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messing with the tail logo a bit :):)


il88pp

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I managed to get a logo light working.

I had the b737_800 Lufthansa as an example of a plain with a working logo. And many other b737_800 that had just the boring white splash. After a lot of staring and comparing I managed to spot the difference and fix it.

 

It will take more refining, but here's some preliminary results:

 

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logo light.JPG

 

 

Below is for adding a landing light splash later on the body of the aircraft. Fun!

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night.JPG

 

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full night light.JPG

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I don't understand. Why the Posky?

 

What I did here was with the default B737_800

I found by comparisson:

-the lufthansa b737_800_1_LM.dds file has a lit tail, and windows.

-the N405RG b737_800_1_LM.dds file has only a vague white spot in that area, and a few rows of window lights. Hard to see/estimate what ends up where because the rest of the image is black.

-the N405RG b737_800_1_T.dds file has the full day texture for the aircraft body and wing.

 

By comparing I saw the daylight tail lined up with the tail in b737_800_1_LM.dds file. So I copied it into that file into the same position. Using layers.

That worked, and gave me the first image.

 

Then as experiment, I simply replaced b737_800_1_LM.dds file with a renamed copy of b737_800_1_T.dds file.

That gave me the fully lit texture at night.

 

So I found out that the LM file (lightmap) is not just light splashes that are projected onto the day texture like I thought, but it's actually a texture file that is displayed instead of the daylight texture.

And that everything is in the same locations. (With the file switched, all windows lined up, all fine.)

 

 

My plan now is to turn the area of the tail that's lit into more of a round spot, instead of fully lit. Using colour saturation, darkness, contrast, etc.

 

And also to copy more of the day texture (landing light splashes) into the LM night file. Making the Alpha black in only that area should make this extra splash show only when landing lights are on.

 

I don't see why the Posky? Easier to publish perhaps? I was not planning to make this one available, it's an addon texture.

 

inspiration: lufthansa_boeing_737_800_dabjf.zip

texture I'm editing:

737repaints.zip -- FSX Five Private Liveries For Default Boeing 737.

Was working on: texture.N405RG

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By having a look at the Posky light texture I thought that it may give you an idea of what the tail logo splash should look like.

 

A good way to check light textures is to open both diffuse (day texture) & light textures as layers, make sure the diffuse texture layer is at the top of the stack & reduce the transparency of the diffuse texture layer, this will show the tail splash & windows on the light texture & you will also be able to see if the windows are lined up on the light texture, some light textures are way off!!

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Ah, as an example, ok. Could you point of to a posky plane or posky texture of the kind you mean? There are so many in the library.

 

I have some more questions about what you said, but no time even to ask them. Let alone work on it more. That will have to be for another day.

Thank you for helping me out,

il

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I am happy to be able pass on my knowledge to help others.

 

You could take a look at any of the Posky 737 light textures, the texture file name of one of the Posky 738 light textures to look out for is Os738body_l_l.

 

Keep firing the questions, If I know the answer, I will give it to you.

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Wow, thanks!

I couldn't let it go.

I downloaded: ua_b738w.zip

With that as example. (not knowing what to look for in that texture file, but it worked.)

I changed

b737_800_1_LM.dds

and added:

*a black part in the alpha in the area of the tail,

*I made the logo splash more of a solid colour.

Less grainy then the default MS one. I simply used a brush and bucket tool, after lasso-ing off the tail in sections.

 

Here's part of the .dds

dds.JPG

 

and here's the result.

less grainy.JPG

 

Don't know why the posky one is SO much brighter, but this definitely made a difference.

 

The Posky one somehow looks like a daylight image, even though the lightmap is only a splash. I don't get it. May be it's only they use better colours.

 

But, this sure is much less grainy now. Result!

And it would be easy if this is all that's needed. No need to edit every texture separately. Just plonk the new b737_800_1_LM.dds in every texture folder, or better yet, in the main ..\b737_800\Texture folder. :)

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Just to add.

Earlier, (post #2), I thought the LM file was displayed instead of the day texture.

Now I realise it is a splash that is overlayed over the day texture. Blocking some parts out, but not others.

(I do not yet fully see how it works.)

 

I don't know why I didn't notice some of the logo (name) was visible. I saw only the white blur.

Maybe zoomed out too much.

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I have had a look at the b737_800 textures, sorry I should have done so before & have found the problem, the "texture" folder contains b737_800_1_LM which all the other texture folders use except for "texture.1" which has it's own b737_800_1_LM upon looking at this texture I noticed that it is customised to the diffuse (day texture), to customise the light textures for the other liveries is quite easy using Gimp.

 

1>Create a new folder outside FSX & within this folder create 5 more new folders 4 for the new customised LM's (name these LM 2 to LM 6) & 1 for the base LM (name this base LM).

 

2> Make a copy of b737_800_1_LM from the "texture" folder & paste into the base LM folder. Make a copy of each of the b737_800_1_T textures from texture.2 to texture.6 texture folders into the new folders LM 2 to LM 6 respectively.

 

3> Open the b737_800_1_LM in Gimp & resize to 1024x1024 export back to base LM folder as you will need this for each customised LM.

 

4> With the b737_800_1_LM still open in Gimp create a new transparent layer then open one of the b737_800_1_T textures & copy & paste onto the new layer, anchor layer.

 

5> With the b737_800_1_T texture layer selected you will need to change the blending mode of this layer to multiply, on the layers tab look for "Mode:Normal" it should be above the Opacity selector, to the right hand side of the "Mode:Normal" there should be a little arrow, click on this & a dialogue box will appear & select multiply.

 

You should now see the paint from the tail showing on the LM layer, export & repeat for the other customised LM's.

 

I hope you can understand the process.

 

Paul

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THank you for looking at it in detail. Steps seem clear, but two questions about this.

 

When overlaying with the b737_800_1_T texture, step 4, should I black out everything on the b737_800_1_T texture file except the tail?

Or does that happen automatically?

 

So far I turn files into 24 bit .bmp's, then do the editing, save as 24 bit .bmp again, then re-add the alpha with dxtBmp.

With this, am I supposed to do it all as .dds files?

32 bit?

 

My Gimp does open .dds files. I have the plugin.

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No need to paint any part of the b737_800_1_T texture, when you multiply this layer only the tail part will show on the LM where the light splash is.

 

My b737_800_1_LM textures have no alpha, there's no need to convert to bmp, but when saving dds files with Gimp make sure you save them in the correct compression BC3/DXT5 but I always check them in DXTbmp & resave them as DDS DXT5 as sometimes I have experienced odd results using textures saved straight from Gimp.

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Oh yes, in dxtbmp it looks like they have a white alpha, but actually they don't have an alpha at all. I noticed it late last night but forgot again.

All clear now, thanks. Next time I get to work on this I will try out this new method.

 

What I tried yesterday, when I added the solid less grainy colour in the LM file. Was that sort of what you meant when you said to follow the Posky example?

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