Author Topic: Skin Help? (Read 433 times)

IMXLR8N · « **on:** August 06, 2007, 11:24:47 PM »

I was wondering if anyone has a generic template for the P51D. I saved the default skin but I was wondering if there is an easier way to go about changing colors (nose art and squadron markings, etc) than going through with photoshop and basically erasing everything then starting all over again. If anyone knows an easier way, it'd be much appreciated.

Guppy35 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 07, 2007, 12:03:31 AM »

Ummm....er......You gotta quit throwing these hanging curveballs for Fester to swing at

The general consensus is it's better to put the effort into making your own templates etc instead of trying to work off someone elses effort.

Citabria · « **Reply #2 on:** August 07, 2007, 12:50:43 AM »

its not so much the effort as the experience. the more practice you get doing the full skin the better the next skin will be. once you have that experience its not really a factor in colaborating with others to get a good skin in game. perhaps its not so bad when used as a learning tool and not a crutch and once the experience level is reached where such construction details are a matter of not being an ability challenge but a time constraint challenge using whatever tricks you can to get maximum quality is preferable.

I have a different viewpoint on AH skins than I do for IL2 skins. in AH there are 15 slots which I personally think is too many as I know my cache gets exploded by skins if I am using the full set. (which I find I prefer having all skins and stutters than just a few) but becauseof this I am particularly annoyed when I see poor quality skins getting in the game and giving me screen stutters. I am paying a performace hit to view them.

the flipside of this is they generally look good in my gunsight. I find players flying the particularly horendous skins like the black p38... well they get 30mm first.

putting in panels and rivets is the easy part of making a good skin from an artistic standpoint. it is an academic area of skin makign that requires heavy research and photographic and drawing references to get a very high accuracy and quality to the details. and this is just the framework that the skin is built over top of that is set in layers to very low opacity or fill settings upon which more shading is placed over top of.

IMXLR8N · « **Reply #3 on:** August 07, 2007, 01:06:32 AM »

I do appreciate the words of advice. Quick question then. Is there a blank template (one without colors but just the outlines of the A/C that I can use? When I downloaded the default skins I noticed they were basically puzzle pieces on a board. Now do they have to be in the same order to work? I'm all for doing all the work myself, I spent a lot of money on a graphic design degree that has yet been used for the original professional intent, so I figure I'd at least use it for something fun.

Thanks again.

Citabria · « **Reply #4 on:** August 07, 2007, 02:04:37 AM »

heh I can relate. I had a few years of art school at a place called Ringling School of Art and design. (illustration and graphic design, I didnt have a good enough portfolio for them to let me into the 3d program like I wanted them to. I was just outa highschool and to stupid to know better that they judge your placement completely by your portfolio)then went and got all my commercial single and multiengine instrument ratings at the flight school at Sarasota Airport next door. sunk 10 grand into getting enough multiengine hours in orlando for a FO slot instead of finishing my art degree as I hated graphic design and they wouldnt let me in the 3d program in an attempt to avoid being a CFI but got screwed and they took the money and ran along with about 100 other peeoples money. if you ever run into the williams family in aviation ask them about their little bastard child school called Airline Training Academy and watch them run away. ended up working at the airport line for a few yrs before needing better salary after getting married drove me into my family's roofing business

the moral of the story is trying to take the quick way will have unintended and possibly undesirable results.

the bright side is doing artwork for Aces High is a much needed creative outlet that I think my rather unusual combination of experiences is actually beneficial in this obscure art of skin making. the formal art training as actually more beneficial than I would have suspected. I consider myself a hack in this area though as I could never make a living off it. I am a commercial rated pilot and though I havent flown in many yers the experience of flying and knowing how airplanes are made makes my understanding of them and what they should look like more accurate. I worked the line for a few years and stared at airplanes all day long while I fueled and serviced them. I would stare at them and try to observe every shade and shadow that the aluminum skin would cast. I found that in many instances faint traces of the structure underneath could be observed. I developed techniques in an attempt to recreate this effect in the more recent skins I have made. This fact was reinforced by my roofing experience in which I did a lot of extensive sheet metal work with aluminum. I found that the slightest pressure to the aluminum will result in a noticable depression in the metal even in more heavy guage thicknesses.

but given this history my skin work is driven by an inferiority complex from past failures in that I couldnt make the cut way back in the begining when it counted. had I known then I would have drawn better or worked harder at it.

because of this any skin I make will never be good enough for my own personal tastes until I can procedurally make it look like the real thing. I am still well short of that quest but I find striving for this is beneficial in the drive for higher quality and better detail. which I find enjoyable as I like challenges even when I screw them up and fail at them.

but back to the skins..

everything on the skin needs to be drawn wehre you see it on the bitmap. its not hard once you get the hang of it just takes a little practice.

rogerdee · « **Reply #5 on:** August 07, 2007, 10:57:35 AM »

also its eeasier if u have the skin viewer too,if u have 2 pc try keeping the skiinning pc seprate from the game one becaseu when a new patch comes out the skin viewer becomces a pain.you end up making new caches each time u play the game.

the skin viewer will help u visual the changes as ot puts the jumbled bit map in all the right bits.

As for what fester does with his skins al i can say is WOW

each time he brings out a new skin its like why the hell am i bothering:rolleyes:

each skin i do i try to do better,but what i try most is to enjoy doing it,and if others enjo the finshe work then thats a bonus for me.