I eventually figured out to load in Addon as a PSD file.  Nowww I could see and edit the plane.  I thought that I had the .dds plug-in in the correct place.  I double-checked and it is in C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins & I just put it in C:\Users\%USER%\.gimp-2.8\plug-ins also.

 

@ Steve  Get ready for a fight ...lol.  It is not necessarily a "user-friendly" program.    Not too bad once you get used to it.  I am still on a very STEEP learning curve.

 

@HiFlyer  Nice shinyee plane.  I would love to know how you did that.

 

@Luis  Thanks bro for helping us new guys out on the tutorial.  It is much appreciated!

 

:p0502:  Flyin' high,

 

-fryer

[F50ACE 1]

@@fryerlawrence yea, I did that and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work, so I watched a video on how to install the plug-ins. The folder path mentioned above is the correct path.

[OMGBBQ32 12]

Well I see an issue right away. I have been manipulating layers and not channels at all...........

 

Edit: Quick Experiment 1

 

 

To be continued.............

SHINEEEEE!!!! I'm PUMPED!  :yahoo:

[HiFlyer 9,358]

Playing with reflections...... There are definetly some combos that cause artifacts..... And it's also apparent that a true metallic reflection, at least in flight has a lot to do with the underplaying texture. Just the correct color values alone don't seem to quite cut it.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmm......

[F50ACE 1]

I found out that some planes esp. the Maule and P-51D have underlying textures that show through the skin. I tried doing a camo for the P-51D using Miss Seattle as the base, but the text kept showing through the camo skin even if I repainted the other textures below surface skin. Just something else for me to work on. :p0129: :p0128:

[HiFlyer 9,358]

I found out that some planes esp. the Maule and P-51D have underlying textures that show through the skin. I tried doing a camo for the P-51D using Miss Seattle as the base, but the text kept showing through the camo skin even if I repainted the other textures below surface skin. Just something else for me to work on. :p0129: :p0128:

 

I am gonna suspect that rather than seeing the actual lettering, you might be seeing the difference in shininess from the alpha channel....... Filling things in there might help

 

Or it could be something else entirely.

 

Meanwhile....... another experiment.