Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: Citabria on January 27, 2005, 03:10:09 AM

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: Citabria on January 27, 2005, 03:10:09 AM

http://www.airwarfare.com/Sims/IL2/il2_essential_files.htm#003

heres a link

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: oboe on January 27, 2005, 06:47:59 AM

Thanks Citabria!

Quote

BRIGHT is a 32-bit windows-95 command-line utility written for single-sweep conversion of multiple textures to 8-bit palletized format using either unique, or a specifiable number of shared palettes, retaining the optimal color range. There is also a special option to provide a good color representation for mipmapped versions of the texture. Distribution of a limited set of optimal palettes between similar textures is fully automatic.

I don't understand a word of this, though.   What does it do that is beneficial for an AH2 skin?    Do you just run it at default settings or do you use special settings for an AH2 skin?

Also it says Win95 - does it work OK under WinXP?

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: straffo on January 27, 2005, 07:02:29 AM

Oboe you can find a plugin version for photoshop here : http://www.1java.org/sh/dl/BRIGHT_plugin4PS7.zip

I run it at default setting but my main problem is my lack of artistic skills :)

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: Citabria on January 27, 2005, 10:26:12 AM

cool how do i install that into adobe photoshop and how do i access it in photoshop?

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: straffo on January 27, 2005, 10:59:38 AM

You just unzip the plugin in your :

\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Modules externes

or more likely for a US version

\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\plugins

Start Photoshop open a PSD

In the "File" menu in the "Export" you will see a "bright" item just click on it,it will open a save dialog to export the picture.

Beware it can fail perhaps if there is too many layer I don't know for sure .

At least it won't crash your PSD.

I hope it's clear enought :)
Feel free to ask.

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: Citabria on January 27, 2005, 11:07:51 AM

thanks!

installe dit right just didnt know where to look for it haha

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: oboe on January 27, 2005, 11:32:47 AM

What exactly does it doe for a skin?   Is it simliar to playing around with the hue/saturation sliders, or does it behave more like a filter, affecting all the layers at once?

Cit, is that how you 'dulled' up the AVG P-40E you did?   My P-40s seem to have a shine or gloss to them....

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: straffo on January 27, 2005, 11:55:16 AM

It use another algorithme for color reduction than Photoshop and the result is often better.

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: Dux on January 27, 2005, 12:19:26 PM

I still don't understand what you PhotoShop users are doing that you would need this...?

Anyway... do whatever works for you.

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: zmeg on January 27, 2005, 12:27:57 PM

Gotta agree with DUX on that one, photoshop already converts just as well as bright, with more options.

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: Dux on January 27, 2005, 12:58:40 PM

Quote

Originally posted by straffo
It use another algorithme for color reduction than Photoshop and the result is often better.

This is what I don't understand, Straffo... PhotoShop has about a dozen methods of color reduction. I think many of you must be using the default option and not using a better one.

When converting from RGB to indexed, make sure you select "Adaptive" (or "local/adaptive" in PS7). NEVER select a System palette or a Custom palette.

Title: dont forget the bright converter new skinners
Post by: oboe on January 27, 2005, 01:02:36 PM

I just downloaded and installed the BRIGHT plugin.   I use Photoshop 6.

As far as I can tell, there are no options.   It appears to be just another way to save a .psd as a .bmp file.   I can't really tell a difference between a skin saved as a BRIGHT bmp and one just from Photoshop itself.

I couldn't find anyplace to change options on BRIGHT, ie palettes or color settings.