how to reduce glare , shine in GIMP

[adler_1]

 

more examples

Edited November 12, 2019 by dog1

[Megalax]

I dont mess with the alpha channel on the channels tab in GIMP. I edit the alpha template only, and then replace the alpha channel as a layer mask when I need it.

So if I have a skin I am working on in the main template I will do 'copy visible - paste as new image' (shft+ctrl+C - shft+ctrl+v). Then I will add a layer mask to the new image, which is only one skin layer now. Edit the alpha template, then shft+ctrl+c, click on the layer mask and paste it in. The skin should now look semi transparent. Export it to .dds, and check in viewer.

 

I never use flatten image, I learned that the hard way once when I was skinning for '46 and accidentally saved my template as a single layer image.

[adler_1]

so the gloss adjustment is not from the alpha , i understood you use the black white slider to adjust the transparency as per tutorial in the other thread while in alpha but i am getting no reaction to anything i try wether colors tab options such as hue etc or the colors tool . you should be able to adjust everything to get to the tone you wish .   

[Megalax]

For the alpha template I make 2 base layers. 1 is 100% white, and the one above it 100% black. Then I will adjust the transparency of the black layer to get my desired sheen.

 

 

If I have layers for markings, then what I do is add it in as a layer that is either 100% black or white, then use overlay and play with the transparency slider until I get what I want.

 

 

So above here you can see the anti-glare that I want to be more matte and the exhaust surrounds that I wanted shiny and reflective. The anti glare is black in overlay with the transparency slider down a bit. Same with the surrounds.

26 minutes ago, dog1 said:

so the gloss adjustment is not from the alpha , i understood you use the black white slider to adjust the transparency as per tutorial in the other thread while in alpha but i am getting no reaction to anything i try wether colors tab options such as hue etc or the colors tool . you should be able to adjust everything to get to the tone you wish .   

 

It is on the alpha channel, but I don't mess with anything in the channels tab. I do it all on the alpha template.

Edited November 11, 2019 by Megalax

[adler_1]

why cant i adjust the black white directly on the alpha layer before replacing the the previous layer in channels ? there must be a way to do it this way . this way you see the changes visually before replacing and moving forward .   

[Megalax]

Using the slider like you want will change everything, as in all the shades of gray, including your internal parts. You don't want to do that. You may end up with invisible parts or really shiny parts when all you want is to change the sheen of the exterior.

[adler_1]

here is what i see but there is no reaction on the alpha layer ,can you pls post an image showing the 2 alpha channels in channels one black one white . that means i have to manipulate 3 alpha channels one for shine and the other 2 for opacity .i hope the color slider will react .why is my slider not reacting ?   

Edited November 11, 2019 by dog1

[Megalax]

Oh now I see what you are doing. 

 

Foreground color is the color of you paintbrush, the top of the 2 colors under your tools. Change your color, then drag it to the layer.

 

Scratch that...select your layer then go to the Colors tab. Use the exposure tool and move the slider.

Edited November 11, 2019 by Megalax

[adler_1]

sorry i dont understand all the above .

Foreground color is the color of you paintbrush, the top of the 2 colors under your tools. Change your color, then drag it to the layer.

 i placed 35 black white as a start . then drag it to the layer , i dont know how to do that , can you explain step by step .  

here is another color window , whats the difference ?  do adjust only black in exposure ? or both ?

more color options tools 

no difference using exposure tool ,  adjusting only the  black slider .

Edited November 11, 2019 by dog1

[Megalax]

 

The window you are using has no effect on your layer. It only changes the color of your Foreground or Background color currently in use.

[adler_1]

so which is the color window which alters the colors of the alpha layer ? in the tutorial he shows this one and then talks about grey scale below . Actually once this issue is defined i will have to use the lasso to render the antiglare and colored areas , insignias  as flat . I believe it will be the same tool just rendering less glossy with the slider the selected areas .  right now im going over everything like a wash .

Edited November 11, 2019 by dog1

[Megalax]

You can also use the Adjust Color Levels tools.

 

Increase or decrease the value in the red circle to your hearts content. Failing that, I really don't know what to do to help more.

The tutorial is for an older version of GIMP. I tried following it too when I started skinning for this game. Some of it worked, most of it didn't. I had to alter the way I did things to get what I wanted.

[adler_1]

looking at experts skins they have rendered the painted areas almost flat ,so its a little more complicated . I took a look at Spekters video here on the forum alpha for beginners but i found it complicated and could'nt really follow him . i will experiment further tomorrow  , i am retired so i have all day and night . thank you for support , very kind of you . 

[Megalax]

Unfortunately I don't think you'll be able to achieve what you want by only manipulating a single layer. Glad to help, even though I feel I wasn't able to.

[adler_1]

first i need to learn how to manipulate the overall shine and then how to render less shiny the other layers which have paint ,numbers  or insignias .    

[[-=BP=-]Slegawsky_VR]

Have you tried to move  default alpha layer to layers and reduce brightness using top menu to -120? than move it back to channels tab and use it instead of the default one? Simplistic but gets rid of glare.

[adler_1]

slegawsky

 where is top menu ?

[Skywarp]

Hi dog1

 

You have to darken the decals and other plane parts that don't take part of the bare metal fuselage

 

 

 

Here is the final result

 

Edited November 12, 2019 by 9./JG54_Skywarp

[adler_1]

here is how i finally did it : the skins were made in PS6 .i then moved to Gimp for the following steps.

1) open file . From channel drag the alpha 1 onto the layer .

2) In layers copy or duplicate the blue noses layer paint work . move it to the top and merge it down into the alpha layer . this is for the parts you dont want shining . 

3) In color tab scroll down to Curves and adjust the right top corner line  to approx 3 squares lower and click ok the further down the  less shine . this is for the shine . 

4) remove eye from the alpha layer , right click and press anchor for the floating layer . It will disappear.

4a) CTRL to CTRL V the alpha 1 layer  in layers  to alpha 1 in channels . 

5) point at any layer in layers  to activate the merge layers  in images tab  and merge .

6) mask and DDs .

 

 

Edited November 12, 2019 by dog1

[adler_1]

 

progress

here i greatly reduced the general shine with the color/curves tool .

Edited November 12, 2019 by dog1

[adler_1]

here is the final product  in this image you see the colored parts are no longer glossy . Please refer to my tutorial above for the  method i used . its very easy . you can now compare my photo at the top of the thread with this one . 

Edited November 12, 2019 by dog1

[adler_1]

here are some skins  available now at M4T .

then

then 

then

[adler_1]

more today petie 3rd

[Johann262]

Hello, Dog1. I seem to be having somewhat the same issue you were having, but can't seem to get anything to work. I don't totally understand the instructions you gave in your last post: I'm working with the public Me 262 template and have it colored as I'd like. After I flatten the image, I add the alpha mask to get the semi-transparent look, but it is this step exactly that turns the plane into something that looks like it's covered in a layer of water. I was testing the skins in the viewer, and the skin applies correctly without the alpha mask, although extremely flat. I can't figure out a way to edit this mask, if it's even possible. Or am I doing steps out of order?

[Bo_Nidle]

  It took me a while to work out how to create the Alpha but, like most things in life, once you work it out its actually easy.

 

  In an effort to assist those new to the skinning game I have written a tutorial that may help:

 

  To create my skins I use Paint Shop Pro (currently 2019 version) purely because thats the program I have become used to over the 15 years of skinning for the old IL2 and DCS World (on and off).

  However with these skins for IL2 I had to learn to use GIMP as Paint Shop Pro is not compatible with the Intel DDS converter.

  So I use Paint Shop Pro to create the painted, layered colour skin and GIMP to create and manipulate the Alpha layered template and save as the finished DDS skin.

  My process for creating the individual Alpha template for each skin is as follows. (This assumes you have a seperate Alpha template already like the ones that come with the ICDP template for the P-51D/P-47, my particular area of interest).

 

  NB: I am not saying this THE way to do it, there may well be a better method that I am unaware of, but this is merely the method that I have found that works.

 

  You may know most of this already but you may also see something that you are missing in your creative process:

  1/ Open both the colour and the Alpha templates together in GIMP so you can switch between the two.

  2/ Create an empty layer on the Alpha template that corresponds with the layer you want to convert on the colour template.

  3/ Copy the colour layer from the colour template and on the Alpha templates corresponding empty layer select "Edit/Paste in place". Your colour layer will transfer directly into the layer in exactly the correct location.

  4/ You now Right click on the image, in the menu that appears select "Layers" and in the next menu left click "Anchor Layer".

   (You should now be looking at a grayscale template with a colour layer in place. We now need to reduce that colour down to its grayscale levels and adjust their brightness to achieve the desired relectivity) :

  5/ On the Alpha template, making sure your new layer is the active layer, go to "Colours" menu and select "Saturation" and drag the slider to reduce it to zero. The colour will now change to grays.

  6/ Still in the "Colours" menu, select "Brightness and contrast" and reduce those sliders to zero. The images on your layer will now go to solid light gray with no detail visible, just the shapes.

  7/ Still in the "Colours" menu, select "Curves". This gives you a small screen with a graph that has a diagonal line running from the lower left (the white value) to the upper right (the black value) corners. By clicking and dragging  this line you can manipulate the amount of Black an White you input into the image on the layer. The effect on the image is immediately visible. (Also available just above "Curves" is "Levels" which does the same thing but uses a slider. I just find the "Curves" method more intuitive)

  8/ Repeat steps 2 to 7 for each layer you want to manipulate.

(As an example in the image below of "Down For Double", The metal finish, exhaust stain, the white paint, red stripe, noseart, rudder paint, codes, serial numbers and insignia are all on seperate layers on the Alpha and adjusted individually in this way.)

  9/ I then "Export" the finished Alpha template as a PSD file to the relevant work folder I use to store them, but if you just use Gimp then you will "save" them in the Gimp format. Either way the Alpha template will still remain open in  Gimp.

  (So you should now have built a grayscaled copy of your main colour template with each layer manipulated to achieve the tones of gray to achieve the desired level of reflection. Now we need to combine both templates and export them into the sim as a .DDS image):

  10/ With the Alpha template selected go to "Image" and in the drop down menu Left click on "Flatten Image". All the layers will now merge into a single layer with the name of the last layer at the bottom of the layer list. (in my case it is         called "Base", you might have called yours something else, but for this tutorial I will refer to it as "Base").

  11/ The layer menu should now consist of a single layer, make sure this layer is active and go to "Edit" then "Copy".

  12/ Now switch to your main colour template. make sure one its layers is active (it doesn't matter which one) and go to "Image"/ "Flatten Image". (Your Main Colour Template will now also merge into a single layer)

  13/ You should now have a single layered Main Colour Template. In the layers list aove the table of layers you will see three tabs: "Layers"/"Channels"/"Paths", Left click on
        "Channels".

  14/ You will now see the current Alpha channel for your Main Colour Template showing its Red, Green and Blue layers highlighted with the overall combined "Alpha 1" layer at the bottom.

  15/ Left click on "Alpha 1". You should see the Red, Green and Blue channels "switch off" and the "Alpha 1" layer should now be active.

  16/ Now press "Ctrl and V". This will now paste YOUR Alpha layer that you flattened and copied at steps 10 & 11 onto your Main Colour template and will show in the channels list immediately below "blue" channel. (so the list should now read "red" "green" "blue" "Alpha" with the layer "Alpha 1" at the bottom).

  17/ Left click the "Layers" tab adjacent to "Channels" and in the layers table you should see a new layer above your "Base" layer that says "Floating selection". This means your new "Alpha" channel is on the image but needs merging.

  18/ To merge them Right click on the main image and select "Layer" then in the drop down menu select and Left click "Anchor" layer. You should now see that the "Floating Selection" layer has gone with the single "base" layer showing.

  19/ Make this single "base" layer active.

  20/ Now go to the "Layer" option in the toolbar at the top, Left click and in the drop down menu select "Mask" then "Add Layer Mask" (if this is grayed out then check you        have clicked on the "Base" layer to make it active).

  21/ The "Add Layer Mask" menu will appear in the center of the screen with the "Channel" option already selected (if for some reason it isn't then select it) and "Alpha 1" will be in the text box immediately below.

  22/ Now Left Click on the "Add" button. The image will now go transparent with a check pattern all over it. (This is normal, do not panic!)

  23/ Now got to "Files" then "Export As..." (***DO NOT SAVE!!*** or it will combine both templates permanently and you will have lost them!)  

  24/ The "Export Image" menu will open. Give your skin its name including .dds at the end in the box at the top, then use it to navigate to the drive you have il2 installed on       (the path is usually: 1cgames folder/il2 sturmovik Great Battles/data/graphics/skins/planes/(select the relevant plane folder).

  25/ Now the "Save as .DDS" menu will appear. Select the following:

       "Compression" and then select "BC3/DXT5" in the menu.
       "Mipmaps" select "Generate Mipmaps"

       Select "Advanced Options" then select
       "Filter" and then in the menu select "Box"
       Then click "OK"

        The above are the only options that need to be changed here.

  26/ The completed .DDS image will then be exported to the sim skin file selected.

  27/ When its finished, (it just takes a few seconds), the "Export Image" box will close.

  28/ Close down GIMP. The "Close Gimp" box will appear, select "Discard Changes" and the program will seperate both templates again as it closes.

  29/ Either start the IL2 Viewer or start the sim itself to see the results. I use the IL2 viewer to check alignments etc and use a Quick Mission in the sim to see the actual  finished aircraft. (In the case of natural metal finishes I always use the Quick Mission to see the result as it always looks different in the IL2 Viewer and the sim "Hangar".

 

 

  As I say that's my method, and someone may have a better way, but it works.

 

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by Bo_Nidle