MoR137 Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Hi all, As promised, here is my 'F1 specific' skin converting/getting into game guide! The process is really simple, maybe even simpler than Heat, but that's for you to decide lol! Painting your skin Paint the skin as you would any heat skin. You'll notice that on Grasser's elite templates he as left the shading and polygon edges on the body/wing panels (so you can see the contours of the car so you can paint certain parts without having to keep looking in game to check you have things where you want them in relation to the shape of the panels etc). To colour these you just need to draw a rough selection around them on the correct layer and then select them, then flood fill them a solid colour. You don't need to leave the details/shading underneath. It really is that simple. Converting your skin To get the skin into game you need to save the finished product as a DDS. To save as this file format, you will need to DOWNLOAD THE PLUGIN FROM THIS PAGE. This plugin should work fine with Photoshop, it can be used with PSP if you drop it in the plugins folder but it tends to be temperamental, so if you can use it Photoshop, then do so, as it really isn't worth the hassle. Once you've installed the plugin, you will notice you can now save as .dds. When you have named your file, then click save and a Nvidia dialog will come up - just use the default settings and it should work fine (Make sure that the top drop down box is set to 'DXT1 (no alpha)'!). Naming your skin Name your .dds appropriately. Look in the tarmac skin directory (e.g. C:\Program Files\rFactor\GameData\Vehicles\F1Stockcar\Tarmac\Tarmac) and you'll see the current skins that are in the game, each has a .dds and .veh (we'll talk more about that later!). So, if you painting an Elite Tarmac, then name yours to match the others. As you can see, mine is 137EliT, so just use your number. If you are painting an Elite Shale, then go to the shale skin directory (C:\Program Files\rFactor\GameData\Vehicles\F1Stockcar\Shale\Shale) and name it accordingly (mine is 137els). VEH Files Each skin also needs to have a corresponding .veh file, which is named the same as your dds. You can open VEH files in notepad. These are basically the 'drivers.txt' of rFactor. Whilst they do look quite confusing at first, they are actually really simple to edit. So make a duplicate of an existing one (copy one and paste it, don't 'save as' as it wont save as a .veh!!!), and then rename to match your dds. Then open it up and adjust all of bits ive highlighted in green, but DO NOT adjust the bits highlighted in red! [attachmentid=17823] Now, if you've done all that correctly, then you should be able to go into game and find your skins. Hope this has helped chaps, i'm no expert at this yet but i'll try and help if you've any problems, and hopefully I haven't missed anything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan268 Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Woo, good tutorial, ill finish the skin off and upload it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrighty496 Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 I just wanted to add a couple of small notes to moR's excellent tutorial, if I may...... re: DDS conversion - make sure on the Nvidia dialogue box that 'generate mip maps' is set to 6 re: naming cars, because the chassis have different names for tar and shale, i think you can use the same number (i.e. 496 in my case) for tar and shale cars (i.e. you don't need a different number for your shale car) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh924 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 I just wanted to add a couple of small notes to moR's excellent tutorial, if I may...... re: DDS conversion - make sure on the Nvidia dialogue box that 'generate mip maps' is set to 6 re: naming cars, because the chassis have different names for tar and shale, i think you can use the same number (i.e. 496 in my case) for tar and shale cars (i.e. you don't need a different number for your shale car) yup great MoR had a go heres my 1 [attachmentid=17879] [attachmentid=17880] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scrapman53 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 Nice skin Tosh. PS. King's Lynn is spelt wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutch#331 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 hahhaha tosh was in my english class at school right enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh924 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 hahhaha tosh was in my english class at school right enough aye i did notice but couldnt be botherd fixing it then . its done noe tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh924 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 hahhaha tosh was in my english class at school right enough aye i did notice but couldnt be botherd fixing it then . its done noe tho hope this marshall doesnt race 1 day,he will never fit that f1 [attachmentid=17886] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scrapman53 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 Lmao. I didn't know Robert Wadlow was a marshall! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh924 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 here is my shale car mor hope its all ok 2 files as requested [attachmentid=17892] [attachmentid=17893] 8elsdds.zip 8Els.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh924 Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 here is my shale car mor hope its all ok 2 files as requested [attachmentid=17892] [attachmentid=17893] arrrggg ignore the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasser233 Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 I just wanted to add a couple of small notes to moR's excellent tutorial, if I may...... re: DDS conversion - make sure on the Nvidia dialogue box that 'generate mip maps' is set to 6 Just some more notes to add......you need to make sure that the mip map filtering is set right as well Click the mip map filtering button on the menu and set it to how it is in this pic [attachmentid=17929] Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Jacobs Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 (edited) Seems that i'm doing something wrong here. I get a black skinned car in the game and not the one i painted. I have done everything like you guys said in this thread. Or is there something i've missed? I'm a bit lost here, maybe you guys can help me. I use Paintshop pro 8 b.t.w. Dennis Edited September 1, 2007 by Dennis Jacobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thenees Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 hey guys, you can also download a DDS converter where you can convert yuor tga or psd files to DDS the link below is where you can download it http://eliteforce2.filefront.com/file/DDS_Converter;29412 greetz TheNees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big al 515 Posted September 19, 2007 Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 The skin guide looks great MOR but I can't even pass first base cause I can't find Grasser's templates that you refer to I have had a good look round the forum and also looked in my rFactor folder but can't find them. Help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scrapman53 Posted September 19, 2007 Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 I'll post them up ;ater Al. I've put coachlines on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael2 Posted September 19, 2007 Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 I have had a good look round the forum and also looked in my rFactor folder but can't find them. Help! The templates are available on the F1 Stockcars page of Rfactor Central. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scrapman53 Posted September 19, 2007 Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 Here ya go Al (and anyone else). Templates with coachlines. You can change the colours of the lines with the Hue Saturation Lightness tool in Photoshop. Templates_With_Lines.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big al 515 Posted September 19, 2007 Report Share Posted September 19, 2007 Thanks Scrap, Michael & GreenGenie, and also Thenees because that dds converter is very useful and easy to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh924 Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 (edited) Here ya go Al (and anyone else). Templates with coachlines. You can change the colours of the lines with the Hue Saturation Lightness tool in Photoshop. maybe just me scrappy but you cant change the coachlines in colour overlay with some parts of the aero changing same colour as well. then you cant paint ontop of the aero it diff with this hue satuartion tool which 1 is it m8. thanks tho a big help all round and saves time on doin them. Edited October 4, 2007 by tosh874 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scrapman53 Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 Lol Tosh. I've just noticed myself thet there's a problem with the tar one. I'll fix it and upload it again m8. Are you using Photoshop m8? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tosh924 Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 Lol Tosh. I've just noticed myself thet there's a problem with the tar one. I'll fix it and upload it again m8. Are you using Photoshop m8? lol yes m8 photoshop 6, i cant remember if the shale has the same prob m8, i dont thinkso but maybe best check m8. cheers tosh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scrapman53 Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 I'll upload the fixed one tonight m8. The problem was that I created a rectangle with curved corners and then put an outline round it and forgot to delete the rectangle after that to leave just the outline. Select your lines layer in the layer pallete, then click the image tab at the top of the screen, then click on adjustments, then hue saturation brightness. Just move the hue slider to change the colour, or the brightness one to make it either white or black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xj40 Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 hahhaha tosh was in my english class at school right enough aye i did notice but couldnt be botherd fixing it then . its done noe tho hope this marshall doesnt race 1 day,he will never fit that f1 [attachmentid=17886] how did you change the wheels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splinter Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 how did you change the wheels? Its in the upgrades for each car in the game. You have choice of Gold Weller, Gold 5 spoke, Silver, Black. If you have the beta/test game, click on the upgrades tab after you click 'buy' for the particular car you want. also on some cars when the full game is released, you will be able to change wings, bonnet scoops, exhaust muffles, suspension guards, shale guards, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC388 Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 Skinpainting guide now added to the uk-dirt website. Thnx Mor for writting it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fourwinds Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Can I ask what the reason is to not use the alpha channels on the .dds files for the stockcars? Is it for performance reasons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scrapman53 Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Might be wrong here, but are alpha channels not things like glass windows etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fourwinds Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Might be wrong here, but are alpha channels not things like glass windows etc? Alpha channels can be used to reduce the gloss shine on the main paintwork also and can make numbers more shiny also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scrapman53 Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Ah, right. Not sure what the reason is then m8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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