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P3D v4 PBR Metallic DDS

tgycgijoes

tgycgijoes

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I have a repaint with this metallic.dds which with the little bit of knowledge I have of PBR believe that is what this is. It's actually V5.4 but it DOES work beautifully in my V4.5 with a beautiful shine to the natural metal. Here is a bmp of the dds so that you can see what I am talking about. What program and how do I create it from the regular texture in Photoshop if possible? I have created a PBR a day or so ago but the tutorial was a square of solid yellow or green which made the aircraft WAY too reflective not realistic finish like the real thing. I hope that I am not going to be disappointed being told I have to buy expensive programs and go back to school for two years. LOL! I'm too old for either.
metallic.jpg
 
GIMP. That is all you need. If it is v5.4 it is done the same for v4.5. DDS DXT5 conversion.
 
Does it HAVE to be done in GIMP. I own Adobe Photoshop and am familiar with it but I know of GIMP but do not know GIMP. Also have DXTBMP and Model Converter X. Thanks for the quick reply. If GIMP IS the way are there tutorials on how to create these files with it?
 
You can use Photoshop. Unfortunately, older versions of Photoshop do not treat PNG as a format compatible with using the alpha channel and since you stated you didn't want to spend money on anything, that was the reason I suggested GIMP.

Specifically, What do you need/ want to do? If all that is needed to do is to convert them back to a DDS, all that is required is to use either Photoshop or GIMP. In the future, I suggest that you do not convert them to BMP or use DXTBMP. Both will degrade the texture the more times it is done. It is best to use PNG.

If the maps are already packed into their corresponding channels (going by the image you have shown; they are), all that is needed is to convert them using either GIMP or Photoshop to DDS Dxt5 or BC3.

There are GIMP and Photshop tutorials on how to pack maps into their corresponding channels for P3D (all versions) in the Resource Section here (look under Ambient Occlusion or AO).
 
Thanks Doug, I have always used DXTbmp to save the 32bit BMP to DDS be it 1 for no alphs or 5 with alpha channel. Everytime I save the psd as the 32bit bmp it gives me a pure black alpha channel and I have to create one. Can I look in my Photoshop to have it create an alpha channel when I save it as a dds? I have the Nvidia plugin installed and can OPEN dds in my Photoshop. I appreciate the feedback and always try and learn a little more here. Yesterday I learned how to take a straight pen line on engine cowls and curve it to look like the real one. Something every day.
 
The other options besides PNG format are either TGA or TIF format (especially when using an older version of Photoshop) then you should be able to convert using the nvidia plugin as a DDS DXT5 format. The reason for the alpha channel is for the Smoothness which is likely used in the image that you have shown above (must likely close to a gray color ).

The packing channels of the different maps are: Red channel- metalness (or metallic), Green channel- AO, Blue channel (used in P3D v5.4 and above): Reflection and the Alpha Channel -Smoothness (sometimes called Glossiness).

I suggest you read the tutorial that I mentioned if you want to get more information on how to pack the channels and to save it: https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/resources/ps-creating-ambient-occlusion-ao-maps.188/
 
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