Guys & Gals,
I not new as a simmer, but I'm looking to expand into painting. I don't know wear to start. I want to make my own paints of the tigercat and the invader (Daisey Mae and Spirit of NC). What programs do you use, wear to get it, and how much? Basically what I'm asking how do I get started?
A26
Hello-
I don't consider myself a veteran by any means, but I think I can sum up my methodology so far as follows:
1) Preparation- scrounge all the photos, profiles, 3-views, etc. of your subject that you can- knowledge is power!
2) More preparation- see #1.
3) Get comfortable with the painting software of your choice- I use Paint Shop Pro 9, but there are some others, some cheaper (I think I paid $50 for PSP9), some free (I downloaded paint.net but I haven't tried it yet), and some can set you back some $.
4) Check out some of Martin Wright's programs- DxtBmp, Show, MdlMat- Very useful tools for viewing and working with your texture files. And they're free.
Once you have all of the above in place...
5) Another program I find handy is Abacus' FS Repaint- you can take a look at your work without having to boot up the sim all the time. It even has a simple painting program included... $30.
6) There are lots of excellent tutorials and information available here and at
www.SimmersPaintShop.com - studying the work of others can be very educational as well... like I said, knowledge is power!
Don't forget to back up your files- this saves much grief!
Good luck and have a ball! -Mike Z.