Skins not showing mapping and shading of fasteners and panels GIMP

[Griffon345]

Really enjoying this little helo and am trying my hand at skinning it for a South African and UK bush scheme. I use GIMP and when importing the skin psd files the bump mapping and shading of panels and fasteners etc are missing. If anyone has the time and are willing I'd appreciate a quick (if there is such a thing) steer on how to show these from the template in the user files. Failing this, if it's that's a huge mission would anyone be willing to share copies of the virgin files in xcf format as many have obviously managed to have the above shown correctly. Including the SA342_Camou_ADT_8. 

[Griffon345]

Looks like no one skins this helo any longer? Or am I asking the wrong questions in the wrong place?

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

[prccowboy]

I've only done a few skins for the SA342, but what I think you are asking for is the AO and normal layers - which (AFAIK) are NOT included in the template which is DIFFUSE only (plus UV templates). If you want to modify the normal or specular/roughmets you probably need to create your own (you can use the default textures as a baseline)

[Griffon345]

It's all about the diffuse layer/s: comparative example shown Below:-

 

Fig 1: GIMP left/Krita right. Note the lack of pseudo 3d shading in the GIMP example. These are virgin untouched  .psd files from ED forums.

 

 

The layers are present as shown isolated in GIMP in Fig 2 but the way GIMP handles these vs Krita/PhotoShop must be different as they do not show for GIMP (I'm by no means a boffin with any of these software packages).

 

 

The end result once exported to DCS is shown, in game for comparison in Fig 3.

 

 

 

I'm slowly muddling my way through finding filters that work in GIMP for a similar effect but the going is slow due to my grave lack of expertise. And very painful.

Any help with this would be appreciated. I'm guessing you use PS for your skinning?

[prccowboy]

I'm using Gimp as well

 

*edit: I found the layers you are talking about, so what I wrote earlier is moot*

 

The layers in your fig2 are present but in the import, Gimp is converting to pass-through mode. Try changing the mode of all the layers to overlay (or something else) to get the effect you are looking for

 

I also noticed after looking again that there are some AO-like layers included (as "bake") in that template. I typically don't bake shadows, so I remove them from the diffuse but I will use those layers in the red channel of my roughmet instead for dynamic shading.

 

Edited April 16, 2021 by prccowboy

[Griffon345]

I'm using Gimp as well, so I guess I never realized that there were layers that weren't showing up (just figured they weren't included). I also noticed after looking again that there are some AO-like layers included (as "bake") in that template. I typically don't bake shadows, so I remove them from the diffuse but I will use those layers in the red channel of my roughmet instead for dynamic shading.
 
As for the bump mapping, I just layer in the normal (bump) map from the default textures as a baseline template (using color to alpha and color levels to modify it so it looks like your fig 2)  then add in any custom stuff and convert back to a normal map. Others probably have a better workflow, but that's the way I do it
 
note: you can also use the normal map as a template to layer in dirt and AO in both the diffuse and roughmet to make the detail standout more like your fig 3

That, good sir is the gold I'm looking for. I'll try this and get back. Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

[prccowboy]

I edited my above response, but will post again here to show you what the layers look like in Gimp if you change mode from pass-through to overlay. this was a fast example, you can probably adjust to make it look more to your liking (it is a template afterall)

[Griffon345]

Apologies for the long turn around as I've been wrestling with the project since. Thanks for the steer.

I tried this and it worked to an extent but still wasn't to my liking as some of the layers upon other layers hid detail (fasteners and relief shading). I've installed a set of scripts that replicates the 'filters' in Krita (and I guess in photoshop) as this seems to be the disconnect between the different apps. It's easier (a bit).

I'll wrestle further as I've gotten no answers from Polychop on request for the rest of the files or for an updated set.

Also did you get the SA342_Camou_ADT_8 file to open? Mine is corrupt.

Next will be picking apart the single layer files not included in the package!

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk