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Post by bensplanes on Jan 9, 2021 17:20:33 GMT -5
Thank you so much folks, I will look for uploading these today. It looks like these are already a number of packages to submit to avsim. Technical question: What is the process to make these P3D compatible? I read that all I have to do vertically flip the texture and save it in DDS5 format. I just want to make sure I follow the right direction so I don't submit erroneous files. All these repaints previewed have been done for FS9 since it is the sim I still use even though I have P3D installed but I haven't gotten into repainting anything for it. As far as I know, that is correct. There might be some other steps but mine seem to work ok.
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Post by chasensfo on Jan 9, 2021 22:20:57 GMT -5
Thank you so much folks, I will look for uploading these today. It looks like these are already a number of packages to submit to avsim. Technical question: What is the process to make these P3D compatible? I read that all I have to do vertically flip the texture and save it in DDS5 format. I just want to make sure I follow the right direction so I don't submit erroneous files. All these repaints previewed have been done for FS9 since it is the sim I still use even though I have P3D installed but I haven't gotten into repainting anything for it. Well obviously the only big difference is you can have HD or Ultra HD very large textures in P3Dv4\5 but not in the older sims. Beyond that, you load the texture into DXT.bmp, select "Flip Image and Alpha" and flip them vertical, then you save it as DXT5, which is a .DDS instead of .BMP. That's it. Converting from P3D to FS9 you do the reverse, saving it as a BMP image, but you also have to resize the image in another program if it is in HD or Ultra HD resolution.
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Post by cgold on Jan 10, 2021 12:42:24 GMT -5
Did Avsim take a break this weekend?!? X-D
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Post by sierraair on Jan 10, 2021 16:19:52 GMT -5
Here's the breakdown of the differences the best I know. It seems like a lot but once you've got it, you've got it FS9Main texture - 1024x1024. Must be DXT3 or 32-bit .bmp All textures should be saved through DXTBMP, not directly from Photoshop. Almost always a full white alpha, with the exception of some FAIB models where you can add black in areas to remove antennas and domes. Lightmap - 1024x1024. Must be DXT3 or 32-bit .bmp Black alpha except white squares in areas that "turn-on" when the landing lights turn on (fuselage light splashes). If no landing lights, full black alpha. FSX-P3Dv1-3Main texture - Can be 1024x1024, 2048x2048, or even 4096x4096. Must be flipped vertically and saved as DXT5 .dds Almost always a full white alpha, with the exception of some second & third generation FAIB models - 747, 767, 737-600/700/800/900, A318/A319/A320/A321. On these models, the main texture alpha channel also serves as the lightmap. Alpha channel layers are built into the paintkits. * If you don't have it, I highly recommend the NVIDIA Photoshop plug-in. It allows you to Save As, then select .dds directly from Photoshop. Link at the very bottom.Lightmap - Here's where it gets a little confusing. If it's a true FSX model (compiled using the FSX SDK), the lightmaps are almost identical in structure to the FS9 lightmaps. Must be flipped vertically and saved as DXT5 .dds Black alpha except white squares in areas that "turn-on" when landing lights turn on. True FSX models are all FAIB and FSPainterv2 (MD-11v2, Airbus series), and some AI Aardvark conversions. Third generation FAIB aircraft (747, 767) don't have lightmaps at all. They use the alpha channel from the main texture to display the lightmap. If it's a FS9 model that's used for FSX (almost everything else), it takes additional work from the painter. In Photoshop, in a new document, paste the main texture as a layer and the lightmap as the top layer. Set the lightmap to "multiply". You should see the windows, fuselage splash, tail where applicable while the rest of the paint looks black. Add the standard alpha - black except white squares around the landing light splashes. Save as flipped DXT5 .dds This is a work around since MS changed the way lightmaps are displayed from FS9 to FSX. Without the work around, the lightmap displays washed out in FS. Should look similar to this. Don't forget to add the alpha. *this would be flipped before saving P3Dv4-5 Almost all conversions done by AIG. Main texture - Same as FSX. Lightmap - More differences. With the P3D4 conversions, the AIG team found ways to add the light splashes in the sim. Take the standard lightmap, remove/turn off all the light splashes, landing light, bulbs, etc. You should be left with just the windows, portholes, and sometimes windows. From there, do the same new document, multiply lightmap as you would for FSX lightmaps. One big difference! For P3Dv4 conversions, the lightmap alpha is fully white. Save as flipped DXT5 .ddsSame lightmap, but for P3Dv4 I personally have not started producing P3Dv4-specific paints yet. Honestly, because I don't want to do three versions. I'll probably start one day, when I finally move to P3D fully. Here's the link for the NVIDIA plug-in developer.nvidia.com/gameworksdownload#?dn=texture-tools-for-adobe-photoshop-8-55It says it only works through CS6, but I'm using it on CC2020 with no problems. Once you've finished your paint, you can Save As, and instead of picking tga, you can select dds. You don't have to flip the document first - the plugin will do that for you. There's a lot and I admit that even being in the thick of it, it still took some time to get it. Once you get the hang of it, it's second nature. Brian
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Post by cgold on Jan 11, 2021 21:12:03 GMT -5
My apologies - Did these ever get uploaded to Avsim?
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Post by FSMuseum on Jan 11, 2021 23:12:57 GMT -5
Thank you for the breakdown Brian, that's really helpful to an FS9 dog like me who needs to make some new paints
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Post by eduardo85 on Jan 12, 2021 1:05:28 GMT -5
Stuff came up during the weekend and I wasn't able to upload these until now. So far I have uploaded Southwest and Spirit.
@sieerraair Thank you so much Brian for breaking it down crystal clear. For now I think I will only upload FS9 versions since I need to take some time to get used to P3D still. I barely got into it and have little to no hands-on experience with it. I'd better take my time with it in order not to upload the files incorrectly.
Eduardo
Update:
I uploaded all these textures except Express One since I noticed I had two 721Fs with the same registration and I found another variation out there. I hope they make them available on avsim for download in the next batch.
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Post by eduardo85 on Jan 23, 2021 4:19:02 GMT -5
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Post by chasensfo on Jan 23, 2021 4:30:43 GMT -5
Hell yes, thank you for the Western Pacific version! Someone in the 98 group (I think cgold maybe?) found evidence that one of these 727s was painted in a white Western Pacific livery with titles and the big WP on the front, but we couldn't get a reg. Whoever sent me that photo, perhaps Eduardo could take a crack at it and complete the West Pac 727s. I have several Western Pacific timestables, I probably have one from the 727 days.
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Post by eduardo85 on Jan 23, 2021 4:32:48 GMT -5
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Post by eduardo85 on Jan 23, 2021 4:43:48 GMT -5
Hell yes, thank you for the Western Pacific version! Someone in the 98 group (I think cgold maybe?) found evidence that one of these 727s was painted in a white Western Pacific livery with titles and the big WP on the front, but we couldn't get a reg. Whoever sent me that photo, perhaps Eduardo could take a crack at it and complete the West Pac 727s. I have several Western Pacific timestables, I probably have one from the 727 days. Oh yes, I did it also for the HJG model which I hope it is released soon. In fact, they had two 727s I can't remember now which one was the other registration number but I know I saw two different ones. The Dole/Kemp 1996 campaign,
- N293AS "CITIZENS SHIP"
- N805EA "PARTNERS SHIP"
- N707CA, Press Aircraft
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Post by chasensfo on Jan 23, 2021 5:38:13 GMT -5
Ah, I made AV Atlantic flightplans but only did one campaign aircraft, I did not know there were so many. I'll update them, thanks! I am not sure if I released them in fact, now I have a reason to.
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Post by eduardo85 on Jan 28, 2021 0:48:11 GMT -5
Yes, they had three 727s according to this video, www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdB5HfI3DZ0For the flight plans, it came to my mind to do them covering basically the entire campaign tour which, I found out, it can be seen here, www.dolekemp96.org/trail/trail.htmlThe thing here is there is no date-by-date tour information, only a map pinning the cities visited during the tour. It would be impossible to have three aircraft covering the entire country in one single week so I was thinking of doing ["slightly" more than just] a few flight plans looping around a set of different cities (like clusters with one city per day maybe?) in a way that they never encounter at the same airport at the same time this way we can see them in more than just a few airports. It is not an impossible task to achieve, however, if you click on the southwest sector to look at the pinned cities, it leads again to the northwest sector so for the southwest cities would have to be "guessed". I have submitted the Express One, Av Atlantic and The Dole - Kemp Campaign texture packages to avsim a few minutes. They should be available in the next update. Cheers Eduardo
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Post by chasensfo on Jan 28, 2021 10:09:18 GMT -5
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Post by eduardo85 on Jun 7, 2022 1:44:52 GMT -5
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