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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

Hands up who likes making rivets?

anthony31

SOH-CM-2022
Spent the last week drawing rivets. It is sooo boooring!!

The worst thing is I've only done the bump drawing, I have to do it all again for the actual texturing :( .

Is there anyone who actually enjoys this aspect of FS development?
 
I can't say I enjoy it, but it is satisfying when you get to see it in the sim after spending all that time with the rivet gun. I've been working on the bump maps for my PL-4 all weekend! :isadizzy:
 
I took one of the line segments available in PSP and adjusted it with several different spacings and saved each as a different rivet set. Then when I do a paint kit, I simply draw the line of rivets, adjust the point size to give me the rivet size I need. I add the hilites by doing a drop shadow in white and adjusting the layer up or down to get the look I want. I really don't mind doing them at all. Admittedly though I do everything as a layer on the main texture. I don't understand the technical side of FSX repainting so all of my stuff is minus the bump mapping.:salute:
 
I took one of the line segments available in PSP and adjusted it with several different spacings and saved each as a different rivet set. Then when I do a paint kit, I simply draw the line of rivets, adjust the point size to give me the rivet size I need.
Yep. Can't imagine doing it any other way.

I add the hilites by doing a drop shadow in white and adjusting the layer up or down to get the look I want. I really don't mind doing them at all.
I duplicate the panel line layer or rivet layer and change the color of that layer to white and shift them by one pixel. Then with that layer below the main panel line or rivet layer I adjust opacity or each until I get what I want.

Admittedly though I do everything as a layer on the main texture. I don't understand the technical side of FSX repainting so all of my stuff is minus the bump mapping.:salute:
There is an Nvidia plugin that will make the bump maps for you using the panel lines and rivets you already made. No need to make them twice.
:ernae:
 
...is this for your Eaglet? :kilroy:

Why, yes it is.

I'm actually using a custom brush. It is a 3x3 pixel brush with a hole in the middle. Most of the rivets in Tecnam's are pop rivets so they actually have a little hole in the middle. Wish I knew how to evenly space a line of custom brushes in PSP but I don't :( . Mind you, most of the rivets in the Eaglet aren't evenly spaced LOL.
 
Yep. Can't imagine doing it any other way.


I duplicate the panel line layer or rivet layer and change the color of that layer to white and shift them by one pixel. Then with that layer below the main panel line or rivet layer I adjust opacity or each until I get what I want.
Yea, that's what I do too, lol, lol. . . .my explanation fell a bit short, lol

There is an Nvidia plugin that will make the bump maps for you using the panel lines and rivets you already made. No need to make them twice.
I use an Nvidia plugin already when doing the dds textures directly from PSP8, saves a lot of work. . . .is this other plugin available on the Nvidia website?

NOTE: It doesn't appear that there is an Nvidia Plugin for that process that works with PSP.
 
I enjoy making them, firstly for the diffuse maps and then bumping using NVIDA plugins to Photoshop and then processing them through ACES imagetool. I use custom brushes a lot and paths. Panel lines are done as vectors in Corel Craw and copied into Corel PP. I use Corel Photo Paint mostly for the paint schemes themselves.
 
Yep i love it its my fav part of Building a Redux package

Although we kind of work different than most ppl as we start with the normal and work everything else (dif/spec) based on that,i found that creating the dif first them bumping it gives over sized normal map details and way less control of the areas you want to pop out more

Heres some very WIP shots of the next Ozx Redux Package

Laters
steve
 
I use PSP, but I do my rivets on a vector layer starting off with a circle that is the diameter I need for a given sheet. I then clone it into a long line of rivets that becomes my "master" set that I grab from to start a new line. When I do it like this it allows me to use the grouping, alignment, and spacing tools giving me a lot of control over a given rivet line. Here's a section from my wing I did yesterday...

View attachment 49867
 
Steve, it's pics like your w.i.p. shots you posted that cause me to discover that you can really throw a wireless mouse a long distance! :icon_lol:

Your work is incredible. :salute:
 
Yea, that's what I do too, lol, lol. . . .my explanation fell a bit short, lol


I use an Nvidia plugin already when doing the dds textures directly from PSP8, saves a lot of work. . . .is this other plugin available on the Nvidia website?

NOTE: It doesn't appear that there is an Nvidia Plugin for that process that works with PSP.

You don't need NVidia plugin for normalmaps. You can use the tool in X Normal program ( http://xnormal.net/ ). Use your diffuse (color) texture and modify it to make a decent heightmap (basically heightmap is a greyscale texture with 50% grey as a base. Everything you'll paint in lighter grey will look raised, everything darker will be look concave. Please note - it's relative. If you'll take 75% grey and paint someting in white it will be raised too, 50% grey will make 'holes'. Then start X Normal, go to tools and start Height map to normal map. In heightmap area right click and choose browse height map. For start leave default settings. When your heightmap will load right click in Normal map area and click Generate.

That's free tool, there are at least two payware tools for heightmap to normalmap conversion, they are much better, but they aren't cheap. One of them is CrazyBump ( http://crazybump.com/ ) second one is nDo2 ( http://quixel.se/ ).

And last but not least. It's NORMAL MAP, not a bump map. :kilroy: Thank you. :engel016:
 
XNormal is a standalone normalmap creation tool. Heightmap -> normalmap conversion tool loads image (TGA, BMP, etc.), saves image. And it's freeware.
 
That is some outstanding rivetting Steve.

What size would those rivets be in pixels?

Thanks for the tip about xnormal empeck. I'm using a plugin in gimp to make mine from height maps and then I have to do a whole lot of faffing about back in PSP to sort them out so they work in FSX.
 
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