Reskin of the F59PH?
- Thread starter M00se
- Start date
ryanstrains
Moderator
Keep trying, only way you will learn how to is by trial and error!
I can't even find my original SW1500 I did.... I reskinned JoshEH's SW1500 for a fictional forestry line for a route of mine, and didn't even use the reskin kit (didn't even know it was available). It was pretty terrible. I'd put up a screenshot if I even still had it, but oh, well. Point being, you will never do good ones if you don't get the bad ones out of your system. I've been at it for over two years now, and I started trying reskins within 6 months of starting with Trainz. I've gotten better over time, but like any art (painting, music, whatever), you don't get it right away, and you don't get better unless you keep at it.
Believe me, nothing makes you feel better than knowing that you don't need to ask anyone else to make what you want, and knowing that you made it yourself.
i have no idea what to do what to reskin, or whats whatI started doing BBL's last year. Very basic, copy paste images and crappy paint jobs.... Now, they look a ton better with layers and epic fonts!
It takes time and patience.
Reskinning a model is actually easier then you think.
You need to open the model for edit with Windows Explorer in Content Manager.
You then edit the.tga files in some picture editing program such as Gimp, Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, or other program that works for you.
Save the files as uncompressed tga files.
Commit the asset. Hope it doesn't have any errors and give it a look at in Trainz.
I did this and had no problems with my reskin of a GP9 for my own route. Then I should say...maybe I had some assistance and experience because I worked in desktop publishing and have access to the tools of the trade.
The biggest part is patience. To get the details right, you need to be precise and exact at what you're doing. It's going to take practice just like piano lessons and practice, or even art lessons. After you do this a few times, you shouldn't have any problems.
John
Taking your time is absolutely essential. Look for the stuff that has reskin kits (Jointed Rail has a lot)- these are almost like fill-in the blanks reskinning. There is a layer that you paint, and there is a "bake" layer that overlays texturing and details. Frequently, there are other detail layers, grime layers, etc., that take care of the hard stuff. Maybe try something like this first. I use Photoshop CS5, so I don't know if the layering will work in free stuff like GIMP. Other reskin kits (McHawkman for example) have a zillion layers for the individual details, and are much more time consuming. Finally, to take a raw TGA and create a new skin can be difficult, to say the least.
Practice, practice, practice. Expect to churn out some "not so good" ones at first. Don't expect to turn out reskins in 5 minutes. It won't happen. It is a time-consuming process. You'll get better at it the more you practice.
Practice, practice, practice. Expect to churn out some "not so good" ones at first. Don't expect to turn out reskins in 5 minutes. It won't happen. It is a time-consuming process. You'll get better at it the more you practice.