How to repaint
FS 2002 default Boeing 747-400
by Mark
Kiszkiel
This tutorial will take you thru the process step by step.
You will need a good graphics editor (I use Paint Shop Pro)
and Imagetool that comes with FS2002
Professional Edition and is located in gmax directory.
The Imagetool is basically a format converter.
Step 1.
Create new folder and name it e.g. FS Works. This will be
your work directory.
In FS2002\Aircraft\b747_400\Texture
you will find two files:
1. b747_400_T.bmp
2. decal_b747_400.bmp.
Copy them to your FS Works folder.
Step 2.
Start Imagetool. Open
b747_400_T.bmp (see
Image 1.)
Click Image
=>Format => 32-bit
(see Image 2.).
Click File
=> Save as Plane.tga.
Save it in FS Works folder.
It is very important to save it in tga
format
in order to preserve the mask.
Close Imagetool.
Step 3.
Image 3.
Start Paint Shop Pro.
Open file Plane.tga.
First you have to retrieve the mask.
In order to do that click
Mask => Load
From Alpha Channel
Image 4.
Click OK (see Image 4.).
Image 5.
Click Mask again =>
Save To Disk (see Image 5.).
Save mask to FS Works
folder as plane.msk.
Close Plane.tga saving no changes (this will prevent
you from making irreversible error).
Open Plane.tga again. Click Mask
=> Load From Alpha
Channel.
Click Delete.
Step 4.
This is where your real work begins.
Open Plane.tga. Do your repaint. Save it
Image 6.
Look at Image 6. The
highlighted area is where most
of your work will be done. Pay
special attention to reworking
Gear Cover since part of it is
displayed on fuselage and the
other part on the bottom of the
wing. If the fuselage is
a different color than the wing it
must be painted.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO
SAVE YOUR WORK
Image 7.
The highlighted area is displayed
on the fuselage.
Warning. The same paint scheme is displayed on both sides of the fuselage. Left side correctly,
right side backwards. That’s why I didn’t make KLM. (see Image 8).
Image 8.
Step 5.
Now you have to work with mask. In
Paint Shop Pro open file plane.msk. Manipulate it and save it.
Important: Darker it is more transparent
it is. So white represents no transparency as black is full transparency.
Below you can see an example. This
should give you an idea how it works.
Image
9.
This is a part of fuselage
As it appears in Plane.tga
Image
10.
This is a part of fuselage
as it appears in plane.msk
Image
11.
This is the effect as it
appears in FS2002.
Got the idea?
Image
12.
Step 5.
Now is the time to put it
together.
Image 13.
In Paint Shop Pro open both Plane.tga
and plane.msk.
Make Plane.tga active.
Click on Layers => New Raster Layer .
Image
14.
In Layer Properties click OK.
See Image 14
Image 15.
Click Mask => From Image.
Image 16.
In Add Mask From Image
highlight plane.msk and
click OK
Image 17.
Click Mask =>
Save To Alpha Channel .
Save file Plane.tga. The
file Plane.tga is a 32-bit file with 8 bit mask
and 24 bit color image.
Step 6.
Now is the time to convert what you’ve done to FS2002
format.
In FS2002\Aircraft\b747_400\Texture
rename file b747_400_T.bmp to b747_400_T.old.
Start Imagetool. Open file Plane.tga.
Image 18.
Click Image => Create
MipMaps.
Image 19.
Click Image
=> Format => DXT 3.
You are almost done. Click File => Save As.. , and save
it as b747_400_T.bmp
in FS2002\Aircraft\b747_400\Texture
folder. Close Imagetool.
Now start Flight Simulator, choose Boeing 747-400, Landmark
Airlines.
See? Landmark still shows on the side of the aircraft.
We’ll take care of it.
That’s the second file you have to work with, decal_b747_400.bmp.
Repeat steps 1 to 6, but in step 6 convert it to DXT 1
format.
Note, although size of the image is 256 pixels by 64 pixels,
only top 40 pixels are displayed.
There is one more file you might want to work on. It’s b747_400_L.bmp.
It is night illumination.
Well. Off to work and
happy painting.
P.S. Fully functional Paint Shop Pro can be downloaded from www.jasc.com for evaluation
Mark Kiszkiel, New York 12-04-2001
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