gospadin Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 I think I'm missing something really basic. I started from the full L-39C template .PSD file, and have created a new color layer (color2) that I want to use instead of the russian default color layer. So far, so good. Looking in the various livery directories, each one seems to be doing individual layer overrides in .DDS format. Thus, it seems I should be exporting my modified layer from the .XCF to individual bitmaps, which I then convert into .DDS files. However, every time I export, I get a single blob bitmap of all the stacked layers. I'm using Gimp 2.8 x64. I know this is "simple," but i've been googling unsuccessfully for 20 minutes trying to figure this out. Can someone slap me and point me in the right direction? thx! My liveries, mods, and missions for DCS:World M-2000C English Cockpit | Extra Beacons Mod | Nav Kneeboard | Community A-4E
gospadin Posted October 22, 2015 Author Posted October 22, 2015 Maybe my question is simpler. Are objects in DCS "skinned" with multiple .dds files? Or does any given pixel viewed only use a single .dds texture to cover it? (With the exception of BORT numbers, etc.) My liveries, mods, and missions for DCS:World M-2000C English Cockpit | Extra Beacons Mod | Nav Kneeboard | Community A-4E
gospadin Posted October 22, 2015 Author Posted October 22, 2015 Okay, nevermind, I think I figured it out. My liveries, mods, and missions for DCS:World M-2000C English Cockpit | Extra Beacons Mod | Nav Kneeboard | Community A-4E
joey45 Posted October 22, 2015 Posted October 22, 2015 Download the GiMP DDS plugins >>https://code.google.com/p/gimp-dds/<< Then export (DDS file type) the template as DXT 5. The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. "Me, the 13th Duke of Wybourne, here on the ED forums at 3 'o' clock in the morning, with my reputation. Are they mad.." https://ko-fi.com/joey45
gospadin Posted October 22, 2015 Author Posted October 22, 2015 Download the GiMP DDS plugins >>https://code.google.com/p/gimp-dds/<< Then export (DDS file type) the template as DXT 5. So for that flow, that assumes that I've already flattened my .xcf into a .bmp, and am going from .bmp to DXT5? What I cannot figure out how to do is take my multi-layer .xcf straight to DXT5, because the DDS plugin seems to only work on a single-layer export. To do that, I'd either need a description.lua that allows me to only replace a single layer more easily. I don't know what the file format is, I asked separately about all the _N_N stuff in a separate post but it didn't get answered... Do you know? My liveries, mods, and missions for DCS:World M-2000C English Cockpit | Extra Beacons Mod | Nav Kneeboard | Community A-4E
joey45 Posted October 22, 2015 Posted October 22, 2015 You don't need to save it as a bmp file. Go to save as (or export) and in the file drop down chose .dds then dxt5. Gonna do a quick vid this weekend. The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. "Me, the 13th Duke of Wybourne, here on the ED forums at 3 'o' clock in the morning, with my reputation. Are they mad.." https://ko-fi.com/joey45
gospadin Posted October 22, 2015 Author Posted October 22, 2015 (edited) You don't need to save it as a bmp file. Go to save as (or export) and in the file drop down chose .dds then dxt5. Gonna do a quick vid this weekend. Edit: Okay, so the layer selection gets disabled on the direct .dds export. However, the texture is coming out all black instead of my colors. I look forward to your tutorial explaining exactly what options should be selected. Edited October 23, 2015 by gospadin My liveries, mods, and missions for DCS:World M-2000C English Cockpit | Extra Beacons Mod | Nav Kneeboard | Community A-4E
joey45 Posted October 23, 2015 Posted October 23, 2015 (edited) Just had a quick butchers and I think it's something to do with the Alpha layer... I think. Gonna try some older versions.. EDIT: It looks like it can't be exported in layered format.. What I normally do [even in Photoshop] is to save it in .bmp [24bit] file anyway for testing purpose then export in .dds Edited October 23, 2015 by joey45 The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. "Me, the 13th Duke of Wybourne, here on the ED forums at 3 'o' clock in the morning, with my reputation. Are they mad.." https://ko-fi.com/joey45
gospadin Posted November 11, 2015 Author Posted November 11, 2015 Thanks for your help. I've mostly got this figured out, through trial an error. My 2nd skin package is now uploaded, just waiting approval. =P My liveries, mods, and missions for DCS:World M-2000C English Cockpit | Extra Beacons Mod | Nav Kneeboard | Community A-4E
gospadin Posted November 20, 2015 Author Posted November 20, 2015 Just to close this out, for anyone else using GIMP: 1. Open the photoshop (.psd) template file and save it in GIMP's native (.xcf) format. 2. Edit as desired, make sure you disable the wireframe layer, save your work. 3. From GIMP, export the image as 24-bit .bmp file. 4. Open the .bmp file in DXTBmp texture tool (google to find it) and save it as .DDS (DTX5 and generate mipmaps) 5. Edit description.lua in the proper folder to point to your new .dds file. 6. Load in the model viewer to confirm it looks correct. My liveries, mods, and missions for DCS:World M-2000C English Cockpit | Extra Beacons Mod | Nav Kneeboard | Community A-4E
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