Starting skinning and Photoshop 6

[IBBoard]

Yeah, the Interactive Painter is good for colour schemes - one of the proper uses for Flash

With the colours, it may seem like a lot but then with some patterns you always end up wanting one more colour

As for working out what's what, it could be worse, but once you start to be able to work it out then it starts to come comparatively easily. Alternatively, if it's a little section that I can't track down then I paint the Dirt layer white (no team colouring) and then do a rainbow gradient, load the game and find out what colour it is. Undo the rainbox gradient and paint a smaller one on the area that was the colour you saw if you need to localise it more and repeat If those instructions made sense, of course

[MadMaffMan]

Waaagh!

Well i've finished my first skin.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b357/ ... c00027.jpg

All i have done is change some of the Primary, Secondary and Trim colour layers and highlight the eyepiece (this is a skin for WA so the eyes are a fixed red). I have based the skin on Hanger-8's excellent Golden Eagle skin. I plan to do a Terminator version and maybe Scouts as well. I think H-8's FC, Librarian and Chaplain are so good i'll stick with them.

I haven't submitted them yet because i want to get the OK to use them from H-8 as they are based on his skins. If i get the go ahead then i shall submit them if you want.

Any comments or tips will be very welcome.

[IBBoard]

*squints at little picture on big screen* Looks good - any particular official chapters that they're supposed to be able to look like, or is it just your own chapter?

[MadMaffMan]

Well they are the Penitent Angels, a chapter of my own making based upon the Dark Angels Unforgiven Successor Chapters, hence the colours.

Unlike the Dark Angels though i prefer to use the Codex system of company colours, which are shown on the shoulder pad trim and the Marines left knee pad.

Sorry about the size of screenie but i wasn't sure how else to put a larger image into a post.

Hanger-8 has given me the ok to use his skins as a base, so i'm just playing a few skirmish games looking for any probs with the skin. When i'm happy it's ok i'll submit it.

'Never Forget, Never Forgive' Penitent Angels warcry.

[MadMaffMan]

Well i've done it now.......

I've submitted my first skins.

Hope i did it right, it was rather late and i was rushing to get it done.

Hope you like them and i'm sure that more will be winging there way to you soon. Those IG skins are just calling to me.

TTFN

[IBBoard]

Three new downloads since last I checked *note to self, add automatic email on download submission* Two skins from MadMaffMan and some Tanith badges from ArchimedesUK. I might be able to add them today, but if not then I've got all of tomorrow off and my g/f is in Uni all day, so my computer won't be taken over by Sims

[IBBoard]

OK, MadMaffMan Marines are now available Since you're just keeping the Hangar-8 FC (which you didn't include in the Zip), Librarian, Chaplain and Apothecary, do you want me to just link to them from that download page? It makes more sense if you haven't changed anything on them

[MadMaffMan]

I did change the Librarian, Chaplain and Apothecary. The shoulder pads were in the secondary colour which i changed to primary so that they fitted in with my marines colour scheme. For some reason the FC wasn't the same so i didn't need to change him.

[MadMaffMan]

Is it possible to have more than one 64x64 white square per badge .tga or are you restricted to only one? And does the badge require a clear path through the dirt and colour layers?

I ask because i'm reskinning the Land Raider and someone asked me to put the Chapter badge on both front corners but when i try only one badge shows up?

Oh and by the way my Marines reskin also includes reskinned Assault Marines as well.

[IBBoard]

Ah, ok, I read the bit where you said that you just kept Hangar-8's stuff I'll get them added soon (although I won't be able to take screenies of the Chaplain for a while yet)

As for badges - yep, one per WTP file, but it overlays the dirt and colour layers (that block of white on the layer is just where the 'transfer' will be stuck on) so don't bother painting out the areas underneath. If you did remove the dirt etc under the badge area, you'd end up with a square block of _default.tga showing through around the badge It should be possible to put it on both front corners of the Land Raider though - each side is in a separate WTP from what I remember and the whole LR is actually 3 WTPs!

As for the Assault Marines - I worded it badly I wanted to make sure that people didn't think it'd reskin all sorts of other marines as well (like maybe captains, dreadnoughts, pilots and who knows what all else!) I'll change that in a minute.

[MadMaffMan]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Both sides of the Land Raider are in the same WTP file, Land Raider Chasis 1.
But for some reason the Rhino and Predator have the sides in separate WTP's......odd.

Do you have any idea why the front of the machine spirit doesn't show up on the in game model, i have only just noticed. Has it always been like that? I haven't altered anything yet so it's not because i've been mucking about with it.

[IBBoard]

They are? I thought the two sides were in separate files.....hmmmmm.......*checks* oh, no, the inner bits are on one and the outer bits are on another. I guess Xen's skin only have the symbol on one side then. It is theoretically possible to get the badge on each side, but it'd involve reskinning the model in 3DSMax and since Relic haven't released the Land Raider, you'd have to create it as well

As for the machine spirit, I think that's something Xen or Hangar-8 fixed in a skin - basically Relic put a bit of Dirt layer over it but didn't put any of the team colour layers over the top of that, so it's just black. Always has been as far as I know.

[MadMaffMan]

Well i'm almost done with the Land Raider, i've added more areas of secondary colour to the weapon sponsons and main body. As i cann't add another badge to the main body i have added a heavy support chevron, this matches in with the Golden Eagle vehicles by Hanger-8.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b357/ ... c00033.jpg

Is there an easy way to re-colour the skulls and eagles to a permanent gold that doesn't involve hand painting them all? I don't mind doing this but thought i'd just ask before starting.

[mel_danes]

Selection mask the area in question until you get it all. Then go to Image>Adjustments>Color Balance. You can then slide around until you like it.
In CS I would place am overlay layer and paint in the color, it only tints the underlayer.

[IBBoard]

Looking good and yeah, if you don't want to hand tint them then you can use the colour balance. I'm just not sure how that works when you've got a basically grey undertone that you're working with - I've never tried it before. If it remains grey, try increasing the saturation as well