I had a copy of FSX Gold for Crimble and as I do repaints for a few FS9 aircraft, I thought that I would 'bone up' on the ins and outs of what is involved so according to many forums "start by reading the SDK as it has all the 'gen".
So I found the SDK .exe on Disc 1 and installed it but cannot find anything to do with repainting aircraft...just 4 topics:
As FSX Gold is fairly new I assume that the SDK is up to date and complete but I am not so sure...something seems to be missing here.
Other forums tell me to read the SDK manual as that explains repainting but I cannot see it anywhere :-(
As well as reading the SDK (when I can find it) can anyone point me in the direction of a tutorial for FSX repainting.....Au Fait with FS9 procedures so not a complete novice but do repainters have to work with speculars and bump maps or is that just for designers to worry about?
The only reference to repainting in the SDK is in the "Envioment Kit" - "Modeling SDK" - "Texturing aircraft models" section.
Basically, the standard texture is as per FS9, with the alpha channel defining the amount of reflection.
The specular map provides shine / highlight info. From the SDK:
Specular textures are more difficult to comprehend than their diffuse counterparts. Basically the specular map defines two properties, how bright and how spread-out the highlights on a surface will be. For aircraft textures these two components are defined separately. The diffuse values and hues (everything which is not alpha) in the specular texture define the brightness and color of the highlight. The alpha values define how spread-out the highlight will be (often referred to as falloff). In general, a highlight will only be as bright as is defined in the specular texture. For example; a light blue color in the specular texture will result in a highlight which is blue in hue and should not ever be brighter than the color in the texture. A lighter color in the specular texture will result in a lighter (brighter and stronger) highlight. More saturation in the specular texture will result in a more colorized highlight. A dark value in the specular alpha will generally result in a wider, less sharp highlight. Bright values will sharpen and consequently reduce the size of the highlight.
Bump maps do what they say on the tin, and provide bump information. This stars off as a greyscale map and then is converted to a "normal map" (see SDK ;-) )
Both spec and bump maps must be defined in the source model, and cannot be added afterwards, and cannot be used on imported FS9 models.
Yup Dave covered just about all the bases in his reply. The basic maps are just like painting in FS9, the spec maps and bump maps (if available) add another element to play with. I actually much prefer to paint in FSX and I have a lot more options. Just recently I perfected the 'metallic paint' effect in FSX and can now get paints that reflect light much like the 'metal flake' paint jobs seen on some hot rod style cars. It's all done in the spec map and you can even get that funky paint effect that is popular on cars now where if you look at it from one angle it is one colour but if you look at it from another it's a different colour.
The only thing that hasn't been mentioned is the use of DDS files and that can be a bit confusing the first time you do it but there are tools/filters available that make life much easier especially if you are using Photoshop as the painting tool. DDS files load much faster in FSX and improve FPS. I try to convert all my add-on AC to DDS format files if they are supplied with BMPs.
Hmm...thanks for those replies Gents...I can see the basics are pretty straightforward...so I will have a look at a few textures and have a go to see what does what....there;s bound to be a PK for something out there so I will download one and start with that.
Re the SDK Dave...found the folder you mentioned but inside there are several .dll files and 3 folders 3DSM7, Images and Textures....click on that one and all I can see in there is an HTML for Clouds...no texturing info...
Could be me having a 'Senior Moment' but not found any text for repaint/texturing models so far..... :-(
I think he meant in the SDK help file, it should be under Programs/Microsoft Games/Microsoft Flight Simulator X/Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK
Once you start that follow the path Dave mentioned in the contents directory and you'll get all the info in the SDK on texturing.
Additionally if you follow this path:
X:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK\Environment Kit\Modeling SDK\SampleTextures
Where X is the drive FSX is on, there are sample textures for the 737 and 747.
If you use Photoshop download the nVidia DDS plugin (google it or there's a link in the SDK). Point to note when you save as DDS from photoshop the textures need to be flipped vertically otherwise they'll be upside down in game (it speeds load times), most paint kits will have done it for you so 9 times out of 10 you won't have to but it does look funny the 1 time it catches you out.
I installed FSX Gold on drive 'G' so when I installed the SDK.exe sometime later...it has put the SDK onto drive 'C' by default....perhaps that is the problem because I can navigate to the folder you all mention OK but the help file is not in there....do you think I should remove the SDK and re-instal on the drive 'F' ?
This is what I see and that Texture file folder has a cloud in it.
My SDK is in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X SDK\SDK"
If you look in the root SDK folder, you should see a "fsxsdk.chm" file. That's the SDK in M$ help file format.
Well I removed the SDK from Drive 'C'...installed on the correct drive 'F' where FSX resides and navigated to the aforementioned folders OK but .....still the same.
If you look in the root SDK folder, you should see a "fsxsdk.chm" file. That's the SDK in M$ help file format.
Not in mine Dave...bit of a mystery.....wonder if it needs an update.....didn't think so as I thought FSX Gold was fairly current.
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