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FSX Eroding textures

F

Flamer584

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120
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unitedkingdom
Hi Folks.

I am new to aircraft painting and tried to simply recolour the panel lines on the FSX default Baron 58. I chose the one with the blue and white stripes. I backed it up first!! I am using DXT2bmp and Paint Shop Pro 2020. I made a not too bad job considering I am a beginner. Now, here's my problem. It took me several attempts back and forwards between DXT and PSP. Each time I noticed that the texture sheet was beginning to erode and become blotchy. I mean that the white aircraft was beginning to become patchy and blocky with pixels changing hue and colour. This shows up in the sim obviously and compared to the original aircraft it is really not nice. I'm thinking that it must be the fact that I reloaded it several times. Is there a technique to this? Should I be saving a pristine copy? Should I not go back and forwards between DXT and PSP? Should I just save in PSP between making changes to the texture? I am keen to make the best job I can as a beginner. Are there any good tutorials I should be looking at first?

Apologies for all the questions but I'm sure there will be a definitive answer to it all. I know I'm late to the party with aircraft painting but I thought that I would try something new seeing as how I am confined to quarters right now due to Covid-19.

Regards...Ken.
 
Hello Ken

What format is the texture when editing (such as png, tga, and jpg, etc.)
 
Hi

As you suspected, the answer is to keep a pristine copy of the texture, and use that for editing. The ONLY time you convert to DXT format is the FINAL conversion to place into FS. The DXT copy never gets edited. The more you make the conversion the worse it will get. I keep a 24 bit BMP version for safekeeping and for any edits required.
 
Hello Doug and Tom.

Many thanks for the replies. I appreciate your input. Doug, I'm not really up to speed with the tech side of textures and I'm sure you are familiar with how this works but when I send the texture sheet from DXT into my PSP it comes in a 'norm.bmp'. I then make my changes and I think this is where I'm going wrong, when it comes meal times or I leave my pc, I am then saving it back into DXT and then saving as a DDS DXT5 texture back into the sim. Next time up I then have to fire up DXT2bmp and reload it back into PSP for further editing. To answer your question, I'm editing a bmp and saving it back as a DDS DXT5.

As Tom says, I'll stop doing that and only convert back when I'm finished with my paintjob. I was going nuts watching the texture deteriorate in front of my eyes. I thought, "something's not right". Now I know. I'll delete the texture I've made so far and start again. All good fun and a learning point.

Best Regards...Ken.
 
1. In PSP use Save As to give the norm.bmp file a new name and save it for safekeeping/further editing.
2. Re-edit the saved file as desired
3. Load the original FS version of this texture into DXTBmp (if not there already) and generate a *new* norm.bmp file. This will probably open in another instance of PSP, that's fine.
4. Copy the edited file in your original instance of PSP.
5. Paste as New Layer into the norm.bmp file. Your version will replace the FS version.
6. Save the norm.bmp file. Say yes to the warning message.
7. Reload the new version in DXTBmp. Your version should now be displayed.
8. Save the image in DXTBmp, overwriting the old FS version.
9. To reload the texture in FSX without restarting it, go to Options/Settings/Graphics and move the Global Texture Resolution slider one notch left or right. Click OK.
10. Don't forget to return the slider to its original position when finished editing.
 
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