I just bought RF2 and want a custom paint on a car. I thought It would be just as easy as it is with iRacing. WTF was I thinking? Here is what I understand this far. 1 I have Photoshop CC 2015 2 Installed the NVIDIA texturing plug-in. 3 obtain the dds file from the game. (Create loose dir) 4. Open in photoshop. Here is where things go sideways. Every YouTube video shows opening the dss file in photoshop having several layers, masking, wire frames, etc. However when I open my dss files I have only one layer, background. Unless I select mipmaps that will just give me cascaded duplicate layers. So hi do I get the layers that I am seeing in all the tutorial videos? There has got to be a step I am easily missing. I have exhausted google, every forum I can think of. Perhaps I don’t know the terminology to search correctly.
DDS is just loose format that uses compression to save up video memory. You need a PSD template for the car, that one will contain all the layers. For editing, always save your skins/texs as new PSD files. As said above, DDS is a loose format which you only export for games, so opening and re-saving DDS will degrade the quality of texture.
What are you painting, official S397 content or 3rd party mod? If official and it's not in that folder then you may be outta luck, but ask anyways, lots of folks here know where templates are on various websites.
I usually find the best way to get help is first ask the right question. It confuses me as to why you would think a DDS format that is used as the games texture would be any different to a Taga format that iRacing uses. Even iRacing skins start with a layered template, psd, psp. Either one. How is rF2 so different to iRacing?
Most recent cars we've released as Studio 397 have had templates shipped with the actual car (as part of the workshop item). These templates automatically show up in a folder of the same name in your rFactor 2 installation. For other cars I guess it depends. Ask the author is the best advice I can give you in such cases.
Now that I know the file locations it should make it easier. I see that a lot of the workshop cars are without templates. I figured the solution was a pretty easy one.
Which car are you wanting to paint? Second post has links to older ISI cars templates. https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?threads/isi-templates.58587/
I'd like to paint the Datsun 510. Did some painting with the USF2000 car and that was same as I was used to with IR.
I tried to paint one of those 510's blow over on a dds it didnt work as in show up in game. We have to wait for the modder to release templates for the 70's mod.
Got about 7 minutes in and that was enough for me. Firstly, The wire frame. Make it 100% solid on the transparency., Set mode to normal. Check that it's white "over" black. Not the other way and hopefully the guy whose made it has a brain and not made one using color spectrum. These are 100% useless! Set in the mode to different. This will mean the wire will always show as the negative color to that your painting. Meaning the only time it is hard to see is if your using a mid rang grey (125 RGB). It's negative is nearly exactly the same so the wire will be hard to see. Only scenario were this will happen. The second thing; and as far as I got watching. Never just paint on the background layer. In this case the red. Create a new layer first and paint on that. Why? you ask. Simple. You can edit, move, delete any new layer without loosing things you main want to keep. Each thing you do, paint color. add stripes, add logos, whatever! use a new layer. That's as far as I got watching this vid. Just these two things are basic rules everyone should now and follow. The program you use/are using makes no difference. I use Paintshop Pro. But if I used Gimp, Photoshop or any other paint type program the basics are always the same.
That video was done ages ago and was intended as absolute bare basics And how to get it into the game. I’ve since learned all that stuff you’ve said. I prefer to have a solid base colour and go from there. In this case, red. Every car I’ve painted has shape layers on top
I can appreciate your trying to help but if you knew the video was out off date then why post it? Miss information is worse than none at all. There are a lot of videos that serve to do no more than confuse most people trying to learn. Such a one is the one suggested by the OP about a layered DDS file. There is no such thing. This link is to a tutorial that will help you and others. It's the written word, not video. It's was posted back in 2011 but for the most part it's still very relevant today. https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/livery-tutorial.37313/
