Brazilian stock car skinning.

[Steve Worrell]

Hi. Looking for some help skinning the Brazilian stock cars in AMS.

I want to create a new team in the championship. I have the team appearing in game but it doesn't load the skin I made. Annoyingly it does load one of the windows textures but not correctly. I am having some trouble getting the windows to work properly. Currently they are not transparent.

If there are any experts out there that have experience skinning this car I would greatly appreciate your help.

Thanks.

 

[alexSchmurtz]

Hi. Looking for some help skinning the Brazilian stock cars in AMS.

I want to create a new team in the championship. I have the team appearing in game but it doesn't load the skin I made. Annoyingly it does load one of the windows textures but not correctly. I am having some trouble getting the windows to work properly. Currently they are not transparent.

If there are any experts out there that have experience skinning this car I would greatly appreciate your help.

Thanks.

The skin not loading sounds like a naming problem. You need to edit (with Notepad) the .veh file from your car: the very first line should indicate the name of your skin dds, i.E. DefaultLivery="xxx.DDS"
For the windows to show up, they should have the same name as your skin, with "Window" at the end, i.e. xxxWindow.dds
Same for windshield (if you want to see your name and number from inside): xxxWindshield.dds
Have a look at a default skin from the game, and look at the files name and the .veh file.

For the windows transparency, you need to make sure you keep the alpha channel from the template, and save your files as DXT5 file with alpha layer. Which paint program are you using, Photoshop, Gimp?

 

[Steve Worrell]

The skin not loading sounds like a naming problem. You need to edit (with Notepad) the .veh file from your car: the very first line should indicate the name of your skin dds, i.E. DefaultLivery="xxx.DDS"
For the windows to show up, they should have the same name as your skin, with "Window" at the end, i.e. xxxWindow.dds
Same for windshield (if you want to see your name and number from inside): xxxWindshield.dds
Have a look at a default skin from the game, and look at the files name and the .veh file.

For the windows transparency, you need to make sure you keep the alpha channel from the template, and save your files as DXT5 file with alpha layer. Which paint program are you using, Photoshop, Gimp?

Hi Alex.

So, I have done the stuff with the .veh file for the default livery and it still doesn't load. I get a generic Blue car with no numbers or anything.

I have yet to try the window recommendations.

Something that looked odd to me...the livery file is over 30mb in size, is this normal? I have been saving as dds5 with the alpha channel set to transparency, is this correct. The options I have for the Alpha channel are "None" & "Alpha Channel 1"

And to answer your last question I am using Photoshop on Mac.

Thanks.

 

[alexSchmurtz]

@VernWozza Well, a generic Blue car means your .dds is not loaded, the game is using a default paint. You're probably right, 30mb is way too much! A 2048x2048 skin is around 5,6mb, a 4096x4096 around 22. You didn't go extreme and tried a 8128 paint?!

Saving as dds5 with "Alpha Channel 1" is the right setting. In the settings, in Mipmap filtering you should choose Filter type "Blackman" for best quality, and always create 6 mipmaps.

I'm just surprised that you export the dds on Mac, is it possible now? I'm painting on Mac too, but I switch to Windows to export to dds… Maybe the quickest way to find out if it comes from your export would be to send me your image: I'll convert it to dds and send it back. No need to send your Psd, it could only be a flattened image. If it works, we will figure out what you should do to be able to export properly. If not… it is something else and we will find out!

 

[Steve Worrell]

@VernWozza Well, a generic Blue car means your .dds is not loaded, the game is using a default paint. You're probably right, 30mb is way too much! A 2048x2048 skin is around 5,6mb, a 4096x4096 around 22. You didn't go extreme and tried a 8128 paint?!

Saving as dds5 with "Alpha Channel 1" is the right setting. In the settings, in Mipmap filtering you should choose Filter type "Blackman" for best quality, and always create 6 mipmaps.

I'm just surprised that you export the dds on Mac, is it possible now? I'm painting on Mac too, but I switch to Windows to export to dds… Maybe the quickest way to find out if it comes from your export would be to send me your image: I'll convert it to dds and send it back. No need to send your Psd, it could only be a flattened image. If it works, we will figure out what you should do to be able to export properly. If not… it is something else and we will find out!

There is a plugin on mac for dds export now. Available here if wanted: http://fnordware.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/dds-plug-in-for-after-effects-and.html

I tried exporting the as a dds 3 instead and that brought the file size down to about 5mb and has worked. Not sure what the difference is though?? Seems to look ok, albiet a bit glossy.

I want to make sure I am getting this bit right before moving on to the windows.

 

[alexSchmurtz]

There is a plugin on mac for dds export now. Available here if wanted: http://fnordware.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/dds-plug-in-for-after-effects-and.html

I learned something today!

I tried exporting the as a dds 3 instead and that brought the file size down to about 5mb and has worked. Not sure what the difference is though?? Seems to look ok, albiet a bit glossy.

With dds 5 the alpha channel has many grey levels, with dds3 you have a lot less. So the car is probably shinier because the alpha is a bit altered. It will be less a problem for windows since there you basically have dark parts for transparent windows and white parts to make opaque the decals and numbers. Try it I would say!