Need a .AF to .BMP editor

[sapphire]

I am converting an old FS98 Aircraft to use in FS2004 but it badly needs a repaint !

Could someone advise me on the best .AF to .bmp and back to .AF converter please?

Kind Regards

[tgibson_new]

I use TexBMP.

 

https://en.freedownloadmanager.org/Windows-PC/TexBmp-FREE.html

 

When opening files, choose .?AF from the Types drop down box.

 

Hope this helps,

[sapphire]

Many thanks for that

It works up to a point but after I have converted the AF file to BMP - all I can do is then resave it to r8 and not back to af - and it also discolours when saved back to r8

[tgibson_new]

Hi,

 

AF is an R8 file - you would only need to rename the extension to ?AF. (? = a number)

 

But you actually shouldn't do that, as you found out. When converting back to R8, you impose the old FS98 palette colors onto the image, which changes the colors.

 

Instead:

 

1. Convert the image to bmp. For this post my example image is called B-52D.1AF.

2. This gives you a bmp image, in my example called B-52D.bmp.

3. Then load into your favorite paint program (I use PSP).

4. Convert to millions of colors, and then edit the image as desired.

5. Then either:

a. Convert the image to 256 colors (if simple).

b. Convert the image to DXT1 or DXT3 (for AI aircraft or scenery)

c. Convert the image to 888 (for complex flyable aircraft)

6. Rename the original image in case you need it later (i.e. B-52D.1AF to B-52D.1AF.orig).

7. Rename the new BMP image to this original name (i.e. B-52D.bmp to B-52D.1AF).

8. Place this renamed BMP image into the proper texture folder (i.e. where the original B-52D.1AF was located).

 

Your image should now appear on your model as edited.

 

Hope this helps,

[sapphire]

Thanks so much

I will give it a try