Never use white on a skin (Updated with 2 pics)

[F19_Ob]

I updated this post with examples how a skin looks in the sim when it's too white and get overexposed. I also added a fixed skin where I just changed levels a bit, wich is explained further below.
Note that there is a multitude of ways to fix a skin.
I give a few more examples;
* In photoshop-go to_image_adjustments_Brightness/contrast and set down brightness a bit and then adjust the contrast slider if need to. This is perhaps the easiest way to a quick fix.

' it's possible to get about the same result by creating a new transparent layer on top of the original (photoshop elements for example)and change the layermode to overlay. Then use a large soft brush and paint over thewhite areas. If it becomes too dark, just change the transparency of the layer until satisfied.With this teqnique u have possibilities to adjust some areas more, wich artists may like.
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Never is a strong word, but I think that skinners should use white very sparingly on a skin because a white, or even a light grey skin will become overexposed in the sim.
This is an old advice since the early days of the sim but still the overexposed skins show up (no offence nment).
A good example of this is the default white skin of the Japanese 'Val'. The skin gets whashed out and even panellines dissapears.

White can be used sparingly as highlights but larger areas with white goes wrong.

A tip:
A good base for a 'white' winter-skin could be some medium-grey. Load it in to the sim and see how many areas gets overexposed and from there darken or lighten it.
This same base works for metal-skins aswell.

Remember to check levels so the black areas and lines really are black and not grey.
I often have to fix levels on skins, wich by the way only take a couple of minutes.
A skin with faulty levels will look strange against the ground and any surface with correct levels, and at night it will look completely wrong.

Just a few tips to old and new skinners out there. http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/16x16_smiley-wink.gif

How a skin looks ingame when it is overexposed because it's too white, and when it's fixed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/f19_ob/skins/overexposed-and-fixed.jpg




Comparison of the skin-files so u see the difference, (note that these are jpeg and resized):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/f19_ob/skins/default-amd-fixed-skin_Pe2.jpg

Regards

[F19_Ob]

I updated this post with examples how a skin looks in the sim when it's too white and get overexposed. I also added a fixed skin where I just changed levels a bit, wich is explained further below.
Note that there is a multitude of ways to fix a skin.
I give a few more examples;
* In photoshop-go to_image_adjustments_Brightness/contrast and set down brightness a bit and then adjust the contrast slider if need to. This is perhaps the easiest way to a quick fix.

' it's possible to get about the same result by creating a new transparent layer on top of the original (photoshop elements for example)and change the layermode to overlay. Then use a large soft brush and paint over thewhite areas. If it becomes too dark, just change the transparency of the layer until satisfied.With this teqnique u have possibilities to adjust some areas more, wich artists may like.
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------


Never is a strong word, but I think that skinners should use white very sparingly on a skin because a white, or even a light grey skin will become overexposed in the sim.
This is an old advice since the early days of the sim but still the overexposed skins show up (no offence nment).
A good example of this is the default white skin of the Japanese 'Val'. The skin gets whashed out and even panellines dissapears.

White can be used sparingly as highlights but larger areas with white goes wrong.

A tip:
A good base for a 'white' winter-skin could be some medium-grey. Load it in to the sim and see how many areas gets overexposed and from there darken or lighten it.
This same base works for metal-skins aswell.

Remember to check levels so the black areas and lines really are black and not grey.
I often have to fix levels on skins, wich by the way only take a couple of minutes.
A skin with faulty levels will look strange against the ground and any surface with correct levels, and at night it will look completely wrong.

Just a few tips to old and new skinners out there. http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/16x16_smiley-wink.gif

How a skin looks ingame when it is overexposed because it's too white, and when it's fixed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/f19_ob/skins/overexposed-and-fixed.jpg




Comparison of the skin-files so u see the difference, (note that these are jpeg and resized):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/f19_ob/skins/default-amd-fixed-skin_Pe2.jpg

Regards

[josephs1959]

Interesting advise thanks

[Serval_1JaVA]

I bet you have to explain a bit more about the levels.
What do you mean by faulty levels and correct levels. And how to adjust them.

Especially new skinners won't know that.

[F19_Ob]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Serval_1JaVA:
I bet you have to explain a bit more about the levels.
What do you mean by faulty levels and correct levels. And how to adjust them.

Especially new skinners won't know that. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


You're right. I see now that it perhaps need a more developed explanation.

Levels simply put is the balance of the darkest , midtones and lightest tones in a picture, also called contrast balance. Usually one divides levels in Black - midtones - white.
The idea is to get the correct darkness or lightness to a picture so that a color tone that is supposed to be dark really is that and not grey. So simply put the black is black and white is white and there between are midtones.
It doesn't mater if the picture is in Black and white or color. The levels work the same.

All picture editing tools have some sort of levels- or contrast-tool, Usually with sliders where one can change the contrast and light.
How one sets levels depends on the purpose of the picture.
The skins for example will be put on a plane and then in a sim wich have balanced levels between dark and light and if we should use a skin with faded levels it would become faulty because the darkest area on other objects is darker than the darkest area on the faded skin so it wouldnt work well in interaction with other objects or another plane with more balanced levels.

A faded skin have fewer tones than a balanced skin, since it perhaps have the the darkest point so light that the level ranges from grey to white instead of black to white.

The best way for seeing this is if one play with the levels- or contrast slider in the editing program, wich could be photoshop, photoshop elements or paintshop pro, and similar.
Test to change the darkest tone - midtones- and highlights and u soon get the idea.
In some editingprograms u can let the program set the darkest - midtones - highlights and get a good result or a startingpoint for further adjustment.

I thought I'd post some examples but remebered google http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/16x16_smiley-wink.gif wich is excellent for finding tutorials and explanations.

Levels in Photoshop Elements:
http://www.wresa.org/OnlineCourses/Photoshop%20Elements/introelementsmod7.htm

Google:
http://images.google.se/images?q=adjusting+levels+in+ph...k&svnum=10&hl=sv&lr= (http://images.google.se/images?q=adjusting+levels+in+photoshop+elements&btnG=S%C3%B6k&svnum=10&hl=sv&lr=)

[F19_Ob]

I updated the top post with pics as examples so it's easier to understand.

[stansdds]

Yeah, on some of my early attempts with USMC Corsairs I would use the highest value white in GIMP for the side numbers. That resulted in numbers that almost glowed in the dark! I now decrease the value just a few clicks and the numbers have a far more realistic appearance.