[Terminated] My first truck skin: Grimm

[Lexx]

This is my first truck skin for Kenworth T680. It's a work in progress because I still have to figure out how to make the logo appear on both doors. Also I have to make a material file for it to be easier to find in the shop. And hopefully, some day, I'll be able to add a trailer and a company to that skin.

http://sharemods.com/y3ik9khu3z4e/Grimm ... 0.rar.html

[m1keY]

Lot of people have checked this out, but no replies..so I thought I would give a helping hand
( I'm no expert, but some advice could be helpful when starting out, soak it in or flush it away )

to make skin ,it seems difficult from the first look of it...
(seems..and it is...but time will build skills, just a matter of how long time anyone needs)

Ok, here it goes....it's a long one, it's not in anyway the correct way of doing it, it's just how I do it
there are plenty of tutorials all over the Trucking Sim Community...youtube vidz and so on

Great done on this first of many paintjobs


Grimm logo has no transparancy,
as you may have noticed the background colour doesn't match with the truck,
try to search for it on the google: add png to search string and you'll probably find a better one to use,
this one for example only logo no background easier to put on any surface Grimm Logo PNG
using this you get no other background colour ...


if you use the templates available for each truck it's a lot easier - and with the final result create the .scs file with ETS2Studio

If you use this software, it's much easier to get all things right, remember to change the name of the skin,
if using the default you can only use ONE of all your custom paintjobs..highest priority overwrites the others....
as it is now, your skin is using the same internal name as the default "Stars and Stripes" by SCS - ( paintjob_05_ab , paintjob_05_c )
so either this or that will NOT be selectable in workshop

How I did it:

When I first decided to make a skin I opened the trucktemplate(s) in Photoshop ( or any other similar software in your likings )
and with downloaded skins I extracted the .dds from .scs and dragged them onto the template(s) and checked them out.

That way I got the whole idea of how people did it and what to do myself.

Here is the template for the Kenworth T680
( all cabins templates are visible underneath - when finishing a skin remember to HIDE this layers )
with the Grimm logo applied



-----------------------------------------------------
Fiddle with this and you'll soon get the hang of it, any questions
...just give it a shout in this forum and you'll hopefully/probably get some help
- FIRST check out similar threads, they might be useful and have information appliable for your work also

Also I have to make a material file for it to be easier to find in the shop

Also doable in ETS2Studio...and if you check out some other paintjobs / .scs files you will soon know how and what to do yourself.

Here I have used the default icon in ETS2Studio,
3 different versions with own internal names,
which make them all selectable in workshop



if you want to apply text there's some settings needed to be applied in ETS2Studio

Alternative UV ....



if NOT using this option text and graphics would be mirrored and misplaced...

[Lexx]

The skins is meant to be black which is why I didn't bother with removing the logo background. I know how to remove a background in ImageReady but in this case there's no need.
I know how to drag one image over another but the problem is idk how to save the new image without the template lines. I was told there's a way to set the template to be a background in Photoshop window so that whatever I place on it and save it, it would have a transparent background which then I could fill. But I couldn't find any possible way to do that, so for the moment I'm using the only possible way - download any skin with any logoes on the hood and the doors and replace them, then replace the main color. The weird part here is that after replacing logoes, the main logo (on the hood) appeared but the logoes on the doors didn't.
I've tried using ETS2Studio several times but for unknown reasons the program mostly crashes when I run it and if I get lucky and it doesn't crash, it won't load any file - even a file it's supposed to open. For this reason I use Photoshop CS2. All Photoshops above CS2 run very slowly and laggy. Probably my CPU is too weak for them.

A friend of mine has asked for help here many times before he was banned and he said his questions never got answered. Which is why I doubt I'll have mine answered.

[Hounddog]

In paint.net there is a wand icon (don't really know how i call that )

This tool will replace/delete the background of the image (logo)...so you only have the letters behind..
making it become transparent and thus the logo exactly can fit your new paint .

I guess there must someting in other paintprograms to


Dom't know about your friend.....but i think were always want to help if we can......
but sometimes the response to a topic is not as fast as you sometimes wants
which is understandable ...... we all have a busy RL

[Lexx]

As I said, I know how to remove a background but I prefer ImageReady - an additional program that comes with Photoshop.

[Rig Runner]

Hey Lexx, Here is my video tutorial walking through the whole process. Since you are using photoshop, its pretty much the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByguOiSq0DU

[Lexx]

Ah, screw it, I give up! Nothing happens as it's supposed to. More than that - things with no logic happen with this stupid skinning! You place 5 images in total on a template, paste the template on a black background with the same dimensions (same as the template) and... only one image appears in the middle of that background. The skin was meant to be black but since nothing makes sense, I give up. I tried. I even watched your video and nothing happens as it should. So **** it!

If anyone has the patience to continue, feel free to do so. I'm done with this nonsense BS!
http://www110.zippyshare.com/v/iomyurvs/file.html

[Axel Slingerland]

I prefer the easy approach... I would just edit the image however you like, save it as a .png or .bmp file, then use Paint.NET to convert it to a .dds file.

Before you save the image, if you have to add an Alpha Channel, go to Layers and select Add New Layer, then go to Properties and set that layer to invisible.

The first time you save a .dds image, make sure you have the "Save As" settings set to:

Top Drop Menu = DXT5 (Interpolated Alpha)
Compressor Type = Iterative Fit (Slowest\HQ)
Error Metric = Perceptual
Additional Options = Generate Mip Maps
Bottom Drop Menu = Super Sampling.

I have absolutely no idea if this will work or not, as I don't have ATS or this truck, but try This .dds image... I made it by loading your .psd into PhotoShop 7, saving the file as is to a .png file. Then I opened that .png file in Paint Shop Pro 5 and painted over all the template lines to a solid black background. Then saved the file as a .bmp file and loaded it into Paint.NET gave it an invisible alpha channel and saved it as a .dds file, both of which as described above.

Good luck with it...

[NZ_Truck_Modder]

Hows this http://sharemods.com/9gum3ilg8z6p/GRIMM.scs.html