il88pp Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 I'm very new to painting. (I am using fsx acceleration. The fsx Gold Box-set. Computer is PC, i5-3570k, ga-z77X-d3h, Win7-64 bit. I have GIMP installed.) As a first achievement I managed to edit a texture that had some part left bare on the wings. That was the FA-18. Not very impressive I know. In case you like to see, pics over here. https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?294761-Edted-Omars-Blue-FA-18-texture I'm now working on something else. Again the FA-18. I started out from the white texture. White livery, folder texture.13 I managed to paint all of the wings in a solid colour. (Without flowing the colour over the entire rest of the file.) So good so far. Then I went off on a tangent. I thought, would it be possible to "cut a few holes" in the wings? (like in a slice of cheese.) So I gave that a go. I tried several things: -1- paint black circles on the wing. (alpha was white) Didn't work. I got a wing with solid black circles in fsx. -2- paint grey circles on the wing. (alpha was white) Still no luck. -3- on the texture with the black circles change the alpha to black, using DxtBmp. No luck. -4- on the texture with the grey circles change the alpha to black with DxtBmp. No luck. After that I thought I'd better come here and ask. If you can, please point me to a good guide that explains how to make part of the wing look transparent. Is it even possible? thank you, il88pp [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb613 Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Hi... To punch holes as you described - the alpha channel has to include black circles as you mentioned - but - the 3D shape/part needs to have a setting enabled as well... Regards, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAULCRAIG Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 I don't think it's possible, when the textures are applied during model development the textures are given particular properties i.e. the alpha channel will be either used as a value for transparency or shine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il88pp Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 scottb, Do you mean modelconverterX would be required for this? I saw some references to that last night when searching. Editing materials/ model attachpoint, or something. If so, I would know what to start looking out for. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il88pp Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 Thanks paul. That's interesting. May be more difficult then I think. If not impossible. I'm starting to realise it is not as simple as applying the right paint. I'm starting to have a lot of fun with layers btw. Scaling, selecting area with lasso and using fill, etc, Fun! Thanks for pointing me to layers. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb613 Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Hi - possibly - it's been a while since I did any modeling on MSFS and who knows how many new features Arno added to that fine little tool... As Paul mentioned - typically the flag is set by whomever create the 3D model - in the software I use I have to specify Transparency or Translucency before export and it is saved in the shape... Regards, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il88pp Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 Just to make sure (I'm thick), Where you say: "before I export it and it is saved to the shape" Can i read that as: "before I export it to and save it as a .mdl file" ? I never created a model. (thoug I did open fsx - gmax once and had a go at it for 10 minutes...) I do realise sharing this texture with holes would be impossible and out of the question. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb613 Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Hi... Yeah - for me there is an intermediate step - but you have the gist - I can't export directly to ".mdl" so I export it as Direct X ".x" then convert to ".mdl"... I use a product called 3D Canvas for modeling which is big over in the MS Train Sim community but not widely used on this side of the fence... Regards, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il88pp Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 Thanks very much Scotttb and PaulCraig for all the pointers, With this I know what to look for. Makes thing much easyer. Much obliged, thank you for responding so quickly!:) il88pp [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb613 Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Happy to help - we all stated somewhere... For example - case in point - the cab (windows) on my locomotive project is the only place Alpha Channels will cut holes in this model - it's part by part.... Any other place the alpha is ignored... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/scottb613/newpov3x1024_zps89b096e5.jpg Best of luck... Regards, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il88pp Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 wow! that looks beautiful! I ended up on the trainsim forums recently. Don't remember why, something to do with creating tracks, but spent a lot of time browsing through several forums. Actually, come to think of it, I have MS train sim. A 2 CD box-set. Got it from a friend who no longer used it. I installed it back then but didn't really understand it. So I went back to flightsim quickly. Maybe I'll have a look at it again. The disk says: Ubisoft - Exclusive collection - Microsoft Train Simulator. The train on the front of the box is a BNSF 4723 It looks 'angry'... I think I like your steam train's looks better.;) il [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb613 Posted November 27, 2015 Share Posted November 27, 2015 Hah - thanks - I hop back and forth as the bug bites... If at all interested - check out "Open Rails" - it's an open source community effort that picks up where MS left off - been under development for years and is pretty amazing... Again - best of luck learning how to paint - that's what I started with before modeling... Regards, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il88pp Posted November 27, 2015 Author Share Posted November 27, 2015 I had a look at the demo, nice! In the MS version the cab looked very similar inside, I never saw an outside view then. I will probably have a go at it eventually. For now painting, some gauges. Modelling is far away... I did stumble upon Blender a while ago. That looked very interesting. Something I might be able to grasp. So you never know... il [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il88pp Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 I have given up on this idea. Not for me. You can concider this question closed. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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