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Existing texture editing (Read 671 times)
Apr 6th, 2009 at 1:56pm

RacingLad   Offline
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Hello mates,

I have some textures for some aircraft. These are already made but the tail exhaust doesnīt look to real. So I want to change that exhaust for a more realistic one.

I have Photoshop and just recently downloaded DXTbmp.

The problem is I donīt know how to use them.

Can anybody show me how to do it?

Thanks,

Cheerz!
 

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Reply #1 - Apr 6th, 2009 at 5:24pm

Travis   Offline
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My feeling is that the exhaust is not something you can edit using Photoshop.  Those types of things are usually either effect files that work with gauge files, or a part of the model itself.  Neither one is very easy to modify.

If you could post a screenshot of the aircraft in flight, we can probably tell you what it is.
 

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Reply #2 - Apr 6th, 2009 at 6:51pm

RacingLad   Offline
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Itīs the exhaust hole on the rear of the airplane, below the vertical stabilizer. It looks gloss black. Other aircraft have normal looking exhaust holes.
 

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Reply #3 - Apr 9th, 2009 at 1:30am

RacingLad   Offline
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Ok, this is what I want to do:

I want to change this...

...


for this:

...

Iīve got the textures, all I need is the knowhow...

Help!
 

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Reply #4 - Apr 9th, 2009 at 5:46am

ShaneG   Offline
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Are these the same plane? Which plane is it? Which sim is it for?

if they are the same plane, it should be fairly easy.


IF THEY ARE THE EXACT SAME PLANE:

Open the texture you want to modify with DXTBMP and note at the top as to what kind of texture format it is in.


Save a copy of it as a 24bit bmp in a new folder, or it will just overwrite the original, and export the alpha channel to the same new folder.

Next do the same for the texture you want to use.

You should now have a folder with two 24bit bmps and two alpha channel bmps.

now open the two textures in your graphics program. Use the pen tool or magic wand tool, (not sure what your program has) and select the part you want to use.

Copy it and then paste it as a new layer on the texture you want to replace.

When it is in the right position, save the bmp.

Now open it back up in DXTBMP , import the alpha channel you exported earlier, and save it in it's original format.

You are done. enjoy the new texture! Smiley


IF THEY ARE NOT THE EXACT SAME PLANE:

Same as above, but you may need to alter the shape of the texture to fit correctly.


Hope this helps. Smiley
 
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Reply #5 - Apr 9th, 2009 at 2:14pm

RacingLad   Offline
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Yeah, itīs for the same plane. And Iīm running FSX...

When exporting the alpha channel, how should I name it?

Same as the hosting texture?

Donīt get me wrong, your instructions are helping.

Thanks.
 

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Reply #6 - Apr 9th, 2009 at 2:25pm

ShaneG   Offline
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I just tack the name 'alpha' to the file name, that way it's easy to remember what it's for. Wink ex: fuse_T_alpha.bmp

  A few times I got into to trouble by trying to use a fancy naming system, but I could never remember it. Cheesy

Being the same plane will make it much easier, and if the textures are in dds format, you may need to 'flip' the texture when working and re-saving it. Not always, but sometimes.

You will know as soon as you open it in DXTBMP if it needs flipped. Wink
 
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Reply #7 - Apr 11th, 2009 at 3:44am

RacingLad   Offline
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ShaneG wrote on Apr 9th, 2009 at 5:46am:
Are these the same plane? Which plane is it? Which sim is it for?

if they are the same plane, it should be fairly easy.


IF THEY ARE THE EXACT SAME PLANE:

Open the texture you want to modify with DXTBMP and note at the top as to what kind of texture format it is in.


Save a copy of it as a 24bit bmp in a new folder, or it will just overwrite the original, and export the alpha channel to the same new folder.

Next do the same for the texture you want to use.

You should now have a folder with two 24bit bmps and two alpha channel bmps.

now open the two textures in your graphics program. Use the pen tool or magic wand tool, (not sure what your program has) and select the part you want to use.

Copy it and then paste it as a new layer on the texture you want to replace.

When it is in the right position, save the bmp.

Now open it back up in DXTBMP , import the alpha channel you exported earlier, and save it in it's original format.

You are done. enjoy the new texture! Smiley


IF THEY ARE NOT THE EXACT SAME PLANE:

Same as above, but you may need to alter the shape of the texture to fit correctly.


Hope this helps. Smiley



SUCCESS!!!!!!!

One last question though...

WHen importing the file, I imported it into the texture itself. Did I do right ot wrong?

Where should I import the alpha channel into...

A million thanks by the way...

RacingLad
 

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Reply #8 - Apr 11th, 2009 at 8:24am

ShaneG   Offline
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RacingLad wrote on Apr 11th, 2009 at 3:44am:
SUCCESS!!!!!!!

One last question though...

WHen importing the file, I imported it into the texture itself. Did I do right ot wrong?

Where should I import the alpha channel into...

A million thanks by the way...

RacingLad


Yep, when importing it back, just send it to the texture file you need it in.

When importing the alpha channel, in DXTBMP in the upper right hand corner is a white square area with some icons below it.
Load the corrected/updated texture first, then click the first icon below the white square, that's the import alpha icon. Direct it to your alpha that you exported, then you can save the texture and it will have the alpha.
 
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Reply #9 - Apr 16th, 2009 at 11:07pm

RacingLad   Offline
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Ok, Iīm trying to do some other edits to some textures. I do exactly as you tell me but when itīs time to save the texture back to itīs original format all I get is 24bit. 32 just doesnīt show up on the DXTbmp

What am I doing wrong...

Cheerz
 

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Reply #10 - Apr 16th, 2009 at 11:26pm

Travis   Offline
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When you click "Save Extended Bitmap" in the file menu in DXTBmp, go to "Save As File Type".  DXT3 with Alpha and Extended 32-bit 888-8 are both 32-bit file types.  I have never run into an aircraft that used the Extended 32-bit format.  Most use DXT3 with Alpha.  Try saving in that format to get the desired result.
 

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