After you've done hours and hours...AND hours of skinning one thing that I see left out alot is the
presentation...or "the" screenshot.
When the sweat and toil is done, it's not done. Presentation makes it look "ok" or makes
it drinks at the bar..
It's all about hiding the warts
EVERY plane skin has warts that need to be hidden.
Lighting is everything. Composition and background make it come together.
Taking one of my skins for example. One screeny with warts...one...trying to hide them
First problem is that it wasn't taken with the "z" key. Zoomed in without using the "z" key distorts
the perspective. The same shot "zoomed" will show less perspective distortion.
Second problem is that there is a problem with the 3D mesh at the cowl and at the leading
edge of the left wing. It shouldn't be like that...should it ?? A different angle maybe ??
Third problem is lighting. It doesn't show the skin showing the good points, and it doesn't take
advantage of the reflective properties of the skin itself.
Fourth problem is that it's an aluminum skin and looks grey...blah. Almost a lifeless brown in some
spots.
We're talking built-in warts here.
Now if you take in account the warts, change it up to hide them and accent the good points
you have this.
Same skin. Presented differently. Pasted on a different background that's desaturated
a bit. Lighting to accent the positive and an angle to hide the warts. Different heading, different
time of day. Eight AM in the morning with a heading of 225 degrees to get the shine the
way I liked.
Perspective changed by zooming in and editing with the distort option in PS to put it in proper
perspective. Skin rotated for a better "shot"
Sort of like a pretty dress with dirty underware
I just hide it
Experiment with presentation. It's alot of fun/fun after the toil is over with. Layering layers for
screenshots out of the cockpit, multiple planes, or cleaning up a spot or two etc. Take a look at
Greebo's presentation screenshots. He does some great compositions.
YOU put in the time in to build this puppy. Play with angles, play with backgrounds, above all
play with lighting and make it look like the picture of it that's in your mind as you painted it.
You owe it to the skin that you sweated out
Don't think of it as a screeny. Think of it as a "Presentation shot".
It aint over until it's drinks at the bar...and I'm buyin.
