Simple Texture Viewer/Editor

[Jack B 14]

I have opened the .DDS in Paint.net, saved it as a .JPEG, then opened the .JPEG in Gimp to edit. When finished editing, export it as a JPEG, then in Paint.net save it as a .DDS.

[SuperKaro2014 277]

@breakinghbts I got the file off flightsim.to

The rar archive contains a file in a format called ptp... that one I have not seen before and my GIMP does not like it either 🙂

I am only familiar with DDS files for liveries. This must be a PMDG specialty?

[breakinghbts 50]

2 hours ago, SuperKaro2014 said:

@breakinghbts I got the file off flightsim.to

The rar archive contains a file in a format called ptp... that one I have not seen before and my GIMP does not like it either 🙂

I am only familiar with DDS files for liveries. This must be a PMDG specialty?

My apologies. The .ptp extension is something PMDG uses. Just change the extension to .zip or .rar and it should open. Again thanks. 

 

And to the other posters, I have a busy weekened ahead of me, but hopefully Monday night I will be able to try those suggestions. 

 

-Tony@PVD

Edited May 28, 2022 by breakinghbts
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[SuperKaro2014 277]

No luck... the ptp format seems to be a proprietary format for PMDG. I can't get any DDS files out of it 🙂

[Phantoms 800]

I think GIMP handles DDS natively now and doesn't require the plugin anymore.

[breakinghbts 50]

On 5/28/2022 at 1:51 PM, SuperKaro2014 said:

No luck... the ptp format seems to be a proprietary format for PMDG. I can't get any DDS files out of it 🙂

I think I had the PMDG setup mixed with what QualityWings does. Sorry about that, but thank you for trying, I do really appreciate it.

 

On 5/28/2022 at 6:02 AM, Jack B said:

I have opened the .DDS in Paint.net, saved it as a .JPEG, then opened the .JPEG in Gimp to edit. When finished editing, export it as a JPEG, then in Paint.net save it as a .DDS.

THIS. 100 times this! Thanks so much, this worked. 

 

To everyone who helped, thanks for the info/advice. Paint.net is definitely the way to go.

 

-Tony@PVD

[pmplayer 9,503]

On 5/28/2022 at 10:38 AM, Nuno Pinto said:

I am using photoshop with the nVidia DDS plugin. Works perfectly, imports and exports all .DDS files with no issues.

Same to me - use simple the best and you are fine !

cheers 😉

[Steve Dra 7,588]

I hope I can provide a little clarity since there seems to be a lot of confusion here about file formats and what opens what.

Here is a link to a write-up I did at PMDG's painter's forum to help with a lot of bits and pieces of the complex world of flightsim painting (but easy once you learn about it, you just need to put a little reading time in) 🙂 

https://forum.pmdg.com/forum/main-forum/pmdg-paint-hangar/184260-steve-s-suggestions-for-painting-the-pmdg-737-for-msfs

First...the PTP file.  It is a proprietary packaging file PMDG has been using for decades to package their paints to be used with their Ops Center (OC).  You can't just rename it to zip, rar, 7z etc and it will just open in those apps.  You need to extract it using the OC.

Next....While I'm sure Gimp does open DDS files, I've never worked with it.  I do use Photoshop® and the DDS plugin, however I also have paint.net installed just to view the thumbnails of the textures in the Windows Explorer© menu.  See my PMDG post linked above, down towards the bottom, on how to do this.

Anyway, the stuff in my link is mostly for painters who want to create liveries for the PMDG 737, if you just want to alter a texture file to add a new reg, add a pic of your daughter by the L1 door on the plane, etc....you just need to get the texture open in a texture editor that opens and processes DSS files (DXT5 if I'm not mistaken).

If you don't have access to the PMDG forums, nor wish to register and can't see the content of my link...here is the part about using paint.net to view files....you can also use the app of course to alter the texture if you don't want to go the Photoshop route.  It also describes how to move your paint off your master fuse file to the 3 separate fuse files (yeah, the fuse is broken into 3 4096x4096 maps)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

After I installed paint.net and told it to open DDS files...when I navigate to my livery folder in MSFS community folder...specifically:
C:\YOUR MSFS INSTALL FOLDER\Community\pmdg-aircraft-737-liveries\SimObjects\Airplanes\YOUR LIVERY

Once there, switch the folder view to Extra large icons and type "ng3_f" into the search window.
As you can see in my TUI Yellow livery below, it becomes quite apparent which are the files your alter for the fuse.

 

Basic steps after that are:
Copy the fuse file you need to paste your textures on in your paint program (I usually start with the F1, and you can even copy them all to your paint program if you have the memory to support them all, I have 32GB and can do this with no issues in Photoshop 2022.) How you get this file to your paint program is up to you and it...for example, I just drag and drop the file on to the Photoshop window and it opens it...I can also highlight all 3 and drag them....the twenty two million ways Windows allows you to manipulate files are all valid and will work...your choice.
Once in your paint program, grab the area using the guides (with Snap to Guides enabled) to copy the 4096x4096 part of the master you need...if you were working on F2, then grab between the guides 4096 and 8192...yes in the screen example below, you may notice that its NOT the TUI yellow livery....just happened to be the one i was working on when I replied to this post. LoL

Next copy all the layers in that square (a control C does NOT usually work in this case...you either have a "Copy all layers" feature or a button/shortcut to it.)
Switch to the F file you copied into your paint program
Paste the copied, combined layers onto the F file
"Flatten" the file and save it. Of course...for this step, you would have already downloaded and installed a plugin for your paint program that allows it to process DDS files properly.
Sorry I can't get more detailed than that, nor answer the questions I know this in itself raises, but I'm just too time constrained to be as responsive as I'd love to be. Ambitious types with a thirst for diving into it will take what I've shown above, and run with it. 

I wish everyone the best of luck in perusing your painting career, I will help....when I can.

[Phantoms 800]

I remember back in the day Abacus had a aircraft painter program that handled most things, you just added your colors and graphics onto the 3D model of the plane. Surprised with the popularity of MSFS that no company has stepped up to make something similar.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Phantoms