The old version of this thread can be found HERE (http://freedomreborn.net/archive/index.php?topic=41904.0).
Feel free to post any new Tips & Tutorials for skinning here. :)
-MJB
any good tips on blending lines from the neck to the body?
(http://edit.81x.com/Authors/Zivon23/ABCfail.jpg)
see how the neck is clean and the body is blocky? how do I solve this?
Thanks in advanced
~Z23~
Quote from: Zivon23 on February 11, 2009, 11:36:55 PM
any good tips on blending lines from the neck to the body?
(http://edit.81x.com/Authors/Zivon23/ABCfail.jpg)
see how the neck is clean and the body is blocky? how do I solve this?
Thanks in advanced
~Z23~
What method are you using to do the linework and I don't think you will even notice that in-game.
Quote from: AfghanAnt on February 12, 2009, 12:45:08 AM
Quote from: Zivon23 on February 11, 2009, 11:36:55 PM
What method are you using to do the linework and I don't think you will even notice that in-game.
most likely you won't notice it in game........but I am unhappy with it as an artist and was hoping to make it better.
I use Paintshop Pro for me skinning but have Adobe Photoshop in reserve.
Not program, method. Are you drawing the lines by hand or are you cutting pieces out and using the layer effects?
Quote from: AfghanAnt on February 12, 2009, 02:02:40 AM
Not program, method. Are you drawing the lines by hand or are you cutting pieces out and using the layer effects?
They were done using the pen tool. drew the line in vector, manipulated the nodes then converted the layer to Raster. then selected the line, reduced the thickness, and recoloured that selection green and then used the blur tool slightly. The pic is pre blur. Also....it is done in 1024.
Afghan Ant's post on saving DDS correctly (http://freedomreborn.net/archive/index.php?topic=41272.msg662918#msg662918)
I've been a lurker here for a while, and I really don't have much artistic skill, but I would like to try and create my own custom skins and maybe attempt to contribute as well. However, I'm not certain what programs I should start off with. Does anyone have any suggestions for a free program that I might be able to use. Thank you.
There's a few mentioned here...http://freedomreborn.net/archive/index.php?topic=48559.0 :)
Thank you Outcast. GIMP looks interesting. Sorry for the late reply, but Monday nights are the only time I get internet access.
No problem MisterImmortal. Good luck and happy skinning. Looking forward to seeing some of your work in the future. :)
Due to extreme lack of artistic ability, I probably won't ever much of a skinner. I have, however, been attempting to experiment a little bit with GIMP and Paint.Net. I am curious though, is there a tutorial about how to alter base skins? Namely the crotch area and the faces?
Links to some video tutorials here:
http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?topic=52963.0 (http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?topic=52963.0)
Just out of curiosity, is there a tutorial that discusses Eyebrows? Thanks.
It sucks that none of these links work anymore and that the Archived forums are gone. I've been looking for a tutorial on making a base skin...I was thinking of making my own.
Dana
THE ARCHIVES ARE BACK....YAY!
Its a bummer that most of the tutorials are gone. Gryphon's is still up and Murs' videos are still up...All the Geocities sites are gone, of course...Sigh.
Dana
Great...just great...now I've got repost all those C6 tutorials I posted sometime back...rrr....oh well...
Quote from: Deaths Jester on May 07, 2012, 03:43:02 PM
Great...just great...now I've got repost all those C6 tutorials I posted sometime back...rrr....oh well...
Everyone will love you for it and shower you in rose petals.
Quote from: murs47 on May 07, 2012, 04:00:11 PM
Quote from: Deaths Jester on May 07, 2012, 03:43:02 PM
Great...just great...now I've got repost all those C6 tutorials I posted sometime back...rrr....oh well...
Everyone will love you for it and shower you in rose petals.
I HATE ROSE PETALS!!!!
Quote from: murs47 on May 07, 2012, 04:00:11 PM
Quote from: Deaths Jester on May 07, 2012, 03:43:02 PM
Great...just great...now I've got repost all those C6 tutorials I posted sometime back...rrr....oh well...
Everyone will love you for it and shower you in rose petals.
Shut up, Murs. You and your stupid, ridiculous fantasies. DJ don't want your desperate butt.
I shower in rose petals every day and its makes me smell like sunshine and rainbows.
c6's hair/beard tutorials are still there in the archives.
I've got a copy of Lunarman's Skinning Tutorial. If it's allowed, i can send it to someone willing to host it.
I also have Murs's first tutorial: "How to skin the "Murs" way." :P
Is there any way to convert the tutorialss into PDF's and then host them that way?
Quote from: Cyber Burn on May 09, 2012, 01:12:54 PM
Is there any way to convert the tutorialss into PDF's and then host them that way?
Yeah there is...but I'm bloody lazy...but I might just do that.....unsure...
Quote from: Cyber Burn on May 09, 2012, 01:12:54 PM
Is there any way to convert the tutorialss into PDF's and then host them that way?
Well, it was easy converting Lunarman's skin tutorial into PDF. In the process of converting it, the file size became considerably smaller. Anyways, since i'm not sure whether it can be hosted or not, if anyone wants a copy...let me know. :)
I'm trying to see if i can also convert Murs' first tutorial (How to skin Joe the Xman) into PDF as well. :P :wacko:
For those looking to make their skin's skin a bit more humanish...check out the following tutorials on this page:
Navate Extras (http://www.navate.com/extras)
Might not be useful to all of you blokes, but it has been a use to me.
Interesting tutorials DJ. I once tried making some skin tones without using a base skin :o and i found it quite difficult just getting the color of the skin right. This tutorial could prove useful. :)
Quote from: Outcast on May 11, 2012, 04:57:14 PM
Interesting tutorials DJ. I once tried making some skin tones without using a base skin :o and i found it quite difficult just getting the color of the skin right. This tutorial could prove useful. :)
Yeah getting realistic skin tones working correctly is really hard in FF...this was what one I was working on looked like after the tutorial:
(http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n131/deathsjester/wip_captain_face.jpg)
Still a bit off, but a lot closer to what a real person's skin tone would come out as. Will say...it takes a longer amount of time to get things like this than it did when I used the base three colour format (base, light, dark) but it looks a bit better...thouhg due to FF's limited graphics capabilites it does come out a bit flat looking if done wrong.
The flesh tone does indeed look realistic DJ. But it's the details that you've done on the face to make it your own is what strikes me the most and it's something i wish i knew how to do. :blink:
Hey guys! I'm new here, but I really need some help. In :ffvstr: I've been trying to customize a character that is a variation of the Ant. When I look at the skin in the character creator, it looks great. But in the Rumble Room, it does not show. Instead, the Ant's original skin shows.
Any suggestions?
Quote from: Ouflah on October 13, 2013, 04:57:55 PM
Hey guys! I'm new here, but I really need some help. In :ffvstr: I've been trying to customize a character that is a variation of the Ant. When I look at the skin in the character creator, it looks great. But in the Rumble Room, it does not show. Instead, the Ant's original skin shows.
Any suggestions?
I'm guessing that the skin files are in .tga format.
In order for them to work, you have to convert them to .dds format. Paint.NET is able to convert .tga to .dds.
Quote from: spydermann93 on October 13, 2013, 07:05:30 PM
Quote from: Ouflah on October 13, 2013, 04:57:55 PM
Hey guys! I'm new here, but I really need some help. In :ffvstr: I've been trying to customize a character that is a variation of the Ant. When I look at the skin in the character creator, it looks great. But in the Rumble Room, it does not show. Instead, the Ant's original skin shows.
Any suggestions?
I'm guessing that the skin files are in .tga format.
In order for them to work, you have to convert them to .dds format. Paint.NET is able to convert .tga to .dds.
Added point, when saving your files to (.DDS) format, under "Settings", make sure it says "A8R8G8B8". Somehow my settings got messed up, and all my skopes kept crashing CharacterTool2. Took me quite a while to figure out what happened and even longer to go back and fix everything.
Wow, thanks for the speedy reply! Sorry I didn't reply back as quickly! I had bookmarked the page-- didn't realize that someone had replied on the second page. Heh. :banghead:
Anyway, you are right! They are in .tga format. Didn't know that was a problem until now. And it just so happens I was editing the skins in Paint.NET, so that'll work out fine! All watch out for that A8R8G8B8 thing, too. Saving it right now-- we'll see how it goes.
EDIT: Well I was going to edit the results in right away, but my computer is telling me that there is "No CD-ROM Drive Found." I don't think it has to do with this, because my computer has had quite a few problems recently anyway. So... yeah. Ugh.
EDIT: Just for those of you who haven't seen the technical difficulties area-- my computer died, I got a new one, and I'm using steam.
(Sorry for the double post)
Alright guys, I'm working on some skins, and hopefully they'll be up here by the beginning of November. I've been posting recently in the technical difficulties area (because I've had some problems) but now that those are cleared up, I want a little insight on skinning techniques and what not.
My main interest: I'm making a robot character right now (in :ff:) and I'm using Male_Hulking. He's doing well, but I can't find the file to make him shiny. Is this possible? I've seen it on other characters in FF (such as the Ant) but the file just isn't there.
You might want to PM Cyber or V. Cyber just helped V with some shiny bits on the Blue Falcon he did in my requests thread.
I know you can also get a shiny effect just playing with the lighting numbers in nifscope. if you look at the Porky here... http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?topic=55867.0
He was pretty shiny till I lowered some of his numbers down. There are 4 different lighting settings you can set with nifskope. I think the third was reflect. The higher the number, the more shiny I think. (0.0 - 1.0) Each lighting setting has three numbers which will also change color - you need to have all 3 numbers the same to stay a neutral color.
The "Male_Hulking" mesh that comes with :ff: does not have the effects (Refl and Glow) enabled, however, there are a few options for you that do not require using Nifskope or any other mesh editing programs. Take a look at "Male_Hulking_Effects" and "Male_Hulking_Brute", both will take your "Male_Hulking" skin and have the effects (Refl and Glow) enabled.
"Male_Hulking_Effects": http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Freedomforcemesh6/
"Male_Hulking_Brute": http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Grenadiermeshes7/
When using these meshes though, make sure that you have included the following (.TGA) files in order to get the full benefit of the effects:
1.) "Male_Hulking.tga"
2.) "Male_Hulking_Glow.tga"
3.) "Male_Hulking_Lightmap.tga"
4.) "Male_Hulking_Refl.tga"
Hope this helps.
Thanks, but it's not working. I really like the effects one, but in character tool it looks like this:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7328/10590907504_28937f264d_o.png)
And with the brute one (which I don't like as much for my skin) looks like this:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7405/10591125003_92dc2c1260_o.png)
So, any help?
That is actually a pretty common occurrence with meshes in :ff:. I don't completely remember the "Why" of it (I THINK it has something to do with the Video Card), but this occurs in most newer computers with newer operating systems. Some meshes will work fine, others will not. I hate to say it, but it's pretty much like a roll of the dice, you never know what you are going to get until it happens.
In my experience, this ONLY occurs in the Character Tool for :ff:, and not in the game itself. Every time that I have seen this happen with a mesh in Character Tool for :ff:, the mesh has been fine in the actual game. Also, I don't believe that this occurs at all in :ffvstr:.
I tried it out-- you were right.
In game, the skin looked fine. The melee idle was the weirdest thing I've ever seen, but it only occurs in the character menu. So he may look like an idiot when you are picking your characters, but at least he's reflective in-game. :)
Thanks!
EDIT: Actually, upon closer inspection, he does use the odd melee idle in the game. I'll keep the file, but I don't think I'll use it. The character looks fine not-shiny.
Sorry, I just saw this, what mesh are you using that has the problem "Melee_Idle"? It may be able to be swapped out for another one.
I don't want to threadjack the "TnT" thread, so you could either PM me regarding this, or post in another thread.
Quote from: Randomdays on October 31, 2013, 03:58:33 AM
You might want to PM Cyber or V. Cyber just helped V with some shiny bits on the Blue Falcon he did in my requests thread.
I'm sorry that I missed this comment,
all credit goes straight to Hoss20 for the effects being added to the "Blue_Falcon" skope. He's been bailing me out left and right with this on a number of my skopes.
Does anyone happen to have the Gryphon's Skinning Tutorials with the pictures saved? I have 2 Skinning Tutorials by him, but neither one has the images saved.
Also, looking on the FR Wiki, there is a Skinning Tutorial for making capes, but it doesn't have the images to go with it. Would anyone happen to have that one as well?
Thank you in advance for any help I can get.
Adding to the Skinning Tutorial Pool, here is the link to the Skinning Tutorial by AndrewGD:
http://www.imaginationispower.com/images/game/tutorial/index.html
I wasn't sure if I should put this here of in the FX section, so if it needs to be moved, please do so.
Basically, I am looking for a Tutorial on how to create Particle Emitters, for both Skopes and FX. the ones that I've done from scratch are terrible, and the re-colors don't turn out the way I want them to.
Here's an FX from in-game:
(http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa49/Cyber_Burn_33/Partile_Emitter_FX_01_zpsf11ab049.jpg) (http://s199.photobucket.com/user/Cyber_Burn_33/media/Partile_Emitter_FX_01_zpsf11ab049.jpg.html)
Here's a re-colored FX:
(http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa49/Cyber_Burn_33/Partile_Emitter_FX_03_zps8380fbb9.jpg) (http://s199.photobucket.com/user/Cyber_Burn_33/media/Partile_Emitter_FX_03_zps8380fbb9.jpg.html)
And Here's an original (Yeas, I know it's horrible):
(http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa49/Cyber_Burn_33/Partile_Emitter_FX_02_zps17e374d5.jpg) (http://s199.photobucket.com/user/Cyber_Burn_33/media/Partile_Emitter_FX_02_zps17e374d5.jpg.html)
As I've said before, I'm not an artist, but I like trying to learn new things. I have both GIMP and Paint.Net. I don't really know all the tools, as I've pretty much just stuck to what I've needed, but I'd like to expand my knowledge base. Basically, the color scheme doesn't matter for right now, it's the technique that I would like to learn. If anyone has any advice, I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
Hey guys, would anyone be willing to make a couple of Mini-Tutorials?
For the first one, I can't Skin the Mesh "Extras" (Belts, Weapons, Capes, Etc.) to save my life. Would anyone happen to have some "Tips and Tricks" that they would be willing to share?
And for the second, I would really like to learn how to make a decent Portrait for my original Skins. Currently, I just take a screen shot of the Character Tool and crop it to be the right size. It kind of leaves me with boring Portraits. I'd be very interested in learning how to make something a little more solid, maybe something more fitting of being in the Freedom Force Universe. Would anyone be willing to post some advice on the subject?
Thank you in advance to anyone who is able to help out.
I don't really have time right this second to make tutorials, but I can run through some real quick things to help with portraits... For me, I always use simple circle gradients as the backdrop for the portrait (you can look at any of my skins to see what I mean) and then I'll take a large picture of the head (usually facing slightly to my left, but I've done the reverse for villains on occasion) and shrink it down to the appropriate size for the portrait. I'll then spend a bit of time adjusting the sharpness of it so that it pops against the background, and occasionally I've added a subtle shadow or glow as well.
As an example:
(http://i.imgur.com/uq3zYDt.png)
Thanks for replying 'Mato, Laughing paradox gave me a mini-tutorial for something else which I was able to apply to my Portraits, but I would still love some tips on Skinning the "Extras" of a Mesh.
As for my Portraits, here's a comparison of my old way versus my new way using LP's instructions:
(http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa49/Cyber_Burn_33/Portrait_Old_zps43eca703.jpg) (http://s199.photobucket.com/user/Cyber_Burn_33/media/Portrait_Old_zps43eca703.jpg.html) (http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa49/Cyber_Burn_33/Portrait_New_zpse2dc01db.jpg) (http://s199.photobucket.com/user/Cyber_Burn_33/media/Portrait_New_zpse2dc01db.jpg.html)
But again, if anyone has advice on how to Skin Weapons, Capes, Belts, Etc., I would be a very eager Student. :D
This is more for the artist's amongst us but I thought these two tutorials might help someone out some (both are on my 4shared page).
How to Paint Blonde Hair by Anne Pogoda (http://www.4shared.com/office/CApA7x_Wce/How_to_Paint_Blonde_Hair_by_An.html)
Painting faces by Nykolai Alexsande] (http://www.4shared.com/office/KDHhxS63ba/Painting_faces_by_Nykolai_Alex.html)
...because someone will sooner or latter want to see more tutorials posted here...or want to see my collection of tutorials or some such thing...
Painting Hair in Photoshop (https://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/727-painting-hair-in-photoshop-by-natascha-roeoesli-female-woman-human)
Painting Hair (https://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/689-painting-hair-photoshop-by-don-seegmiller-human-texture)
Low Polygon Hair Texturing by Ben Mathis (https://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/1201-low-polygon-hair-texturing-3ds-max-photoshop-by-ben-mathis)
Note: I don't use any of these methods because I paint in Painter...
Painting Lips (https://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/962-painting-lips-photoshop-by-katherine-dinger-face-digital)
Painting Armour - Metal by Daaken (https://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/24-painting-armor-metal-photoshop-by-mike-daarken-lim)
Painting Armour - Leather by Daaken (https://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/23-painting-armor-leather-photoshop-by-mike-daarken-lim)
There are more..but this should keep you blokes happy for a bit.
Following on the previous, here's some more stuff...
Drawing the Human Eye (https://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/964-drawing-the-human-eye-photoshop-by-katherine-dinger-digital-painting)
Painting Fur (https://www.3dtotal.com/tutorial/963-painting-fur-photoshop-by-katherine-dinger-digital) - I don't use this method but some one here might find it useful
Okay, that's about it for now. Doubtful if I post anymore for awhile, cause really..who's even looking at this stuff? Eh...
Me.
Me too!!! :thumbup:
Okay....
Me three!
Someone might find this useful...
How to Digitally Paint Hair by Serge Birault (http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-digitally-paint-hair.html)
You guys might also want to look around the Muddy Colours site, there are a few interesting things that might be translatable to FF.
Will definitely check this out, thanks for posting this DJ! :thumbup:
Compilation of a few tutorials I've posted earlier...
here (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9Oh2_nEWna4ZUR0b1JvQnlJTGc)....
I requested access