Skins Ginetta Templates 8.2_Final

[zerobandwidth]

First, I'll echo the praise for this template, the livery, the car... wonderful as usual.
I'm trying to change the front windshield banner, which is provided by `g55_Glass_Windows_D.dds`, and have run into a bit of a snag. If I leave the bottom half of this file as-is (with the black and... whatever that other color is in the lower right) alone, then the windshield and headlight glass turn completely opaque. If I cut that out to make them transparent, though, they just disappear. What really needs to go into the bottom half of this image file in order to give it the shiny glass appearance that it has in the other liveries?

 

[formulaHEINE]

You'll need to save it as an dds-file with the DXT5 format, as the alpha channel is needed.

 

[After_Midnight]

You'll need to save it as an dds-file with the DXT5 format, as the alpha channel is needed.

^^This

I'm trying to change the front windshield banner, which is provided by `g55_Glass_Windows_D.dds

If you've a look at the "g55_Glass_Windows_D.psd file you'll see the layer "place your banner here".
This is the area for your painting. Place there whatever you like. The part in the
lower right corner is the part for the windows and headlight glass.
In the alpha channel the light grey part is the banner and the darkgrey part is the glass stuff.

After your changes save the file as dds (DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp / interpolated alpha) and it should work.

I hope it's useful Good luck

Greets After_Midnight

 

[zerobandwidth]

Thank you formulaHEINE and AM; while the complete story was much more complicated, you definitely helped to point me in the right direction. In case there is anyone else out there trying to work with these templates only in GIMP, I will outline the steps I had to take below:

• Open the g55_Glass_Windows_D.psd template (for Photoshop) and save it as g55_Glass_Windows_D.xcf (for GIMP) to continue editing.
• Make your windshield banner edits to the place your banner here layer.
• Make sure that the Hintergrund layer remains intact and at the bottom of the layer stack. Do not edit it.
• When you're ready to export, go to the Layers pane, right-click the Hintergrund layer, and select Add Layer Mask...
• In the Add Layer Mask dialog, select Channel, then select the Alpha 1 channel. Commit by pressing the Add button.
• In the Layers pane, you should now see a layer mask appear next to the contents of the Hintergrund layer. Also, in the main editor window, the operation will appear to have subtracted the area that used to be that dark greenish color.
• In the main menu, select Image → Merge Visible Layers…
• In the Merge Layers dialog, select Clipped to image, then commit by pressing Merge.
• Export the file as g55_Glass_Windows_D.dds with the following options:
  • Format: RGB8 (you have to select this before the compression algorithm, otherwise it becomes diabled)
  • Compression: BC3 / DXT5
  • Mipmaps: No mipmaps

Once the file is exported, copy it to the skin directory that is visible to AC and Content Manager. If you're using CM's showroom, then the car should update instantly to show your new banner, with the glass and headlight surrounds still intact.

 

[formulaHEINE]

Now i know why i do prefer PS over Gimp!
Just save as dds and the nVidia plug-in pops up, no merging required.

 

[After_Midnight]

Now i know why i do prefer PS over Gimp!
Just save as dds and the nVidia plug-in pops up, no merging required.

+1

 

[zerobandwidth]

Yeah, in the transition from PS into GIMP, some characteristics of certain layers get lost, so I think the steps above are just restoring what gets messed up in the conversion. Oh well, it's what I get for being cheap but still wanting to make liveries.