Of Bitmaps and Alpha Layers

[Willy]

Splitting this out of the Lockheed Rounder thread.

Just showing an example of an alpha layer that I've done for a fictional P-80 paint that I'm working on.

Original texture file (done in 2048x2048, 24bit bmp Converted to jpeg and downsized for attachment here.)

And it's separate alpha layer

In the alpha, the darker the area, the shinier it will be in the sim. Areas that I want to be dull, I use pure white. Some gloss, light grey. Bare metal I just leave as is. In this example, I wanted the OD green to be dull with the other paint areas somewhat glossy.

And how it looks in sim:

 

[nigel richards]

Nice move, Willy; will prepare some simple steps for this thread.

 

[lemonadedrinker]

Hi,

This is the LAGO SM 79, which Manuele is doing a new one of just now. Yippee. So this is just a quick question really, but how do you go from this red texture to, for instance, the cream and blue one?

Do you need to have a paint kit?
Where do you get the texts from for Eastern Airlines, Alitalia etc? !
So many questions.......

Andy.

 

[nigel richards]

Hi,

We do need a new thread I think!
How would I edit the alpha without sending it to the paint program I'm using...Paint.net in this case ? Paint has layering and so on, not that that means much to me, but they are there!

Teaching skills required now, Nigel, to be brought out of the cupboard, dusted off and shown to the now dusty children sitting at their desks coughing, but with mice poised and raring to go!

Andy.

LOL ))

Andy; I took the liberty of 'bringing' you over onto this thread to unclog the 'Lockheed Rounders'.

As much of what I'll endeavour to enlighten you good gentlemen with will concern layers, I've just downloaded the latest version of Gimp (version 2.8) to compare its similarities with Photoshop. Although I've never actually used the program, it appears to offer most of what can be done in Photoshop and uses similar basic layout/logic.

I believe (please correct me if I'm mistaken) Paint Shop Pro works along similar lines.

For the benefit of participating in this tutorial, please download and install Gimp if you have neither Photoshop or Paint shop Pro.
Be sure to make the FULL installation as this allows you to open most kinds of files including Photoshop layered Psd archives.

 

[nigel richards]

Hi,

This is the LAGO SM 79, which Manuele is doing a new one of just now. Yippee. So this is just a quick question really, but how do you go from this red texture to, for instance, the cream and blue one?

Do you need to have a paint kit?
Where do you get the texts from for Eastern Airlines, Alitalia etc? !
So many questions.......

Andy.

Aaaaahhh, eagerness

All in good time - firstly, we'd better find a suitable base texture and then we'll cover all these questions - step by step

 

[lemonadedrinker]

 

[gaab]

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Painting... but Were Afraid to Ask

Thanks to have open this thread !




Gérard

 

[AussieMan]

Thanks for starting this thread Willy. I am using Corel PSP X5 but sometimes I regress back to PSP X or PSP 5. Yes I know it is ancient (but then so am I).Once upon a time you could convert a Photoshop file to PSP but Adobe seem to be closing that loophole. A friend gave me his copy of PS CS3 when he upgraded to a later version. With Photoshop costing a 4 figure amount it is way beyond my wallet.

I have put up a few paints but mostly ones that don't involve bare metal. I have been trying to work out the alpha channels for some time now as I have been doing some work on the FSAddon native FSX Hudson/Lodestar and also their Anson. Will also help me with a repaint of the JF DC-6 I am doing.

I am ok with the layers bit. Just the alphas I struggle with.

 

[nigel richards]

Gérard; never hesitate to ask anything here - the more you ask, the more worthwhile will be this thread.

We'd better find something very simple as a starter download pack. Preferably not an entire aircraft - once we're comfortable and happy doing the basics, we can then gradually move on to more challenging tasks.

Please give me a little time on this - any ideas would be most welcome.

 

[gaab]

Gérard; never hesitate to ask anything here - the more you ask, the more worthwhile will be this thread.

Thank you for your nice words.

I will be an attentive student...

Cheers - Gérard

 

[Willy]

Thanks for starting this thread Willy. I am using Corel PSP X5 but sometimes I regress back to PSP X or PSP 5. Yes I know it is ancient (but then so am I).Once upon a time you could convert a Photoshop file to PSP but Adobe seem to be closing that loophole. A friend gave me his copy of PS CS3 when he upgraded to a later version. With Photoshop costing a 4 figure amount it is way beyond my wallet.

I have put up a few paints but mostly ones that don't involve bare metal. I have been trying to work out the alpha channels for some time now as I have been doing some work on the FSAddon native FSX Hudson/Lodestar and also their Anson. Will also help me with a repaint of the JF DC-6 I am doing.

I am ok with the layers bit. Just the alphas I struggle with.

I never have been able to get my head around layers so I resort to some "trickery" instead to achieve some of the same effect. But after the first time I saw bare metal in FS that shined, I was hooked and busted my butt figuring how it was done.

I use Paint Shop Pro X (Mrs Willy got it at a yard sale for $1 without the manual), MS Paint, Photosuite IV and Pixia depending on what I'm doing. Somewhere in all my backup files, is the installer for Paint Shop Pro 6. I do have a "dummies book" for it though.

 

[AussieMan]

You're like me mate ...... self taught and learning from your mistakes.

A lot of payware and some freeware aircraft come with layered paintkits. A lot even have alpha layers that you can play around with.

I also managed to get a PSP X manual off eBay.

 

[stuartcox]

Thanks to Nigel, I have I have been able to create layered repaints in PSP and GIMP. He helped me a lot!

It is very easy if a paint kit is supplied, you can let your imagination go wild.
It takes time and patience to get to know the several options in these applications, but playing around and making some 'mockups', does help.
As Nigel says, starting on a single texture, rather than a whole aircraft, is the way to go.
I am looking forward to learn how to do the riveting and proper panel lines to create layered paint kits.

Great to see you back online Nigel, and I will be following this thread with great interest!

Regards, Stuart.

 

[nigel richards]

Thanks to Nigel, I have I have been able to create layered repaints in PSP and GIMP. He helped me a lot!

It is very easy if a paint kit is supplied, you can let your imagination go wild.
It takes time and patience to get to know the several options in these applications, but playing around and making some 'mockups', does help.
As Nigel says, starting on a single texture, rather than a whole aircraft, is the way to go.
I am looking forward to learn how to do the riveting and proper panel lines to create layered paint kits.

Great to see you back online Nigel, and I will be following this thread with great interest!

Regards, Stuart.

Ah stuart, my friend; am I happy to see you after so long!!!

Great to have you along here for some serious texturing - welcome aboard, Sir.

Gratifying to hear that the paintkits were useful to someone, at least.

Weekend's thankfully on our doorstep, so we'll begin tomorrow by getting rid of, once and for ALL; misconceptions, hangups and fear of layered texturing.

We'll roll right back to absolute basics, to begin with, so I ask a little patience from those who have already tried their hand at texturing.
Rivets, panels, alphas and bare metal will all be on the menu and much more besides; shadowing, highlights, colour work, lettering etc, etc.

 

[Tom Clayton]

Do you need to have a paint kit?
No, but it helps tremendously!

Where do you get the texts from for Eastern Airlines, Alitalia etc?
The fonts used by most major airlines are custom work and proprietary. You can sometimes find downloadable font files on the web, but a better method might be to search for the logos themselves. I did a quick search for the Eastern font and got Wiki's copy of the logo. The original file is a smallish svg, but there's a 1280x169 png available too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern_Airlines_logo.svg

Side note 1: If you've never done it before, installing fonts in Win 7 (and up, probably) is extremely easy. Just download the file (from a reputable source), double-click the file to open the font reader window, then look near the top of that and you'll see an install button. Click that, and you're done.

Side note 2: SVG files are really just text files - Scalable Vector Graphics. You can open them in Notepad++ and play with the "fill" numbers to change the colors of different parts.

 

[lemonadedrinker]

Hi,
Thanks for the information about the fonts and the other items. I am going to have to sit nearer the front of the class from Monday.
Andy.

 

[Willy]

There is a free Pan Am font out there, but it's more for the jets than the old propliners. There's also an Aerovias Brazil font out there, but it's use can be rather limited.

One font that I do use quite frequently is Amarillo USAF. It's good for military aircraft & tail numbers, etc on civil aircraft.

And I agree about most of the time having to find logo's on the net. Especially if it's a script type font. Sometimes I end up have to size them up and rework them to remove the "jaggies". Google images is great. Also for finding pics of subjects. I'm working on a LAN Chile paint for the Lodestar, that without the pics I found, it would be very difficult to get right.

With logos, I'd rather have them oversize to start with and size them down than have them too small and have to size them up.

 

[nigel richards]

There is a free Pan Am font out there, but it's more for the jets than the old propliners. There's also an Aerovias Brazil font out there, but it's use can be rather limited.

One font that I do use quite frequently is Amarillo USAF. It's good for military aircraft & tail numbers, etc on civil aircraft.

And I agree about most of the time having to find logo's on the net. Especially if it's a script type font. Sometimes I end up have to size them up and rework them to remove the "jaggies". Google images is great. Also for finding pics of subjects. I'm working on a LAN Chile paint for the Lodestar, that without the pics I found, it would be very difficult to get right.

With logos, I'd rather have them oversize to start with and size them down than have them too small and have to size them up.

Starting off with large logos and other types of art is good practice

I have a back-up folder of all the fonts I use for texturing - As I would hate to create copyright issues, I could zip them up and make them available privately via dropbox.

Please visit Simmer's Paint Shop

http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/forum.php

Some excellent basic RAF, USAAF and German fonts, plus ready to use markings for major world air forces.
You'll also find some great texturing tutorials; rivets, panels, fabric surfaces etc.

Useful tutorials for Photoshop, PSP and Gimp too.

 

[nigel richards]

I have now uploaded my personal set of fonts to Dropbox.

If anyone would like copy, send me your e-mail via PM.

I'm now putting together a base pack for the tutorial.
After giving it some thought (and pending Milton's kind permission), I've decided to use the base model and mapping textures for the Republic XP-72.

That way for those wishing to do so, we can progress onto the layered paintkit as things become more advanced.
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?88071-Republic-XP-72_paintkit-zip

Will post HU as soon as Tutorial Base Pack is uploaded

 

[nigel richards]

Tutorial Base Pack uploaded

_T_tutorial.zip is uploaded and will be duly available in the Warbirds download section.

By Milton's generous permission, the pack is a stripped down but fliable XP-72 for texturing purposes.
If you wish to add sounds and panel, these can be added from the standard Republic XP-72 Pack.

Just unzip the folder and place the '_tutorial aircraft' folder in the FS 2004 aircraft section.

You will find a separate folder; 'base texture' containing a 2048 x 2048.bmp file.
This will form the basis for your work and may be stored in a place of your own choosing.
I'd suggest putting it inside the actual '_tutorial aircraft' folder' for convenient access.