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how to edit a downloaded skin ?


ex81

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Hi,

I downloaded a skin for the Su-25T. Does anybody know how to edit such a thing ?

Foe example putting a nummber on it or letters.

 

ex81

What goes up, must come down !

Intel Core i7-8700, 16 GB-RAM, Nvidia GTX 1060, 6 GB GDDR5, 1TB HDD, 500 GB 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD, Windows 10/64, A10-C, Rhino X55, Persian Golf, F/A-18 Hornet

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Livery creation is all about working in Layers. I don't know how much you know about this already but it is essential to have a graphics program that allows you to do this.

I use Paint Shop Pro for the livery creation and Photoshop for the creation of the spec layer. I have never used Gimp so cannot advise about that.

Is the livery you are talking about in .jpeg or .DDS format?

If it is a .DDS file then you will need to download the Nvidia Texture Tools from their site. This is a VERY useful little program that enables you to open and most importantly save files in .DDS format. Just download and follow the instruction to place it in Paint Shop Pro and photoshop.

JPEG format liveries are simpler to edit as the graphics programs use jpeg's as a basic setting built in. DCS however uses .DDS for its files even though it does also recognise jpegs.

Either way you need to have what ever it is you wish to add, numbers, letters, art etc, saved as a layer in PSD format first.

Once you have your specific layer created copy it then open the livery you wish to edit and create a new layer over it. Paste your numbers, art etc into this new layer. You will more than likely have to resize your add-on to fit the livery. The use of a layer allows you to do this without disturbing the original livery layer beneath.

Once you are satisfied then save it in the original livery format (.DDS or jpeg) back in the original livery file overwriting the original (back up the original in case it goes wrong).

I save my liveries in .DDS format in the following settings: DXT5 ARGB 8bpp Interpolated alpha, generate MIP maps. (I used to use jpeg until a more experienced livery artist on these forums explained to me that .DDS gives the better result).

The jpeg method is similar in that you just save and overwrite when asked but it does not save MIP maps or create an alpha channel. Its more of a "quick and dirty" way of doing it.

An invaluable tool provided by DCS within DCS World is the "ModelViewer". This allows you to see the livery on the 3D model without having to go in and out of the sim. It can be found in the DCS World folder in the "bin" folder. I created a shortcut to it on my desktop.

I hope all that has made sense and not left you more confused than assisted. If you search Google for DCS World livery or skin creation there are a number of useful tutorials available.

But be warned: you may be starting on a path to addiction. I spend waaaaay more time creating liveries than flying!!!

 

(PS: Do not re-post edited liveries without the permission of the original artist as it can lead to considerable ill feeling).

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Thank you for all the information. A lot of new ways to look at creating and modifying skins.

I worked with grafic apps and photoshop for years but never went in too deep, so there is always something new to discover and learn.

The main thing I will do is editing skins just for my single player missions, so I will always work with dds files.

One question is left (or I did not understand it): creating my own skins right from scratch, I could use just the jpg-format ?

 

ex81

What goes up, must come down !

Intel Core i7-8700, 16 GB-RAM, Nvidia GTX 1060, 6 GB GDDR5, 1TB HDD, 500 GB 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD, Windows 10/64, A10-C, Rhino X55, Persian Golf, F/A-18 Hornet

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Yes, you could use the jpeg format, that is how I started out doing my F-86F liveries. The .DDS format is the one preferred by the DCS graphics program and gives more detail, subtle effects.

Same procedure regarding layers. The templates are normally .PSD files containing the layers. I work on the templates layers, save it into a particular work folder on my PC as a PSD file retaining the layers so I can return to it to work on, then save it into the relevant aircraft livery file in DCS. If saving as either a jpeg or a DDS file the image will be flattened to a single layer.

 

Don't forget that you will need to edit the description .lua file in order for the new livery to show if it is a brand new one.

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dds : with DTX5 compression and Mipmapped for distant lod.

 

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I did my first few liveries with GIMP, then switched to Photoshop on their photographer plan ($9/month).

 

If you use GIMP, you'll also need the 'DXTBMP' utility. The flow with gimp is to save as a bitmap, then convert the .bmp file to .dds (DXT5 with mipmaps as was stated) using DXTBMP.

 

After doing a half dozen skins with GIMP, I decided that the workflow simplification was useful, plus most developers provide templates with photoshop in .psd format, which doesn't suffer from any oddities when converting if you use the "native" tool. Now that I'm used to the new keybindings (took a week or so) I do better work now in PS.

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Hi,

I downloaded a skin for the Su-25T. Does anybody know how to edit such a thing ?

Foe example putting a nummber on it or letters.

 

ex81

 

A few other comments:

 

The numbers on the sides of the tail/fuselage ("BORT" numbers on russian planes) is usually picked in the mission editor. These are limited to numbers only. Some skins (like some Sabres) will draw a letter prefix (like "FU-" in "FU-108") where the FU- is painted onto all Sabres of that skin, then the other 3 digits are chosen in the mission editor. On other skins, the whole thing is part of the base texture, and mission-editor numbers are disabled.

 

On my AirMed Mi-8 skin, I made part of the US registration number dynamic, and part of it static (built into the base texture) and yes I know my specmap is wrong. If you don't look too closely, it works pretty well.

 

Most liveries have multiple possible BORT number locations, which can be modified just by changing description.lua. If you wanted to use dynamic letters for BORT numbers, you'd have to change the number textures themselves to override them with the letters you'd want to see, and you'd only get 10 possible letters.

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I did my first few liveries with GIMP, then switched to Photoshop on their photographer plan ($9/month).

If you use GIMP, you'll also need the 'DXTBMP' utility. The flow with gimp is to save as a bitmap, then convert the .bmp file to .dds .

 

.

 

you don't need to do that with gimp. once you've installed the dds plugin, you can save directly in dds format, and you can open psd file easily and save them in native gimp format xcf.

 

 i7-10700KF CPU  3.80GHz - 32 GO Ram - - nVidia RTX 2070 -  SSD Samsung EVO with LG  TV screen 40"  in 3840x2150 -  cockpit scale 1:1

- MS FFB2 Joystick  - COUGAR F16 throttle  - Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals

 

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  • 6 years later...

I think I'm good at working with Photoshop & GIMP ... I have some experience in changing textures for ETS2, and that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I wonder if my altered textures (livery) are seen in online game mode or are they only visible to me? I don't remember seeing an explanation about it somewhere, so I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their response.
The fact that we can mess with the skins is definitely a welcome option and I welcome it. 👏

Asus m/b * i7 3770 * 16GB RAM * nVidia Dual GTX 1660Ti 6GB DDR6* 2x 27" LG * T.16000M HOTAS * Logitech MX
Maybe it's better to ask for forgiveness sometimes than for permission ...

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8 hours ago, razo+r said:

Only visible to you.

Really? 🙄 I should have sworn I saw a group of F-16s on the stand on Yt, and they were all “dressed” in the same camouflage colors, something like black eagles ... I don’t have an F-16 in DCS and maybe that skin is already built. .. but somehow I'm disappointed to waste days drawing some skin and then only I can see it. 🤨 And what to do ... the server does not read and does not transmit user-defined skins to the public. Thanks for explaining.

Asus m/b * i7 3770 * 16GB RAM * nVidia Dual GTX 1660Ti 6GB DDR6* 2x 27" LG * T.16000M HOTAS * Logitech MX
Maybe it's better to ask for forgiveness sometimes than for permission ...

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