marking.bmp and marking_a.bmp - help?

[Krusty]

Looking at the SBD5, and it's got this "MARKING.bmp" and MARKING_a.bmp" files. Well, what I want to know is WHERE/HOW do I designate which parts of the file it will use? It has dark star-and-bar, dark star/roundel, blue star/roundel, CAF leaf/roundel, and VVS star.


Well, basically... if I skin anything the same marking will show up, which will make my skin inaccurate. How do I specify WHICH markings are use?


Help much appreciated.

[MachNix]

Krusty,

You can't specify WHICH marking is use but you can modify THE marking used.

The SBD5 skin uses the lighter blue stare roundel under the star-and-bar.  It actually uses a larger rectangular area but this area is getting "clipped" by the MARKING_a.bmp file.  MARKING_a.bmp is indexed to 256 shades of gray (grayscale) where white shows, black hides, and any gray shades very the transparency of the MARKING.bmp file.

You can modify both of these files to make any markings you want.  The only restriction is you are limited to that rectangular region below the start-and-bare and above the oak leaf – you will have to experiment if you need to find the precise limits.  Modify MARKING.bmp using the same techniques you use for the aircraft skin.  Modify MARKING_a.bmp the same way but be sure to index to grayscale.

Good luck,
MachNix

[Dux]

Krusty, there is a much easier way around it.

Open the Markings_A.bmp, and find the "hole" of the marking you do not want to appear. Paint this hole completely black.*

Now just paint the new marking (any size, any location) directly on the SBD's skin, where it belongs.

*In fact, with the new skin setup, you can just paint the entire Markings_A.bmp file black. Just make sure to include this file with the rest of the skin files when submitting.

[Krusty]

Thanks for the tips!

However I think I'll use the markings file rather than blank it out, as I don't want markings on top of both wings (inaccurate for the time/country I"m working with)