Chrome Fuseladges got to Go !!!

[Jetranger]

OK so I downloaded this re-paint for a PMDG 747-400 cause it looked well painted according to the photo's on the web site I pulled it from.

Upon downloading and after Injecting the re-paint to the PMDG 747-400, I ended up with the 1st photo / screen shot, NOT 1 was depicted in the photo of the download.

Closer inspection revealed that it had Aplha / Chrome Texture applied to the Fuseladge, just the Fuseladge, NOT the engine nacelles or the tail.

which made it look "Cheesy" and outright awful and bluntly - "Amateurish" !!!

So, I set out to rid the 747-400 of the Alpha, get rid of it, and the last 4 photos are without the Alpha.

I believe somebody took the original download, and messed with it, then uploaded it.

I really don't see the Original Painter screwing up his fine paint by hiding everything under chrome and "Distorting" the entire paint, it'd make no sense, that and the fact it looks hideous and awful with the Cheesy Chrome Texture applied, whats the point

It looks Cheesy, not at all even 1/4 realistic for a paint !!!

So hopefully, this will end the lets apply Cheesy Chrome Alpha textures to Fuseladges and distort them and make them appear cheesy and look like utter S**t !!

1 set photos that have the chrome effect

2nd set of photos "without" the Chrome effect / Alpha applied.

[Brian Z]

How do you apply chrome to an existing model? I thought chrome parts were part of the model, and couldn't be added just by messing with the textures? Sometimes vintage aircraft have chrome applied all over, to give you the option of a polished metal scheme, but that doesn't make sense on a 747-- never seen any jetliner in bare metal finish.

[Jetranger]

Brain, dunno know if I can answer this and make it come out the way I'd like you to understand it, but here it goes anyway,,,,,,,

as seen above in the photos of the 747,,, I'm bout 99% positive the original painter did NOT apply the Chrome Alpha texture to mess up a good paint.

someone else who thought it looked neat probably did it.

Now Granted, some Aircraft do need to have the Chrome effect, such as off the top of my noggin, the P-51 Mustangs sometimes look good with the Chrome effect on the Fuseladge or some WW-II bombers , fighter jets etc.

You can use the program (freeware) called DXT Bitmap,,, to apply Alpha channels and to remove Alpha channels or Chrome effects.

takes some playing around with it to get the hang of it tho.

Also, sometimes I have found just a Black Square that has an Alpha applied to it, which may or may not Chrome some parts, depending on how the Aircraft designer used the textures to apply to the aircraft , it just depends on each individual aircraft.

A Really super Good knowledgable experienced Re-Painter ( which I'm NOT) , will have the Ability and the paint program to be able to MASK off the areas that doesn't need to be Chromed, and only Chrome the areas that are NOT masked off, kinda like masking tape and actual spray painting,,,,

some areas of Aircraft just don't look good Chromed and were never meant to look chromed, but, get chromed anyway by the limited ability of say an Inexperienced repainter, and / or their limited ability with the Paint programs they have available to them to use, that and the understanding of how it works.

The Masking Technique is a master to master itself, takes time to learn it and get it right so it looks realistic on the Aircraft.

I myself am totally lousy at it for I truly haven't taken the time to master the Technique tho I have the Paint programs to do it, just never took the time to learn it , that and to be blunt - I'm kinda Lazy in that area !

The 747 above obviously had the chrome effect applied to it "without" any Masking, and ended up with Chrome on everything, where there shouldn't of been chrome , and it Distorted the image entirely and kinda ruined the actual nice colorful paint , I knew there was a nice paint job hiding under all that Distorted Chrome, so I got rid of it.

There is some repainting Techniques to be found on YOU TUBE, and adding that Chrome Alpha Technique, you'd just have to watch and learn and experiment to get the hang of it, practice, trial & error basically.

That's the best I can answer your Question.

Jetranger

[Brian Z]

Ok, thanks, I'll look into it. There's been a couple of projects where I wanted to chrome the exhaust ports of a turboprop, but I was told that "apply chrome here" was part of the model itself, and not something you could do with textures.

[stephan]

I have repainted several default FS9 aircraft and some aircraft I downloaded as well. Most come out pretty good. BUT...some give me fits. I have tried my hand at repainting several 737 ac to chrome.During daylight,they look fine...but during the dark hours,the chrome turns black.Cant figure out why this happens.I use Photoshop 7 and am pretty good with Photoshop. But it is very vague about what Alpha channels are. AND...I have tried to increase and decrease the value of the black alpha ( which is used for chrome in most cases I have seen ),and still,I get black textures at night time.Any one have a solution to this? //
My other common problem is when I make my own logo for the tail,or make a airline company name for the ac body,they sometimes show up fuzzy until I zoom in real close then zoom back out.However,when I change views and return to the external view,it's back fuzzy again. Very frustrating,especially when I spend the time to make the repaint perfect and the name or logo looks like crap. But,it seems like no one has a solution for that problem.All I have ever read was "Just zoom in and zoom back out...yada yada..." That is no kind of solution. Just a quick fix for that moment,only to return to the problem when you change views again.I understand that some problems in repainting is due to the model,but someone could tell us so,rather than hm-haw around it,giving false hope as we waste our time trying to overcome an impossible problem.SURELY there ARE some folks that can answer these questions.Why they wont is beyond my guessing. But it WOULD be greatly appreciated for some considerate soul to have pity on those of us seeking answers. I NEVER fail to thank them for help even when their solution is sometimes incorrect for my particular problem.At least they made the effore to help.Yet,some just sit back and ignore us who do need their expertise .We are all here for one reason... we all love simming. Why not help those who need it.

[Jetranger]

Stephan,, on those logo's try saving them to a PNG image instead and not a BMP or JPEG.

The BEST and only way to save to a PNG image is either with PAINT.NET or Photo Shop / Paint Shop Pro, the standard windows program just doesn't have the true capabilities , like the others have, tho it'll say it can save it as a PNG Photo, I think that's the difference an Image and a Photo are 2 different type of images ,,,

also don't save the image your working on too small, leave it a tab bit big, that help until you go to apply it to whatever then resize to fit.

Also depending on the FILE your working on, once its loaded into FSX, then it may render everything but how you wanted it to look, strange things happen with FSX and different file formats. ( DXT BMP DDS ).

Personally, I think who ever came up with the idea for DDS file format , need to Chug on' to a 500 ton boat anchor and go for a swim, that my feelings !

[stephan]

Hey,JetRanger.Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a try. I did mention 2 things in my post tho.I fly FS9 and use Photoshop 7.
Here's a quick description of my method of repainting.
I use the latest version of DXTBmp to bring the texture I want to repaint.I save the alpha to a separate folder,and send the BMP to the editing program (Photoshop).
Once in PS,I look to see if the BMP is INDEXed or regular BMP.
Then I do my editing.
Once I finish editing,I flatten the image layers and save it.It returns automatically to the DXTBmp program,where I reload the BMP and see my new work.
I then recall my alpha and refresh the image and save it.
I figured that if the DXTBmp program sends the texture as a 24bit BMP to Photoshop,that is how it should be returned after all editing is done.
BUT...
since that method obviously isnt always successful in producing a crisp image in FS9 unless I do the zoom thing,I knew I need to try something else.
SO...
given all that,I will try your suggestion.
If it works,I'll sure be a happy camper.
whether or not it works for me,I still appreciate your input.
Folks aren't required to respond to those of us with questions and problems,but when they do,such as you have done,
expressing gratitude to you for your time is only appropriate .
Thanks again.
If it works for me,I'll let ya know. Thumbs up!

[stephan]

Well, I should have played baseball for a living.Still batting 1000 in the failure department.I tried saving my repaint test 2 in a PNG format.I had to go thru several more steps just to get it to the ac,and the results were horrific. Worse than my original attempts. So,I tried to save it from PNG back into DXT1,DXT3 and 24bit and none gave satisfactory results,so it looks like I may be stuck with the zooming in and out solution.That has been the ONLY solution that has been mentioned on the net that works,even tho it is a major pain in the backside. Thanks for the suggestion none the less bud.

[FoMoCo63]

I use the latest version of DXTBmp to bring the texture I want to repaint.I save the alpha to a separate folder,and send the BMP to the editing program (Photoshop).
Once in PS,I look to see if the BMP is INDEXed or regular BMP.
Then I do my editing.
Once I finish editing,I flatten the image layers and save it.It returns automatically to the DXTBmp program,where I reload the BMP and see my new work.
I then recall my alpha and refresh the image and save it.
I figured that if the DXTBmp program sends the texture as a 24bit BMP to Photoshop,that is how it should be returned after all editing is done.

I can let you know how I repaint aircraft for FS9 and FSX,
I use DTXBmp as well to separate the Alpha Channel from the .bmp file (same for a .dds file)

I use Adobe 7.0 Image Ready as well, I'm set up for out of the DTXBmp it takes me right to Photo Shop, from there I jump right to Image Ready to do all my work and Layers. (DXTBmp closes automatically) I'm always in Image/Mode/RGB from Photo Shop before I jump to Image Ready to start painting. Whether it's a .bmp or .dds file.

I do paints that go well over 50 layers, when I'm done painting I just save my work in PSD Format offered, and close Image Ready and Photo Shop. I flatten nothing, don't do anything but Save and Close, that's it.

I again open my DXTBmp and Open/Import my my paint PSD format file, Import my Alpha Channel .bmp, then File/Save As/Extended Bitmap/Extended 32 bit 888-8 format. This is what I use for any .bmp

For a .dds file File/Save As/DDS Texture/DDS DXT5 format.

This is how I do all my work when I repaint, never had any bad textures.

Little on Alpha Painting, there are 256 shades of gray a person can use to obtain any level desired for the Artifical Sunlight in FSX or FS9 for absorbing or reflecting the light. Ranging from White to Black. White being the most absorbant, and Black being the most reflective. It can be just like doing the same paint twice, just depends how detailed you want your Alpha. When I want a detailed Alpha I usually just File/Place my aircraft repaint PSD in the Alpha paint so I have an excellent reference to use while I get busy with the 256 shades of gray. Then before you Save, just un-eye ball the aircraft PSD you "Placed" in there for reference only, or delete it.

In Photo Shop when you choose a Custom Color and the window opens to choose your color, shoot your cursor to the extreme left side of the field that's where you'll find your White to Black scale and all the shades of gray in between. The Gray Scale it's called.

Hope this helps you out a little more, Rick.

[FoMoCo63]

Here are some examples of the formats and procedures I use as outlined above.

[Jetranger]

FOMOCO, I still like your Chipped & Worn Weathered look Textures, Rust and all, like that 1 aircraft of yours I have still in my sim, from about a year ago.

I still got that sucker too !!

your better off listening to FOMOCO on repainting,,, I'm still experimenting and learning myself,,, tho they look alright , lord I don't know how

couldn't explain 1/2 what FOMOCO can,,, stick with FOMOCO for help and answers,, better than me .

Now, gotta take this can of Rusteoulm and paint this plane, but it keeps paintin' my screen too ?

[stephan]

FoMoCo63...
Thanks for the suggestion.I'll try it. I forgot about this post I did and JUST happened upon it again.So,I'm sorry it took so long for me to respond.When folks are willing to help,I like to at least respond to their willingness with a thanks. If my memory will help me,I'll try your suggestion and try and get back here with the results I get. Thanks again for your time.