Hard Light Productions Forums

Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: miniDwarf on April 14, 2003, 01:40:17 pm

Title: making new textures
Post by: miniDwarf on April 14, 2003, 01:40:17 pm
does anyone have a tutorial on making textures from scratch and not just adapting [V]'s? a search came to nothing

anything other than the X-wing one, its too complicated on some obscure programme. PSP/photoshop/corel tutorials would be a great help

thx
Title: making new textures
Post by: FreeTerran on April 14, 2003, 01:49:12 pm
OK
Here is a PSP tutorial page (http://www.jasc.com/tutorials/6tsites.asp?) .

Here is a PHOTOSHOP tutorial page (http://www.adobe.com/products/tips/photoshop.html) .
Title: making new textures
Post by: KARMA on April 14, 2003, 02:14:19 pm
i wrote something ages ago about photoshop6 but it was crap, make a little forum search if you don't find anything
xwaup tutorials aren't bad btw
Title: making new textures
Post by: karajorma on April 14, 2003, 04:23:15 pm
Thanks for needlessly raising my hopes Free Terran. You've just simply linked to the Jasc homepage which doesn`t actually seem to have anything specific to making textures.
Title: making new textures
Post by: KARMA on April 14, 2003, 06:28:48 pm
i really feel embarassed posting this.. as said it's crap, bad organized, there are some tech errors about photoshop tools and it is so bad written that rereading it now i wasn't able to understand some parts:D
but it is a step by step about drawing maps with old photoshop6, with a lot of images, and focused on the problems that usually who want to draw maps for space ships has to deal with.
http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/_ferrarese_/TexturingTutorialbyKarma.pdf
as said btw there are better tutorials on xwaupgrade site, check em first www.xwaupgrade.com
Title: making new textures
Post by: Sesquipedalian on April 14, 2003, 06:56:25 pm
I have always been perplexed by the idea of a tutorial for artistic creativity.  A tutorial for how to apply textures to ships I can understand, but for creating them?  It is an act of imagination.
Title: making new textures
Post by: KARMA on April 14, 2003, 07:17:36 pm
the creativity tells you what things to do, but you also have to know HOW to do things
Title: making new textures
Post by: HotSnoJ on April 14, 2003, 08:14:36 pm
Or you could make a high-poly model then render from the needed angels then apply those renders to the model as textures.
Title: Re: making new textures
Post by: tomcat on April 15, 2003, 02:26:21 am
Quote
Originally posted by miniDwarf
anything other than the X-wing one, its too complicated on some obscure programme. PSP/photoshop/corel tutorials would be a great help


I can't believe what you say..Well for your information every image processing app has same general feature. Those tutorials are done with general feature. U can replicate the process easy in photoshop psp GIMP what ever u want..

If u conside those complicated then don't try texturing.
Title: making new textures
Post by: IceFire on April 15, 2003, 08:08:03 am
Quote
Originally posted by Sesquipedalian
I have always been perplexed by the idea of a tutorial for artistic creativity.  A tutorial for how to apply textures to ships I can understand, but for creating them?  It is an act of imagination.

Its not about artistic creativity...its about how to make something look like something else.  Its just pixels on a screen...without the right kinds of techniques...its hard to make those pixels look like the metallic armor plating of a spacecraft.

I've been looking at Tomcat's PSD files and that X-Wing Tutorial...and so far I haven't achieved an effect that I am pleased with.  Till that happens....I'll keep working on it and using as many Photoshop tutorials as possible.

miniDwarf - I suggest you seek out general Photoshop tutorials on how to make things look like something.  Here's a few general links:
http://wwwebmasters.net/tutorials/Photoshop/
http://www.absolutecross.com/tutorials/photoshop/
http://user.fundy.net/morris/

I've been using those to get my knowledge of the software up.  You can't just go in, draw some lines, and make it look like a spaceship.  Study the FS2 textures...study these tutorials...work on it.  Its taken me months of slow but steady progress to make something look more like a metal hull.  Most of the time, I've applied the effect to a website...but one day I will be able to apply it to a texture hopefully.
Title: making new textures
Post by: miniDwarf on April 15, 2003, 08:51:29 am
thx all

karma's one is perfect, exactly the one i was looking for
Title: making new textures
Post by: aldo_14 on April 15, 2003, 03:53:04 pm
To be honest, I've never used a tutorial in my life.... all I did / still do is look at the existing :V: maps and try and imitate it, then eventually work round to my own style of doing stuff.  It's worked ok so far, though I've only just cracked doing proper 'machinery'details and bulletholes.

NB:  Should say, the only 'tools' I use (beyond the obvious mask selection tools) are fill, paint line, spraypaint and burn. I've never really used layers or any of the effects filters to any great degree, 'cept for playing about with small levels of noise.
Title: making new textures
Post by: KARMA on April 15, 2003, 05:37:02 pm
i never use program tutorials too, except for learning very specific things, but it took 2-3 days clicking randomly the icons before understanding general photoshop's philosophy, and around 2-3 months before i started thinking to know photoshop..and i can realize now that in these days i knew less than 50% of the program:)... it is right that you don't need to know all the program or extremely sophisticated tools and techniques...you can get excellent results even with programs that doesn't support layers and just using brushes...
if you have a discriminating artistic eye...
and a lot of patience....
btw, you never used the bevel tools too?
Title: making new textures
Post by: LAW ENFORCER on April 15, 2003, 06:24:14 pm
Im just learing this kinda stuff done about 3 ships with my own textures

I used Kamas tut to show me the genarl way of doing things I then built it up on my own after that..

I only have one problem, I could NEVER duplicate the bevel effects in KARMA's tut in PSP7 (What I use)
Oh, i can get bevel! and lots beside but not the way in 'his' tut like very orginised and errr... 'line' like.... mabey it was lack of trying (I doubt it though!)
Title: Mini Dwarf...
Post by: Star Dragon on April 15, 2003, 10:08:14 pm
HI,

   Basicly I use Infranview (plug by G.E.) ;) , to save any type of image I come across the net that I think wuld look cool on a ship. For example I came across a piece of the spiderman suit in tga format. Out of curiousity I saved it as a .pcx and slapped it on a new raw model Lar's released... Bingo it made the ship look lik e a new type of shivan vessel...

   I can't wait to try the new diamond plate image I got...

   Try different types of stone work for Vasudans...

As for metal hulls i can't recommend much butmaybe look for metal siding on the net and try those images...

This is suggestions from someone whohas photoshop but dosen't know how to use it (nor cares to spend a lot of time learning) Infranview is quick and easy and works.. L8tr!
Title: making new textures
Post by: Grey Wolf on April 15, 2003, 11:25:37 pm
What I find can be potentially good is going for the very simple. For example, just 2 very small tiles, each a pure color, can cover most of a ship if you model in details like missile tubes and cannons.
Title: making new textures
Post by: miniDwarf on April 16, 2003, 10:35:58 am
i was looking for the principles behind the layers and stuff not the ideas and karma's tut does this.

i can't use the net coz the test texture is for a sentry gun with a specific shape different to the [V] sentries and their textures
Title: making new textures
Post by: aldo_14 on April 17, 2003, 05:26:04 pm
Quote
Originally posted by KARMA

btw, you never used the bevel tools too?


Me?  Nope... I sort of grew out of using Corel (very early on), the PSP before Photoshop, so I only use the sort of common 'basic' tools.  Tend to do all my own shadowing effects, etc myself, anyways.