Some Helpfull Tools: The Repainter's Essentials

[Ragtopjohnny]

Well, I'll be glad to post the first Painter's Essential's post since there's no other takers yet.

The first thing that you will want to do is get yourself a good Paint Program. Forget about Microsoft Paint that comes from windows. That one to me is useless, though good to fool around with, but when you want to get serious about it you will either want Adobe Photoshop or Corel Paint Shop. (Not to be confused with Corel Paint)

We all know Adobe is pricey, but Corel actually is kind of descent priced:

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1207602307920#versionTabview=tab1&tabview=tab0

Yo9u wil then want to download yourself DXT.BMP - one of the best format saving programs around, and it's free.

http://www.btinternet.com/~mnwright/programs/dxtbmp.htm

Those are the Bare essentials needed. Corel gives a free demo too like Photoshop.

I'll post more on the proper savings of formats and techniques for doing a proper DirectX 10 compliant paint. It's a bit tricky, so I want to make sure I get it right.

Hope this helps all you would be artists right now in the mean time to get ready to download some great tools....:D.

John Thuot II
Team Lead/Founder/Texture Artist
http://www.captainjonfsx.net
Find us on Facebook: Archangel Productions

[ofcbill]

I am new to this painting, I have adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 will that work. FYI, you can usually find a decent version of photoshop elements for a reasonable price at either Half.com or ebay.

[Ragtopjohnny]

It should work, if it allows you to do layering techniques and work from scratch - I'm honestly not familiar with the "elements" side of it, but I believe they SHOULD do the job.

If it has the usual brush tools, colors, etc, you're good to go...... :)

John Thuot II
Team Lead/Founder/Texture Artist
http://www.captainjohnfsx.net

[jymp]

I'm also new at repainting, I have Photoshop CS2 and Paint Shop Pro 8, is there anyone willing to teach how to repaint aircraft ?

[mgbmike]

For the freeware side of things a good beginners choice would be Paint.net here:
http://www.getpaint.net/
Mike

[Smutley]

For the freeware side of things a good beginners choice would be Paint.net here:
http://www.getpaint.net/
Mike

Good call Mike.

Used Paint.net for my first paint. :)

[TCX559K]

Or you could try out the 30 day trial of Adobe Photoshop.:)

[Smutley]

Joel, the only problem with 30 day trial version is, that you are going to run out of trial versions and you've only got 30 days to complete your required paint.

Much better to try some of the other donation/freeware stuff out there.

Like Mike said there is Paint.net and a host of other programs you can use if you google for them

Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) http://www.gimp.org/ (http://www.gimp.org/)

GimpShop http://www.gimpshop.com/

Krita http://www.koffice.org/krita/

Artweaver http://www.artweaver.de/

Payware there is always PaintShop Pro. http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/ca/en/Product/1184951547051#versionTabview=tab1&tabview=tab0

Tutorials. These are the best I can find

http://members.lycos.co.uk/mcwdainow/tutorials_main.htm

http://members.lycos.co.uk/mcwdainow/tutorials/complete_walkthrough/main_page.htm

http://www.flightsimulatorguide.com/repainting01.html

http://www.flightsimworld.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29761

http://www.flightsimworld.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29769

http://www.flightsimworld.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29809

http://www.flightsimworld.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=29950

Aircraft photos for reference.

http://www.airliners.net/

http://www.jetphotos.net/

Then there are the logos for the aircraft.

Brands Of The World http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/

Google Images http://images.google.com/

The Museum Of Flight http://www.museumofflight.org/logos

Vector Portal http://www.vectorportal.com/

Juggle http://www.juggle.com/business/logos

Then once you have painted your aircraft you want to make sure that you've got the correct Font for the rigistration and the company name.

Boeing Font http://exe.vis.ne.jp/fs_font.html

Airbus Font http://www.dafont.com/font.php?file=airbus

Military Fonts http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/dlcat-military-fonts-19/

Various http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/dlcat-airlines-fonts-20/

General Fonts http://fontpark.net/

You will also need the paintkits as well, a little bit obvious I know. Here are some links to start off with.

Project Opensky http://www.projectopensky.com/downloads-index.php

Project Airbus http://www.pairbus.com/files/index.php?dir=paintkits/

Overland http://www.overland.co.jp/english/sms/download.html

ISDT http://isdt-israel.com/projects/projects.htm

Then there are the AI aircraft as well. I'll sort some links out for those shortly.

I'll add to the list when I can think of anymore things to add.

[TCX559K]

Is that getpaint thing the same as Photoshop? If it's free then I could do repaints PERMANENTLY!:eek::eek::D:D

[Smutley]

Paint.net is free/donationware, but it's not as powerful as Photoshop.

This is the first paint I did with it.

http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/attachment.php?attachmentid=12583&stc=1&d=1217250448

[TCX559K]

Does it have all the basic stuff like layers, magic wand, etc.? If yes, then I'm a full time repainter!

[Smutley]

Yes it does Joel.

I still use it for editing my screenshots.

Give it a try, it's alright once you get used to it.

There are even plugins so you can open PSD files. :)

[Archammer]

[Moved to new topic]

[peterhardin]

Hi, friends.
About the painting programs, anyone will do, even Microsoft Paint. But using layers let's you work over the original base textures without damaging them. The most known programs with layers are Photoshop and Corel, but telling you that one is better than the another is like telling you that Airbus is better than Boeing.
The problem is not the painting program but the practice.
www.flightsim.com has a tutorial about repainting, called "How to be a repainter"

[andrewclaridge]

May I also suggest Serif Photo Plus 11 as a cheaper (but equally powerful) alternative to Photoshop.

[Smutley]

http://www.flightsim.com/main/howto/paint1.htm

[lifejogger]

Very interesting to hear about all of the different programs you can use to do repaints. I have been using Paint Shop Pro 7 for years now and it works pretty good.

[paintgun]

I, myself, use Paint Shop Pro. I have an older version but it works fine for me. I do have one question, though. MS Train Simulator has its' "S Viewer" to view your work in progress. Is there a similar program for FS?

Greg

[thindog]

I, myself, use Paint Shop Pro. I have an older version but it works fine for me. I do have one question, though. MS Train Simulator has its' "S Viewer" to view your work in progress. Is there a similar program for FS?

Greg

Now that would be awsome

[paintgun]

Now that would be awsome

Yes it would be. After looking through some of the other threads here on the forum, the only thing I saw suggested was Abacus FS Repaint. It has a viewer of some kind. A demo is available. Haven't D/L'd it yet.

Greg

[Andy71]

Yes it does Joel.

I still use it for editing my screenshots.

Give it a try, it's alright once you get used to it.

There are even plugins so you can open PSD files. :)


I've got Paint.Net downloaded Simon. Not tried to use it yet as I can't find the plug in to open PSDs. Any pointers as to where to find it?

Cheers.

[Smutley]

I've got Paint.Net downloaded Simon. Not tried to use it yet as I can't find the plug in to open PSDs. Any pointers as to where to find it?

Cheers.

PM your e mail address and I'll send it to you. :)

If I can remember which one it is. :confused: