Skins Where do you ask painting\skinning questions....

[racinjoe013]

I know this doesn't belong in the modding forum, but i'm not sure where you go to ask questions regarding skinning cars. I don't see any place regarding painting, unless i'm just blind and\or stupid. I'm trying to create a skin for the RSS Bayro and I can't figure out how others are painting certain parts of the car, plus a few other questions.

Can someone point me to the correct part of this forum to ask those types of questions. Thanks...

 

[SimLiveryDesigns]

I know this doesn't belong in the modding forum, but i'm not sure where you go to ask questions regarding skinning cars. I don't see any place regarding painting, unless i'm just blind and\or stupid. I'm trying to create a skin for the RSS Bayro and I can't figure out how others are painting certain parts of the car, plus a few other questions.

Can someone point me to the correct part of this forum to ask those types of questions. Thanks...

Hi what do you want to know about the RSS Bayro?

 

[racinjoe013]

Well I figured out one of my problems, so for now i'm just left with this one. I'm sure there will be other problems down the road.

I see in all of the skins folders for this car that there is a file named EXT_Extra_Logos_HR that has logos that are placed on the car. What I can't figure out is how to use this file with regards to where the logos get placed. Am I missing something obvious here? How do I use this file to tell it where I want the logos on the car? For now I have just used a pre-existing one from another skin and that works fine, but I would like to know how to use this file properly.

Thanks for any help and i'm sure i'm not done with the questions. I've gotten pretty far on my own so far, but this problem has me stumped right now.

BTW, love the new #42 skin. Won't replace the Schubert #19 as my primary skin, but it's still a beauty.

 

[racinjoe013]

Couple more questions for anyone who creates skins...

1.) Before creating the .dds file of my skin, should I hide or delete any of the layers in the original .psd\.psb file? I know about the wire frame or UV layer and I already hide that, but wasn't sure about any of the other ones.

2.) Where do you guys get your logos from? Are there any good websites out there that offer racing logos to use in custom skins?


Thanks for any help....

 

[formulaHEINE]

Couple more questions for anyone who creates skins...

1.) Before creating the .dds file of my skin, should I hide or delete any of the layers in the original .psd\.psb file? I know about the wire frame or UV layer and I already hide that, but wasn't sure about any of the other ones.

2.) Where do you guys get your logos from? Are there any good websites out there that offer racing logos to use in custom skins?


Thanks for any help....

1. With PS and the nVidia DDS plugin there is no necessity to merge any of the shown layers and no need to delete hidden layers.

2. There are some dedicated logosites listed below, wikipedia could be useful and there is the mighty google image search.

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/
http://www.webchantier.com/_index_en.html
https://worldvectorlogo.com/
https://seeklogo.com/

 

[racinjoe013]

1. With PS and the nVidia DDS plugin there is no necessity to merge any of the shown layers and no need to delete hidden layers.

2. There are some dedicated logosites listed below, wikipedia could be useful and there is the mighty google image search.

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/
http://www.webchantier.com/_index_en.html
https://worldvectorlogo.com/
https://seeklogo.com/

Thank you for the logo sites. That will be a big help.

I am using the nvidia dds plugin. Unfortunately, I am not using PS., I'm using gimp or paint.net so everytime I make my .dds it tells me it has to flatten my image. That's why I was wondering if I should be hiding anything. So far it seems to be working okay except that my whites seem really bright compared to other skins i've downloaded. That's why I thought maybe I was doing something wrong.

 

[formulaHEINE]

With gimp/paint.net i can't help you.
Maybe someone else could helup you here.

 

[Stereo]

with gimp I export as png, then use an external converter (Compressonator, by ati) cause it produces better quality results and it's easier to export png anyway.

Easiest way to flatten is ctrl+a ctrl+shift+c ctrl+shift+v, which selects the entire image and copies it as shown into a new image in one layer

For the typical skinning thing where alpha's 100% transparent I construct the texture as opaque, then add a layer mask at 100% transparency, cause it's impossible to mix transparent layers correctly

 

[LeSunTzu]

Well I figured out one of my problems, so for now i'm just left with this one. I'm sure there will be other problems down the road.

I see in all of the skins folders for this car that there is a file named EXT_Extra_Logos_HR that has logos that are placed on the car. What I can't figure out is how to use this file with regards to where the logos get placed. Am I missing something obvious here? How do I use this file to tell it where I want the logos on the car? For now I have just used a pre-existing one from another skin and that works fine, but I would like to know how to use this file properly.

Thanks for any help and i'm sure i'm not done with the questions. I've gotten pretty far on my own so far, but this problem has me stumped right now.

BTW, love the new #42 skin. Won't replace the Schubert #19 as my primary skin, but it's still a beauty.

When you do not know where the texture is displayed on the model, use a "texture helper" "UV helper" or whatever name they give to this type of file:

https://imgur.com/dogYX

Just save it under the name of the texture file you're wondering about and see in game where the different parts of the texture show.
Textures are displayed on a mesh according to a UV map, so when a texture file has been used to display stickers like contingency decals or numberplates at certain places (like in certain KS or mod car) you cannot use it to display decals elsewhere. If it does not suit your skin, the best you can do is neutralize it by setting it transparent (black alpha channel) and use the main texture. Sometimes you cannot do that because the material attached to that additional texture does not handle transparency, in which case you have to live with it and curse the designer's short-sightedness

 

[formulaHEINE]

When you do not know where the texture is displayed on the model, use a "texture helper" "UV helper" or whatever name they give to this type of file:

https://imgur.com/dogYX

Just save it under the name of the texture file you're wondering about and see in game where the different parts of the texture show.

@racinjoe013
Best tool for that is the 'CM Showroom' of the mighty Content Manager, it is the most essential program beside PS/gimp for skin creating in AC.
Just click on the 3D model and the corresponding texture is highlighted. And a few click more you know the file name and much more info, if needed though the pop-up tabs.

In the example below i clicked on the safety arrows for the hood latches.

 

[racinjoe013]

Thank you gentlemen. That's some really good advice and hopefully will help me finish off my first skin attempt. I'm borrowing heavily from other skins right now for my logos and design style while I learn how to work with these templates. Since I don't ever see me releasing this skin, I am assuming it's okay to borrow from others.

 

[Ghoults]

In gimp to flatten the image I just right click and select new from visible. That way you don't accidentally delete anything (if you save and close accidentally after collapsing you are *ed). If you want an alpha layer you can just add it as mask on the layer you just created. Right click, add mask layer and then you have your options there. You can also construct the alpha layer by creating a layer group and painting the mask just like you would do with normal layers.

 

[LeSunTzu]

Thank you gentlemen. That's some really good advice and hopefully will help me finish off my first skin attempt. I'm borrowing heavily from other skins right now for my logos and design style while I learn how to work with these templates. Since I don't ever see me releasing this skin, I am assuming it's okay to borrow from others.

They say borrowing is the sincerest form of flattery But keep in mind that one of the things that make a difference between a good and a bad skin is antialiasing, ie the few pixels around the decals where there is a blend between the decal and the background. If you borrow a decal from an existing skin, the antialising will match the background color of the initial skin, not yours.
So it is way better to work with clean logo graphics in vector or cutout png (ie no background) like those you find on the sites listed by fHeine.

Also you will find existing skins in dds format, which is compressed and ugly if you look it closely. If you use an existing skin, and then save it after your modifications, there is another round of compression into dds. Double ugliness

So if you want to keep your skin clean and tidy, you should use the "borrowed" skin as a guide to draw your own graphics and place your own decals. That way you learn how to do it right and as a bonus you may release the skin (just credit the inspirational skins).

 

[racinjoe013]

I am using different vector sites to find new logos. What I am doing now is using existing ones to use as test logos to see how things look on certain parts of the car. Get a sense for size and placemet. Then I will replace them with better copies if I can find them.

I hear you about the antialiasing part. That is one thing I am struggling with right now. Where one color meets another on my skin, I can't figure out how to get a nice blended look. You can't make it out real well in this picture, but the area where the green meets the white on the hood looks very jagged up close. It's fine in far away replays shots, but any kind of close up really shows how poor a job I did with the underlying paint scheme. I tried masking that area and using feathering and\or antialiasing before applying color, but it still didn't look as good as I see on other skins. Hopefully I can figure it out.

 

[formulaHEINE]

Does Gimp have an equivalent to the pen tool in PS?
I create all my colored areas as vector objects in different layers, etc.

But you might run into the compression losses of dds-textures.
Here's a comparison between different texture sizes and dds-compressions (8.8.8.8 is no compression):

With any sort of DXT compression there are always artifacts, as the whole texture is splitted in 4x4 pixles and is then compressed.

 

[racinjoe013]

Mine looks like the one on the left.

Not sure about the pen tool. Honestly, I haven't painted a skin or really used an image editing program since I painted my own personal car skins for Nascar 2003. So i'm relearning the paint programs as much as I am learning where things go on a template. There are so many more tools available now that i'm sure it has a pen tool. I will look into it.

 

[Stereo]

GIMP's pen tool is called "paths tool" and it's just as flexible but much less usable - you have to make the path, then manually raster it by using stroke/fill tools into pixel layers.