Problem with painting A2A birds

[dscott3984 1]

Well I put a request in the forum for some N number changes on the A2A birds but decided to give it a shot myself. I started out with Gimp but I decided to get the latest PhotoShop instead to finish it out. I am using Photoshop and dxtbmp for these paints if it matters to answer my question. Thank you to scottb613 for helping me get this far.

I have changed the N number and have been able to successfully get the paint into P3Dv3 but the spinner is a matte grey instead of chrome. How do I go about fixing this or just painting it to a certain color if I can't have the chrome look back?

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi Derrick,

Nice work - she looks good... Hmm - yeah - I forget the deal with the spinner - off the top of my head - I think it’s the Alpha Channel - what format did you save it in when exporting from PS ? You need a format that supports Alpha - like TGA or PNG... BMP will lose the Alpha... I’ll have to look at my paints again for more info - I remember I had to change mine from chrome to paint to match the real world schemes I was using - if nobody beats me to it - I’ll post back here when I get some time and more info...

Regards,

Scott

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi Derrick,

If your using PS - here is a plugin that will make your life much easier - allows you to read and write DDS files directly from PS...

https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-adobe-photoshop

Regards,

Scott

[dscott3984 1]

I am away from my computer now but from my recollection, I opened the psd in dxtbmp, flipped it, and then saved as a dds. I cannot remember what the selection after dds but I know there were some that said no aplha and I did not select those. 

 

I can can tell you more when I get back home. 

[dscott3984 1]

ok after flipping it I then save it as a DDS DXT5

[dscott3984 1]

Anybody have any ideas here?

[scottb613 1,188]

7 minutes ago, dscott3984 said:

Anybody have any ideas here?

Hi Derrick,

OK - I don't think I have the whole picture - you stated you opened the PSD in DXTBMP ? I don't think DXTBMP opens PSD files...

In PS - after you've made your edits - save the file as an uncompressed TGA... That retains the "Alpha"... Then open the TGA in DXTBMP and perform the conversion to DDS... I haven't used DXTBMP in ages - but - it's made by the same guy who did ConvImX so I assume it can open TGA's...

That's what I'd try...

Regards,
Scott

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

I use DXTBmp and save the PSD file as a .BMP (don't forget to flip it vertically) then, as Scott says, convert it to .dds

Next time I'll save as a .tga and see what happens.

[dscott3984 1]

20 hours ago, scottb613 said:

I don't think DXTBMP opens PSD files...

Mine has been but for troubleshooting I saved the PSD as a TGA and another one as a BMP. I started with the TGA, opened it in DXTBMP, flipped image and alpha, saved as DDS, then tried it in the sim. Still grey spinner. Then tried the same with the BMP and same results. 

[jdwgraf 52]

It has been a while since I painted the A2A 172 but from what I remember painting the spinner in the alpha ( reflections ) layer an almost black colour will give you the polished spinner you want .

Most of my A2A 172 paints were uploaded here and I will check on my PC if I can find one of these ( no longer installed ) .

As for PhotoShop surely you can save directly as a DDS file using the NVIDIA plug-in ? The lastest version of DXTBmp ( mine has been installed some years now ) can also open DDS files .

 

John

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi John,

Thanks - I don't have the Skyhawk - I've painted the Skylane and Comanche before - yep - thanks for the input somehow Derrick's losing the Alpha and I'm not sure why... I also know PSP the best as that's the program I use so I'm not as much help with PS...

Hi Folks,

Maybe Derrick could post his file and a PS/Skyhawk guy could take a gander - LOL - he's been trying for a bit and we don't want to discourage him too much on his first paint ???

Regards,

Scott

[jdwgraf 52]

 I had to check here in the library , my paints were uploaded back in 2013 ! Each one here has a painted spinner but I had others that were never uploaded so will have to go through the paint kit to find one .

The method I described above works with most other aircraft , the possibility that you may have to alter the spec texture is also an option . Like I said it's been a while !

 

John

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi Derrick,

This is the mysterious "Alpha Channel" we keep talking about - it needs to be included when you save the image in PS... In my example below from the Skylane - I'm using a TGA viewer and it shows the Alpha in the upper right - mine was edited from the default chrome as I needed a painted spinner on this one... You need to figure out why it's missing... In PSP it's also called the "Mask Layer"...

 

 

Regards,
Scott

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi John,

Thanks - yeah - been a bit for me too...

My spinners were all painted as well - so I edited the alpha - the paint kit defaults to chrome - so I'm not sure what's happening... I would assume the Skyhawk is similar... I may have messed with the specular map as well...

Regards,
Scott

[dscott3984 1]

Thanks for all the input y’all. When I get home from work tonight I will attach my PSD files for the texture and spec. I am assuming now I am doing something wrong in PS as I have duplicated what y’all have said to do here with the file as far as converting it to a DDS with DXTBMP and the same results are coming up. I have not tried the Nvidia plug-in as I read that it does not work with Photoshop CC so I haven’t even downloaded it.