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Reducing image size without degradation

K

kdryan

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us-indiana
Ok, moving right along...

My next issue involves placing the Travel Air logo on the size of the fuselage. I took the image from a web page, then isolated the logo, and arrived at this.

Untitled-1.jpg


However, when I reduce it in Photoshop, I get this:

logotext.jpg


Can you tell me how to get a decent image small enough? Even the one I have placed on there is about twice too large...

Kevin
 
If you reduce it, you'll always get to a point where the pixels "crash" into each other, and you get jaggies, etc.


The Inspector Poly "kludge" method is to keep it the appropriate "nicely detailed" size and map it to the selected polygons directly (or copies thereof). that way your logo is not inserted in a larger texture.

You *may* try to redraw it as a vector image and scale it down to your photoshop on its own vector layer, but I believe that when merging the layers for the final bitmap, you might get the logo blurred.
 
Most graphics software allows a choice of interpolation when resizing, and most defaults are more suitable to enlarging the image, so you may be able to get a better result with a different interpolation method.

I use Picture Publisher, which is very obsolete, but the concept is the same. I get a choice of Linear, Bi-cubic and Quadratic. Bi-cubic and quadratic are good for enlarging, but linear works best for reducing the size. This actually blurs the image a little, fixed with a finely-tuned unsharp mask.

Sometimes reducing the size in steps can help. Reduce to say 50% first, then sharpen and clean up the image, then reduce again.
 
Personally, I'd opt to create a simple polygon to 'float' about 0.01mm off the surface, and treat it as a decal...
 
n4gix said:
Personally, I'd opt to create a simple polygon to 'float' about 0.01mm off the surface, and treat it as a decal...
Click to expand...

Sigh - which is what I was trying to write .... but Inspector Poly doesn't express himself well in Inglisch .... he's been watching too many "telenovelas" in Spanglish lately.

The Inspector Poly "kludge" method is to keep it the appropriate "nicely detailed" size and map it to the selected polygons directly (or copies thereof). that way your logo is not inserted in a larger texture.
Click to expand...
 
I did as suggested, and it looks good, but how do you ensure it won't look like it's floating when in the sim?

Kevin
 
kdryan said:
I did as suggested, and it looks good, but how do you ensure it won't look like it's floating when in the sim?

Kevin
Click to expand...

There are many methods one may use to create the decal polygon(s), but the most accurate method to ensure that the decal doesn't appear to 'float' is to apply a zbias to the Material used...

FS9: add a ZBIASnn_ prefix to the Material's name

FSX: set the FSX Material's advanced properties to set a zbias level.

My two favored methods to create decal polygon(s) are these:

Using polys from existing object:
1. clone the entire object

2. select polygon(s) in the area where you need the decal

3. invert polygon selection, delete unneeded ones

4. select the remaining polygon(s), UWV Map, add UVW Unwrap modifier, adjust UVW verticies to place image where you want it

5. collapse to E-Poly, carefully use Edge Divide/Edge Create to form the decal's edges, select/delete all remaining polys except the ones you want to keep

6. re-UVW Map, UVW Unwrap, adjust UVW Vertices to fit image

7. with decal object selected, select/right-click on Move tool, and type in a small offset value to the correct axis to "elevate" object some small fraction from the surface.

Create Decal Polygons Directly:
1. Rightclick on 2d Snap tool, set options to "Face" only

2. Set Viewport display to "Smooth" "Edged Faces"

3. Set Viewport and Zoom to close up of area where you need the decal

4a. Start with top-left corner, and carefully "draw a spline" using Line Object tool, adding a vertex at everywhere the decal's edge crosses/intersects an edge of the underlying object

4b. If the decal will not cross/intersect any edges of the underlying object, use the Spline Rectangle tool to draw a box of approximate size for the decal.

5. follow the steps from 4 through 7 in previous method.
 
Kind of like this? That will do very nicely... Thanks! Now what happens when I try to export it?

Kevin

talogo.jpg
 
Nice and clear. Were it me though, I'd make the decal "transparent" using black and the Alpha channel so that only the "logo/text" will be displayed in the sim, allowing you to use the same decal regardless of the color "paint" used for the fuselage.
 
Actually, this is the only model I have seen with the T/A logo on it here. I'll do that though, because you've shown me time and again that you know like a million times more of this stuff than I do. ;) I figured with the red background, it would blend in...

It turns into the Piper logo?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what the Piper Logo looked like, but there were several variations of the T/A logo used at different times. I need to make this one more gold than yellow on the inside though...
 
Last edited:
kdryan said:
I figured with the red background, it would blend in...
Click to expand...

Actually, it wouldn't really "blend in" very well because of the different pixel resolutions...

...you would definitely be able to detect the "edges" of the polygon. ;)
 
As long as we're on the subject of degradation; how about this? I'm in Photoshop CS3 here...

I drew this out with the path selection tool, and when I rasterize it, all hell breaks loose on the edges.

Untitled-3.jpg


After I put a Stroke on it to achieve the pinstripe, in Max I achieve this:

wingmerge.jpg


I got it to line up nicely, but it looks like crap...

Kevin
 
That's because you've limited the pixel-resolution possible when you UVW Mapped the fuselage sides. You're trying to display a large surface area with too-few pixels...

...and the further away from the a/c in spotview, the worse the "jaggies" will be.

I'd recommend using the full width of the 1024x1024 bitmap for the port and starboard fuselage sides, or else double the size of the bitmap used in FSX to 2048x2048, which will increase your "in sim resolution" by 200%.
 
I think what Bill/N4Gix meant was to make all surfaces the full width of the texture.

Frame Rate killer is when all your textures are full size, you have them all in 32bit high resolution format, and you have 70+ textures. :D



like me... gahhhh! :eek:


Bill
 
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