Simviation Forum - New to repainting

Apr 24^th, 2011 at 10:41am

rvtmendoza Offline
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I am new to repainting and I wanted to try it because I think its fan and I have fspassengers which allows me to have my own airline which gives me an idea to make my own livery.

I have read quite a few topics here about how to repaint aircrafts but I cant understand some of the steps. The first one is how do I create layers so that the line and other details on the aircraft does not dissappear?

Another question is if the aircrafts that I downloaded here in Simviation is allowed to be repainted? Or do I need to ask the permission of the original maker for that?

And, do I need to download repaint kits for a specific aircraft or can I just paint over the textures of other

Thanks for the kind people who will try to help me on advance and happy simming

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Reply #1 - Apr 24^th, 2011 at 11:33pm

patchz Offline
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rvtmendoza wrote on Apr 24^th, 2011 at 10:41am:

I am new to repainting and I wanted to try it because I think its fan and I have fspassengers which allows me to have my own airline which gives me an idea to make my own livery.

I have read quite a few topics here about how to repaint aircrafts but I cant understand some of the steps. The first one is how do I create layers so that the line and other details on the aircraft does not dissappear?

Another question is if the aircrafts that I downloaded here in Simviation is allowed to be repainted? Or do I need to ask the permission of the original maker for that?

And, do I need to download repaint kits for a specific aircraft or can I just paint over the textures of other

Thanks for the kind people who will try to help me on advance and happy simming

1. Depends on the program you are using. All paint programs do not have layer capability. Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro do, and there is one freeware one but I'm not familiar with it

and don't remember which one it is.

2. Most allow repaints, some do not. If not, they will usually tell you in the readme file that comes with the download.

3. You can paint over an existing scheme, but to avoid losing the original, make a new folder and name it something different, like texture.N1234 for example, then copy all the files in the

existing texture except for the thumbnail and paste into your new folder.

You will also need to download DXTBmp if you don't already have it. Get it here.

If God intended aircraft engines to have horizontally opposed engines, Pratt and Whitney would have made them that way.

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Reply #2 - Apr 24^th, 2011 at 11:46pm

rvtmendoza Offline
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Oops, forgot to tell that I am using Photoshop CS5 and sometimes PSP. I have already Dxtbmp.
What do you usually do to preserve the details on aircraft? A step-by-step guide would be much appreciated because I dont know quite a lot about picture editing

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Reply #3 - Apr 25^th, 2011 at 9:54am

rvtmendoza Offline
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I manage to make the rivets and lines show up through the paint. Took me a few hours to figure that one out.

I have another question though. I want to repaint the a319 with air berlin livery to another one. Do I need to make it all white or can I just paint over it with a new layer?

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Reply #4 - Apr 25^th, 2011 at 2:07pm

patchz Offline
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rvtmendoza wrote on Apr 25^th, 2011 at 9:54am:

I manage to make the rivets and lines show up through the paint. Took me a few hours to figure that one out.

I have another question though. I want to repaint the a319 with air berlin livery to another one. Do I need to make it all white or can I just paint over it with a new layer?

When using an existing paint theme, you need to create a new layer and place your text/registration etc. in the proper places. Then go to the base layer and change the existing colors to white,

while leaving the rivets and lines. Sometimes this can be quite difficult and it might be easier to create another new layer between the base and your text layer. Then duplicate the rivets and lines.

Time consuming but without a paint kit, often necessary. Once that is done, you can paint over the base layer completely. Then create another new layer just above the base layer or just above the

rivet layer and set it for multiply. Use the select tool to outline an area you want to color and use the fill tool to add your color. You can do the entire theme on this layer or use multiple layers. But,

if you want to vary the layer opacity to control the hue/shade, you will have to limit it to one layer. Hope this helps.

If God intended aircraft engines to have horizontally opposed engines, Pratt and Whitney would have made them that way.

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Reply #5 - Apr 26^th, 2011 at 4:35am

rvtmendoza Offline
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Thank you patchz

When I was trying to repaint the fuselage, I notice that the color has varying darkness. What is that for? Another one is that there is a shadow of the wings to the fuselage, do I need to keep it or will the shadow work on the game even if I paint over it?

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Reply #6 - Apr 27^th, 2011 at 11:40am

patchz Offline
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rvtmendoza wrote on Apr 26^th, 2011 at 4:35am:

Thank you patchz

When I was trying to repaint the fuselage, I notice that the color has varying darkness. What is that for? Another one is that there is a shadow of the wings to the fuselage, do I need to keep it or will the shadow work on the game even if I paint over it?

Usually, the varying darkness is for dirt/oil/fuel etc. Yes, you need to keep the shadow, I don't think the sim will show it if you paint over it.

If God intended aircraft engines to have horizontally opposed engines, Pratt and Whitney would have made them that way.

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Reply #7 - Mar 1^st, 2013 at 1:33am

Ralphc Offline
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Hi Patchz..
I'm on a learning curve with re-painting too...this interested me;
" while leaving the rivets and lines. Sometimes this can be quite difficult and it might be easier to create another new layer between the base and your text layer. Then duplicate the rivets and lines"

How do you duplicate the rivets and lines please without getting the whole individual panel? In fact this whole business of "inserting layers" confuses me. Embarrassed

I'm using (well trying to) GIMP if it's any help.
Thanks for your time, you make a good contribution to this Forum.
Best Wishes
Ralphc

FSX Deluxe SP1 & SP2 - Windows XP Professional - 2.99 GB RAM - Pentium E6500 - 2.93 GHz - - Intel (R) G41 Express Chipset. 0 - FOXCONN GeFORCE SERIES- NVIDIA GE Force 8600 GTS- Bass Fishing and of course Simming

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Reply #8 - Mar 1^st, 2013 at 9:58am

Brian Z Offline
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Ralphc wrote on Mar 1^st, 2013 at 1:33am:

How do you duplicate the rivets and lines please without getting the whole individual panel? In fact this whole business of "inserting layers" confuses me. Embarrassed

I'm using (well trying to) GIMP if it's any help.

Hopefully I can describe this so it makes sense.
Inserting layers-- over on the right of the screen,one of the boxes is your layers. To make a new one, right-click on that box and a lot of choices pop up, "new layer" will be one of them. Separate layers allows you to edit a layer without changing anything else... and hide a layer that you aren't working on at the moment.
Copying panel lines and rivets to a new layer-- First make a duplicate layer of the original texture. Now on the duplicate, under Filters, find "edge detection". This will take some experimentation until you get the look you want, but once you've run edge detection, you can then "color to alpha" to remove the white and leave only the panel lines on a transparent background. Once you have that, you can make sure that that layer is always the top one, and your panel lines and rivets never get painted over. (Over in the layers box, there's up and down arrows-- those let you shuffle the currently selected layer to where you want it.)

Hopefully this makes sense to you. Good luck!

P.S. These directions are specifically for Gimp, anyone using other editors might be able to do similar things but it might work a bit different.

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Reply #9 - Mar 1^st, 2013 at 12:06pm

FoMoCo63 Offline
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The varying darkness could be dirt and etc. but if you paint over those areas that should do away with those areas. Unless it was also painted into the Alpha Channel.

To me it would be the alpha channel and the 256 shades of gray that effect the results of the finished paint when viewed. The shadows. Along with the degree angle that was set in the ambient light factor which usually has a range from 0 to 90 degrees, will also give the appearance of a darker bottom with a lighter top, nothing that I am aware of can do away with this, as sunlight is always on top of the object and not underneath.

The Alpha Channel works like sunlight on the aircraft texture, it will either absorb or reflect the artifical light that is produced within FSX depending on the shade(s) used on the Alpha Channel. I have seen Alpha Channels that range from just a solid of gray or White, to actual images of the texture file itself with all different shades of gray. Whatever is done on the Alpha Channel will show and be a part of the finished product when the aircraft is viewed in FSX.

Ranging from Black to White and the other 254 shades inbetween of gray on the Alpha Channel, will produce your final reflective texturing of your paint when viewed in your flight simulator. Black being the most reflective in most cases, and white being a very flat dull finish. Some .bmp's I have noticed when Black is used on the Alpha Channel will turn a part or texture completely translucent, so using White or the lighter shade of a gray can only be used. Trial and error in some instances.

Yes you can edit with your Paint Editor the Alpha Channel, but I would recommend you learning your Paint Editor and the tools and filters 1st and just working on the painting of a .bmp or .dds file and becoming familiar with just that. You can always go back later and work on the Alpha Channel at anytime.

Also turn off your Aircraft casts shadows on itself

I don't think much of a man that doesn't learn something new everyday.

-Abraham Lincoln 1861-
-FoMoCo63 2011-

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Reply #10 - Mar 2^nd, 2013 at 6:53am

Ralphc Offline
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Hi...
Thanks very much for the replies.

and taking the time to do so.Yep, all makes sense (now I've printed it and re-read it Wink

) Really very helpful, I'll give it a try later to see if I can get it to work. BTW, I'm using GIMP. I actually sometimes forget how important the movement of the layers is....So..just keep the relevant one on top. Smiley

Best Wishes
Ralphc

FSX Deluxe SP1 & SP2 - Windows XP Professional - 2.99 GB RAM - Pentium E6500 - 2.93 GHz - - Intel (R) G41 Express Chipset. 0 - FOXCONN GeFORCE SERIES- NVIDIA GE Force 8600 GTS- Bass Fishing and of course Simming

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