Repaint Tutorial in English?

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  • Hello all...


    I was considering making a Christmas Train...and maybe a Circus Train.


    My thoughts were to use some of the built-in vehicles and modify them with some graphics added to compliment the above themes.


    Is there an English Language tutorial somewhere so I can learn some of the basics involved?


    Am I right to assume a program like Blender would be one of the tools I would need to use to add some graphics or change some colors to vehicles and the like?


    Thanks,


    Jerry

  • If you only change the texture (painting, color, etc..) you do not need a 3D program, Photoshop / Paint.net / Gimp is enough for this.
    A 3D program is involved the second you start altering the model itself.


    Regarding using a 3D program, there are many tutorials available on the net, focus sing especially on the handling of the respective tool.


    General tutorials for modding can also be found in our Lexicon. You can for example have a look at the Train Fever entries, as many of the principles explained there also apply to Transport Fever.

  • I am probably not the right person to give advise, since I am not skilled in this. However, the .mdl and .mtl files are, in my opinion, best edited with Notepad++ if you work on Windows, and your favourite programmer's editor on other platforms. They are lua files which describe where to find the graphics files. The 2d graphics texture files are 24-bit uncompressed .tga files which work fine in Photoshop. They are found under res/textures.

  • Hi @Heinekn
    the *.mdl Files are script Files. You have to edit the *.tga/*.dds Files.


    *mdl > *.msh > *.mtl > *.tga / *.dds


    Scriptfile from the complete Model > Scriptfile of the 3D Model which links to the material script > Material script which links to the Textures > Textures


    To edit the *mdl *.msh *.mtl you can use notepad++

    149758-signatur-gif-gif

    172169-faq-logo-png

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von Grimes ()

  • I must be doing something wrong...


    For example:
    I can go to res>textures>models>asset>vehicle>train
    and can find these four files:


    emu_pioneer_zephyr_back_albedo_opacity.dds
    emu_pioneer_zephyr_back_cblend_dirt_rust.dds
    emu_pioneer_zephyr_back_metal_gloss_ao.dds
    emu_pioneer_zephyr_back_normal.dds


    When i try to open any of these .dds files, Photoshop tells me "Could not complete your request because it is not the right kind of document".


    I find no .tga file for this train, or any of the others in that folder.


    This is true for any of the vehicles in the "models" folder.


    What do I open to edit in Photoshop...and where are those files located?


    Thanks again...
    Jerry

  • Thanks...that plugin worked perfectly.


    And when you look at what you need to edit to do something simple-sounding like adding graphics to a train car, you certainly gain a new respect for those who do repaints and the like. It is a very involved and skillful task!


    Going to keep me busy for a while...smiles.


    Jerry

  • Good Luck :)


    If you are successful - you might want to create an English tutorial on how you created your repaint. Mostly ist hard to write tutorials for most of us in a different language. And most of the time ist quite hard to know what is really interesting for beginners. Of course you can ask everything and we'll try our best in answering all your upcomming questions or correct mistakes in an upcomming tutorial.

  • Hey...


    Yes...am taking the challenge to write a tutorial (English version) for repainting a vehicle. I know my way around Photoshop pretty well, so that should be no problem. I WILL need the guidance of some of you and will appreciate your knowledge.


    My goal in this exercise is to create a "Christmas Train" and a "Circus Train".


    The plan for the Christmas Train will be choosing an existing in-game engine and rolling stock and then adding Christmas graphics to decorate them. I thought some garlands, lights, and incidentals would be just the ticket


    The Circus Train would be next on my plate. Although I think simply adding graphics to the rolling stock will be needed, there will also be a need for some new 3D car/object creation required. That is my shortfall in this project. I know nothing about creating new objects and the like which would work in-game. I will look for someone's help when I get to that project.


    First...my Christmas Train...

  • First question...


    I have installed the plug-in for my Photoshop and can now see/edit DDS files.


    Considering how cryptic the DDS images of the 1D flat vehicles are, it will be a feat in itself trying to know what can be placed where. A lot of trial and error, I'm sure.


    But, to make that trial and error a little easier, what are the recommendations for a viewer which will allow me to make my edits to the graphics of the DDS file and easily see how the edited 3D vehicle turned out...without the need to load the game and see the vehicle with the changes in-game.


    Thanks,
    Jerry.

  • Well... Blender is probably the easiest way.
    It's free and has a ton of tutorials to get you started.
    Of course, if you only want to view objects you won't need many tutorials at all. Simply load the desired mesh/vehicle using the import/export tool and then replace the texture file with your current Photoshop-work-in-progress-file. That way you can quickly see changes without having to load TPF every single time.
    One thing to keep in mind: you'll never truly know what a model looks like until it is actually in the game. So doing tests that way is necessary - every now and then.


    Edit @Zargom das wär zB mal ne ganz simple Sache, die man im Moddingstream zeigen könnte. So kommen viele schneller rein ins Modding glaub ich.

    Lg, YstlDystl

  • Hey...


    I now have Blender. Is there a plug-in for Blender so it will recognize a DDS file so I may import it into Blender?


    Or, am I trying to open 3D image of an engine (DDS files) using the wrong file? What should I point to when importing?


    I couldn't find any understandable info elsewhere.


    Thanks,


    For example...in the res/textures/models/vehicles/train folder, there are several DDS files for the Pioneer Zephyr.


    How would I load it into Blender to look at it?

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von YstlDystl () aus folgendem Grund: Comments combined - please use the edit function next time!

  • Ooh boy, well thats the fun part, isn't it... :)


    No need to load the dds files. Technically you can import the mdl file directly.
    However: I just tried to do that - and it doesn't work. From what I can tell, the addon does not yet support the new TPF model types.
    The strange thing is, I could have sworn it did...
    @Merk: how do I import a TPF Model into Blender? Or is that not yet possible?

    Lg, YstlDystl

  • Currently importing TPF models is only possible if you change/rename/delete the material files, since version 0.4 of the addon does not support the new material types. I'm working on a new version, supporting both Train Fever and Transport Fever, but it may take a while.

BlueBrixx