Ice's Skinning Tutorial

I know there are few tutorials around but I thought I'd put something together myself. So when I forget I have something to fall back on ;-)

The Only way to make a really good skin is to go to the trouble of preparing or finding a really good template.

The ones I found on the net were ok but I needed something better. This means hours and hours of panel lines and rivets. Tracing the best original skin you can find.

I'm not going to give away my hard work but I will show you how its done.

You will need for this tutorial:

Photohop 7 or better

Loman 4 or better

A lot of patience and concentration

For this excercise im going to use the Su27

1a. Open LoMan/CDDS Browser and for the CDDS File Path find "..\Eagle Dynamics\Lock On\Bazar\World\worldtexturesbmp2.cdds"

1b. For the Export/Import panth find "..\Eagle Dynamics\Lock On\Bazar\TempTextures"

What this does is sets up LoMan to open the Bmp files in worltexturesbmp2.cdds and extract any that you choose into the temptextures folder. Temptextures folder is also where LoMan will install addons. These addons will override any original files. This means you dont actually have to tamper with the original texture folders.

2a. Scroll down the Bmp2 file to SU-27-SKIN-L-03.BMP 2048 2048. This is the first half and highest resolution SU27 skin you will find. Very nicely done too I might add. A very good template to trace rivets and panel lines.

2b. Now with this skin highlighted in blue, press "Extract" and in the texture extraction window select "BMP" you should see 2048x 2048 highlighted and ticked. Then press the "Extract" then "Quit" button in the same window. You now have a BMP Skin in the Temptextures folder to work on. Going back to the CDDS Browser and scroll down to SU-27-SKIN-R-03.BMP 2048x2048 and repeat the process. Good Job! We can now close LoMan and open PhotoShop.

3a. In Photoshop Go File/Open and browse to the Temptextures folder where the Su27 skins were extracted to.

3b Double click on "SU-27-SKIN-L-03-2048x2048.bmp" and you will now have you template or original skin to work on.

3c. Before we go any further we will safe this file as a psd file. Click on File Save As.. and createa a new Folder in temptectures called "PSD" and then save as a PSD or Photoshop File. Good job!.

4a. In Photoshop, make sure you have in "Window" Layers Tools and Navigator ticked. These three utilities should be all you will need.

4b. In the layers Box down the Bottom is a group pf Icons. One of them looks like a folder. Click on it and you should see a new layer Set called "Set 1" Appear. Double Click on the wording and rename it to "Background".

4c. Now Double Click on the Background Layer you'll notice it has a Padlock on it. Now hit Enter and the padlock disappears and it renames itself to "Layer 0" Grab the Background Layer and Drag it into this Set Box.

4d. Grab hold of the image of layer 0 and drag it into the Background box.

5a. Once again Click on the "create a new set" folder at the bottom of the layer window and call it "Panels 1" then at the Photoshop menu select Layer/New/Layer Shift+Ctrl+N. Rename it to "Panels 1" We now have a blank Layer inside The Set Panels 1.

6a. Now the fun begins. I tend to start at the top left of a template and work left to right down the image. So let's zoom in on the image using the Navigator so we can see clearly the panels and rivets on the left upper wing of the Su27.

6b. Most lines on the Su27 in this area are on angles and the angled lines are what we are going to trace first. So in the toolbar select black colour by clicking on the top left coloured box and sliding the circle to the bottom left of the colour chart then press ok.

6c. Now in the toolbar select the line tool (u) In the Options bar you will now see a group of 3 squares. Make sure the third square is selected otherwise each stroke becomes a different layer.. "Weight 1 px" Mode: Normal Opacity: 100% Antialiased ticked.

6d. Now with your mouse trace the first oblique panel line. It should look exactly the same as the original except black. If it does then continue doing the whole wing. Just the one side of the wing. Done? Good.

6e. Now for the other shapes. Lets do a perfect circle. Create a new layer and call it "panels 2" In the tool bar select the "Eliptical Marquee" then moving over to a circle on the wing hold the mouse down with the shift key and drag in a 45 degree angle. The Shift key will keep the circle perfect once its about the right size let go and you can then move it over the original circle.

6f. Whilst the marquee is still there go to Edit/Stroke.. Width 1 px Color Black Location Center Mode Normal Opacity 100% and press ok. You should now see a black circle of your round panel. If its too big or small either start again or select "inside" or "outside" in the stroke tool. A bit of practice may be required in getting this feature down pat. Tip: To get the same size imagine a square with the same diameter and start at the corner.

6g. Now some panel lines are at right angles. I like to do these seperately on the same layer but turning off the Anti-Aliased option and using the shift key whilst drawing gives you a perfect straight line only 1 pixel wide.

7a. Now for the rivets. Create a new Set and new layer. Call the Set "Rivets 1" and the new layer "Rivets".

7b. Select Pencil Tool (B) Where it says "Brush" Click the drop down arrow and make sure its at 1 px. Opacity 100%.

7c. Rivets are generally repetitive so what we tend to do is do the start of a line then using the marquee tool highlighting them and pressing "Ctrl=C" (Copy) then "Ctrl=V" (Paste). Recreate them on a new layer. Line them all up until you have completed that section. You will see in all these new layers a small blank box next to the "eye". Highlighting the original rivet layer then slide the mouse up this line of blank boxes and you will see a series of small chain links appear. Then by pressing "Ctrl E" we can merge all these layers into one.

The larger rivets I do on a seperate layer and call it "rivets big" and make them out of a square of 4 pixels.

7d. Ok were cruising along just fine here. You can see the benifit of Layer Sets. It helps keep things organised. When I'm creating layers I use lots of Sets. Each section of the aircraft might be a set and you'll see why.

7e. Some more complicated pieces like the oval panels and those funny circles with three smaller circles are just a matter of creating parts one at a time and merging layers and erasing sections. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Sometimes its easier to create a new canvas create the shape on a larger scale then drag it to the original canvas and using the Edit/Transform you can change the size and the direction of the layer.

8a. OK Great we have 1 Wing surface completed. Takes a while doesnt it? Well the good news is that the surface below is exactly the same only flipped inverted. So lets get clever. Highlight the Panels 1 Set then right click on it and select "Duplicate Layer Set" Rename the Copy to "Panels 2".

8b. Go to Edit Transform Flip Vertical" and the layer set is now upside down on the original. Whilst the set is still highlighted you can drag it down and place it perfectly over the opposite surface. Cool hu?

Ok I think we have the idea of panels and rivets. Continue this process for about a day and you should have a perfect template.

9a. The next thing that needs to be done is the "Objects" Create a new Set and and call it "objects".

9b. Highlight the original Layer 0 and with the "Polygonal Lassso Tool" (L) trace the borders of all the objects like engines speed brake etc.

9c. The way to do this is trace one then when your at the point of tracing the next one hold the shift key for the first line and it will add it to the others so when you are finished all objects are traced at once. Also using the Shift key will keep lines at right angles.

Once all objects are traced and highlighted press Ctr-C Once and then Ctrl-V. A new layer will be formed with only the objects traced. Drag this layer into the new set box.

9d. In the Background set, create a new layer and paint it Grey. turn off the original layer 0 and if all the other layers are above then you should see panels, rivets, and objects. and none of the original skin.

10a. Decals can be time consuming and tricky. Basically its best to just recreate each one rather than try and copy them but its really up to you. I'll let you use your imagination on this one.

11a. By now we should have a pretty nice template for half of the Su27. Theres a few other things you might like to do such as a new layer set for odds and ends like Speed Brake and the Back Board of the cockpit. They will need there own panels and background colouring rather than using the original objects.

12a. When doing the second half its useful to know that layer sets can be dragged from one canvas to another which can keep things consistent for both halves of the aircraft.

13a. We are now ready to start making effects to give the panels and rivets a "real" look. First we need to choose a colour. Once we have decided what colour the aircraft is going to be we can make a background and name it that colour.

continued..

13b. Close in on a section and highlight the panels. Double click on the layer and the "Layer Style" Window should appear. There's 2 sliders one says "Opacity" and the other says "Fill Opacity". The first is Opacity for effects and original pixels. The Fill opacity will only fade the Original pixel and not the effect. Lets slide the Fill Opacity to 30%

13c. There are many options here to play with to get different effects but basically we will just use the "Bevel and Emboss". So double click the Bevel and Emboss and change style from "Inner Bevel" to "Outer Bevel". Leave depth at 100, Direction Down, Size 1 px, Soften 0. You should now notice the the panel lines have a 3 dimensional effect. Depending on what colour, these options will need to be tweaked for best effect.

13d. Once you are satisfied press Ok and then right click on the layer and select "Copy Layer Style". Then right click on all panels and rivets layers and "Paste Layer Style" to get an all over effect. You can of course tweak panels and rivets to your own desire but this tends to work just as well.

14a. Ok I bet we are hanging to see this bird for real now. Fine lets save our 2 templates as BMP 24 Bit files in the Temptexture folders.

14b. IMPORTANT! When saving the files They are exactly the same name as the originals you extracted EXCEPT you must remove the 2048x2048 part of the name. Otherwise they will NOT override the originals.

14c. Done? ok load up LOMAC go to editor and select the Russian Su27 and select the "AF Standard Early (Worn Out)" Skin and it should appear in the preview window. Click fly and admire your work.

14d. Changing the name of the files from for example: "SU-27-SKIN-L-03.BMP" to SU-27-SKIN-L-01.BMP, SU-27-SKIN-L-02.BMP and so on will replace any of the skins no matter what size in the game.

15a. All that's left now is to add dirt and weathering. These are just new layers and there are limitless ways to get these effects.

16a. Sooner or later you'll have a skin that you will want to share with your friends which means creating a loman Addon. This is very easy really. First you will need a sexy screenshot prepared in jpg form.

16b. Open the LoMan Addon Maker and where it says "1-Choose Addon file (Texture, sound, skin etc..etc..)" browse to the temptexture folder and highlight your 2 template bmp's with the mouse and holding Ctrl button. Click Open and press "Add To Package" Select Addon Type "Skins Textures". Give it a name, Homesite, and a Description. Click on "Choose a logo/screenshot (ratio 1.33) and browse to the screenshot you prepared earlier. Click on "Create addon package (ZIP)" and give it a name with no spaces.

Thats it! Your done. Upload it somewhere or email it to your squadron mates and share your work.

This is the basics in good skinning. Please feel free to add to this post with any other techniques or ideas to make great skins for Lock On.

;) Top job Ice.

Nice job

Nice job mate, im sure this will help a lot of people having trouble with skinning.

And I ask all other squadrons and players, who has a CO this dedicated who will spend a whole night to help you slackers out there with your skins (just jokes you potential flamers).

Good leadership I say, take a leaf all

Fungus

Thanks for the step by step guide.

Might even be tempted to give it a go now.

Cheers.

Thanks for the good INFO.

Your SKINS are absolut PERFECT!

Salut

nice tutorial m8, if you know all this why are the squads skins plain black..........hehe just ribbin ya mate :)

Thanx for the Skin Post

TiGGs