Aircraft Repaints and Previews Resolved!

  • Worked!

    I still had the issue with my own version in the original and wanted to figure out what was going on, why it wasnt working. I took out the PSD's, still showed up as white standard. I then realized, I had a preview with the older paint scheme on it in the folder for the first yellow paint scheme. Also, the compiler system will not redo existing files, so one needs to delete files they wish to have regenerated. Redoing the preview did it. I was going by the preview.

    Many thanks Rodeo.

  • ...
    Also, the compiler system will not redo existing files, so one needs to delete files they wish to have regenerated....

    I know this and do this, but I did not write it into the tutorial. My fault. I will complement the tutorial.

  • I think I asked about that in another thread and never got an answer, but yes...I have to delete the preview image files each time I render before it will create a new one. Makes sense that would apply to the other generated files. We need an overwrite function and an Undo of some kind?

  • Ok, just paruzing through the SDK PDF and read that the 'converter' does 'not' work with the PSD's. I thought maybe it did. The Robin textures in the PSD format are so well done, I thought it was for the converter to go into them and pull out the various _color and _bump and other layer textures to convert them to sim format.

    So... Bitmaps it will be. And I see they can be 32bit. That will be better then 24bit. Richer. Nice....

  • So tonight, I was trying to export a repaint of my plane into its folder and it wouldnt go. I tried taking out the various textures and parts of the plane from the primary folder, leaving in the 'model.tmc', and I have all my repaint textures ready, and I hit go, and it says this....

    Any idea what might cause this?

    I did check the config.tmc in the Aircraft Converter folder in My Documents..... and its all proper. I also know it is right as I had exported my plane fine, and also exported scenery fine. So I know the route is proper on the config.


    Config.tmc: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

    <[file][][]
    <[convert_aircraft_settings][][]
    <[bool][ExportGeometryTextFile][false]>
    <[string8][IntermediateFolder][]>
    <[string8][UserFolder][C:/Users/Lionheart/Documents/Aerofly FS 2/]>
    <[string8][DesktopFolder][F:/Games/Steam/steamapps/common/Take On Mars/steamapps/common/Aerofly FS 2 Flight Simulator/]>
    <[string8][MobileFolder][]>
    <[string8][IOSFolder][]>
    <[string8][AndroidFolder][]>
    >
    >


    ** Errors in the tm_aircraft_converter.log which is odd because the plane exported fine//////////////////////////////////////

    0.00-tmmodule: init modules=(tmsystimer=ok) (tmrandom=3867262826) ERROR: (error loading magnetic field (0 0))
    Magnetic field?
    ....
    3.42-tmxgl: ERROR: (geometry 'objects/pointlight/pointlight_sphere.tmb' not found)
    3.43-tmxgl: ERROR: failed to load texture 'texture/sb_oc_color'
    3.44-tmscene: shadowmap = 2048x2048 sp=8
    3.44-tmsyssound: ERROR: (wav loading (sound/crash-ground.tsb) not supported)
    3.44-tmsyssound: ERROR: (wav loading (sound/crash-water.tsb) not supported)
    3.44-tmmodelmanager: ERROR: tmd file 'F:/Games/Steam/steamapps/common/Take On Mars/steamapps/common/Aerofly FS 2 Flight Simulator/aircraft/b40/b40.tmd' not found. unable to load model.
    48.18-tmsyswin: render thread exited
    48.18-tmsyssound: shutting down... done

    ** It doesnt make sense that it would have issues as I compiled the plane fine. I wonder if my new TMD that isnt perfect is crashing the converter... :S

  • What in the world is Take On Mars?

    Devons rig

    Intel Core i5-13600K - Core i5 13th Gen 14-Core (6P+8E) @ 5.5Ghz / G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB Series 32GB RAM DDR5 6000 / GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070Ti GAMING OC 12G / Sound Blaster Z / Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset / Klipsch® Promedia 2.1 Computer Speakers / ASUS ROG SWIFT PG279Q ‑ 27" IPS LED Monitor ‑ QHD / 6x Samsung SSD/NVME's various sizes / Windows 11 Pro 64-bit / GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS ELITE AX LGA 1700 ATX Motherboard DDR5

  • Please, Lionheart, read my tutorials!

    There is no config.tmc for the repaints, you need a repaint.tmr and a model.tmc!
    Follow the file structure I have given in the tutorials and it will work fine.
    The existing liveries confirm this argument.

    Regards
    Rodeo

  • Please, Lionheart, read my tutorials!

    There is no config.tmc for the repaints, you need a repaint.tmr and a model.tmc!
    Follow the file structure I have given in the tutorials and it will work fine.
    The existing liveries confirm this argument.

    Regards
    Rodeo

    Roger that and will do. Thanks Rodeo.

  • What in the world is Take On Mars?

    That was when I couldnt figure out how to add Steam games to a different drive, and then Steam assumed I meant put all future games in another game folder.

    Now, if I delete Take On Mars, I'll delete about 6 other games.

    sigh.....

    EDIT: Do not get that game... It needs a lot of work.


  • I never learned the layers and flattening and such. I have Photoshop CS but I only use it to open the psd and save it as a bmp so I can work with the bmps. They look fine to me.

    Once I have a more or less completed bmp I can use a global change of color from one to another. It makes it real easy to get a red, blue, gold, gray version.

    Regards,

    Ray


    Ray,

    I was the same way with Layers. I used to collapse my stacks! Oh man... If only I had known how brilliant Layers are.

    Now, when I am making liveries for a plane, I can copy/paste a texture folder, open a PSD, turn off the Stripes (Layer), create a new layer with shortcut, or clone the layer of stripes and go into colors and change it (Control/U). I can go to certain layers and select the outlines, then create a fresh Layer and 'fill' then chisel out certain area's with selection shapes to create new paint schemes. I can add/delete/move around N numbers. I can make an N number and then clone 5 copies, change the font in each one and pick the one I want the most and turn off or delete the other layers, then burn a BMP off of it. Done.

    A thing to remember, which I needed to know at the time, but didnt, was that the layers are seen from the top down. So you must move some layers (mouse drag them up and down in the stack) so that they can be seen properly. Its like the old cartoons long ago. The backgrounds were always on the bottom. And you can hide things, like templates. And its all stored in the PSD, and you just burn a Bitmap (or DDS) off of it and youre done. All is still saved on the master PSD file.

    Layers are the best thing that happened to me since Photoshop. You should try it.

    Awesome paint schemes on the Lears....

  • Nothing.

    The Cessna exports fine. The same thing happens with my own plane. Will not create the repaint. The Preview seems to be the crash point.

    Could it be that when it attempts to render the Preview, that it is only looking (for the model) in the primary sim folder and not also in the 'My Documents....aircraft' location? Maybe I found a hole. Note that I created this plane, so it resides in the My Documents area. Maybe the converter presently only can look for airplane models in the primary sim folder? In my case, its on Mars...

  • Sorry to bring this back up, but I'm having some trouble understanding how the aircraft converter works, it seems to just.. not. do anything. From what I understand, is that a folder containing proper .bmp and .tmr files. (like the blank 747) can be right-clicked on > AF2 and converted. Upon doing so from the blank 747 (and my own paints) the converter opens and does nothing.

    I'm just curious as to if there are any specific input/output folders that the converter grabs from and outputs too. I have a few paints ready, and following all the format guidelines, but cant get them converted properly.

    Any help is appreciated!

    Thanks,

    KB


    Also:

    I'm running both AF2 and the converter from a secondary drive. Might that be an issue?