plank
Sub-Junior Member
Posts: 5
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Post by plank on Feb 27, 2024 11:02:09 GMT
Not sure where to post this basic question but here we go..
So I am designing RC planes in Sketch up 1016 ( oops 2016...) . I have the 3D rad plugin to export .X files.
Can import them in to RC Desk Pilot, they work fine, everything is cool.
BUT...
I just have no idea how people create the paint work on the outside of the models.
There is and image file with the parts laid out ready to paint on etc....
I lack the simple words needed to talk about this part of the process. So yeah, help.
I see phrases like "skin mesh" etc which are cool but when I look them up on the 'internet a lot of stuff is just bonkers over the top stuff and not actually explaining how to do the paint work thing,
especially for SU 2016... if you can dig it.
Ok ok I am behind the wave, I am a turtle, right. Slow but goes all day...
HELP !!!!
I really just want to do the basics. Nothing fancy.
This is an example of what I am aiming for. It's pretty cool in my book.
The zip file has the .X files in it and the image file for the skin, so you can
see what I mean.
Cheers!
Planky.
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Post by NicusorN5 on Feb 27, 2024 21:47:38 GMT
Hi, by paint work you mean texturing? Painting the planes with a color?
Also, I don't see any ZIP file, are you sure you uploaded one?
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plank
Sub-Junior Member
Posts: 5
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Post by plank on Feb 28, 2024 9:45:30 GMT
Hi, by paint work you mean texturing? Painting the planes with a color? Also, I don't see any ZIP file, are you sure you uploaded one? Third time I write this reply...
I want to learn the process of taking a model and then making the image ( that is painted on to give the model a paint job).
I have attached the image file for the model. The model is in the link below, which is hosted at RCgroups. There is a .zip file at the bottom of the page.
That zip has the .X files and the paint work file and the flight model file. If you happen to have RC Desk Pilot installed in your Win7 machine.... and a USB TX...
So yeah, I can make a model but then I am lost.
Cheers.
Attachments:
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Post by NicusorN5 on Feb 28, 2024 13:50:55 GMT
If you want to modify the plane texture outside the 3D editor, I recommend using a UV mapping software + an editor. I suggest www.uvmapper.com/ . The free version only shows the projected polygons into the texture. Using UVMapper, you can export a image file containing the shapes that need to be filled. The modern process is using Blender for both the moddeling, setting up the UV coordinates (texture coordinates), and bump mapping. SketchUp is meant for architecture, and it isn't that advanced.
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plank
Sub-Junior Member
Posts: 5
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Post by plank on Feb 28, 2024 22:03:26 GMT
Hmm.
So back in 2016 ( and before... ) people were generating a model with a seperate image file, that gets stuck onto the model in the 3d engine...
How did they do this back then?
Sketchup is totally fine for the level of modeling i need, the 3d rad .x plugin works fine... do i really need seperate wares to do the "uv mapping" ... i am not even sure thats what i need. Is a paint job a uv map ?
I understand there is some kind of un folding of the model to place the parts on a flat sheet, which you need for painting. That flat sheet with all the parts is the image file...
I guess i need key words to search with. Heck a Decent tutorial on the old way of doing this would be great. Im not going near blender or any new wares... im stuck back the 00s and 10s.
Thanks for sticking with me!
:- )
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Post by NicusorN5 on Feb 28, 2024 22:59:59 GMT
I think you could just google "UV Mapping". There are also many UV mapping plugins for SketchUp and I think they could allow you to export a blank texture that can be painted.
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plank
Sub-Junior Member
Posts: 5
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Post by plank on Mar 5, 2024 8:01:36 GMT
Ok, cheers! :- )
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Post by indiedev on Mar 5, 2024 10:24:42 GMT
Ultimate Unwrap is old and still going, also exports .x
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plank
Sub-Junior Member
Posts: 5
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Post by plank on Mar 15, 2024 1:36:58 GMT
So yeah...
After looking at things what I have decided or at least discovered :
the .X file saves the 3D model as a list of co-ordinates. It also can save in the same file a list of images files that have been used in the skinning of the model. If the word "skin" is applicable here... Then I found .X files that have an image file associated with them that is one file that covers many parts of the model and in the .X file I find a new bunch of co-ordinates... So I am assuming the image file is cut up into the relevant skin parts and then applied to a panel via another bunch of co-ordinates or at least a pointer that says which bunch of co-ordinates is the base for a skin.
Does this sound right?
I would really liked to have someone explain to me that process... but so far no one has said anything, here or elsewhere. A dark art ? Hmmmm...
It seems that yet another program is required to import a model, associate an image file or parts of one to panels etc and then export a file with all that info in it which can then be used in an environment. and no two groups can agree on a specification for such a file and so they are all different. VHS vs BETA all over again.
So... subsequently I have delved into MetaSequoia, 3DRad, SketchUp, DirectX, and RC desk pilot, FMS and PicaSim....
It's been a wild ride and I am getting the hang of a few concepts.
oh yeah I just DL Ultimate Unwrap to see what I can learn from that.
Fun!
:- )
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