RD Skinning Tutorial

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  • Race 07 Skinning Tutorial (Using only Free / Open Source Software)

    Created by: Saul Boucher

    This tutorial will teach you how to create the following skin for the BMW Mini in Race 07. (RD BMW

    Mini)

    RD BMW Mini

    Software Required:

    GIMP. Gimp is a powerful open source, image manipulation software program. As of writing,

    the most recent version is 2.6.11. http://www.gimp.org/

    DDS Plug-in for GIMP. DDS stands for Direct Draw Surface, which is an nVidia format.

    Included in the Tutorial Package files (follow installation instructions)

    Paint.NET. We will need this software to create the window dds files. As of writing, the most

    recent version is 3.5.6. http://www.getpaint.net/

    PSD Plug-in for Paint.NET. PSD is a Photoshop format, which Paint.NET does not support by

    default. Included in the Tutorial Package files (follow installation instructions)

  • For this project we will need the BMW Mini skin templates available from Simbin. I have included

    the files in this package. For more skin templates available for Race 07 and expansions please visit

    the individual game title websites, and look under downloads.

    Getting started.

    If you havent already done so, install GIMP and the DDS plug-in using the included instructions.

    Open GIMP, then using the File -> Open menu, open the file named Mini Challenge body.psd.

    Available in the Tutorial Package Files. You should have a screen that looks like this: (screenshot 01)

    Screenshot 01

    Working with Layers.

    First off, lets get familiar with Layers. On your open screen to the right, you should have a window

    open called (Layers, Channels, Paths) (screenshot 02). By default the layers tab should be selected.

    In the Layers area, you will see all the various layers, some of which are visible and some that arent,

    that make up the screen in the middle that we see.

    Screenshot 02

  • Think of these layers as being stencils stacked on top of each other. Try turning the visibility off on

    some of the layers by clicking the little eyeball icon next to it. Try turning some of the other ones on.

    Ok, lets leave the following layers visible. Starting from the top.

    Shading

    1 Copy

    1

    Parts

    Base Layer

    All the other layers should not be visible.

    Now lets save our project, File -> Save As. Name it RD BMW Mini.psd and save it to your desktop (or

    wherever you like).

    Creating a Pattern to use in GIMP

    So to start our project, were going to pick a base color to start with. For this project we are going to

    make a nice blue carbon fiber pattern to use as our base coat.

    To do this we will create a new file. File -> New. A Dialog Box will appear. Under Image Size, change

    the Width and Height both to 4, and pixels should be selected. Click OK.

    A new window will appear with a small square dot in the middle. First off, make your window larger,

    click and drag the corners. Now zoom into the image by holding your Ctrl key and scrolling up with

    your mouse wheel. You should have a window that looks like this. (screenshot 03)

    Screenshot 03

  • Creating our pattern

    Using the Rectangle Select Tool, select an area in the top left hand corner of the image like in

    (screenshot 04), 1 pixel high by 2 pixels wide. Just click and drag your cursor.

    Click the Change Foreground Color box to bring up the color choosing dialog, and select a color

    similar to the one in (screenshot 04). Click OK.

    Click the Bucket Fill Tool, then click inside the rectangle area we selected to fill it with the

    color we created.

    Screenshot 04

    Repeat the above process until your pattern matches the following (screenshot 05).

    Screenshot 05

  • Once youve created the pattern we are going to have to save it as a pattern, and place it in the

    appropriate folder so GIMP will recognize it.

    File -> Save As.

    Name it as Carbon Fiber Blue.pat and place it on your desktop for now.

    In Gimp under Edit, select Preferences to open up the window as shown in screenshot 06.

    Expand the Folders menu, then click on Patterns to show where GIMP stores its Patterns.

    Mine is C:\Users\Saul Boucher\.gimp-2.6\patterns (yours might be different). Make note of

    your location, then click cancel.

    Close GIMP, File -> Quit.

    Now move the file Carbon Fiber Blue.pat to your patterns folder location.

    screenshot 06

  • Applying our Pattern to our Base Color of the Skin.

    Open GIMP again, and lets make that Blue Carbon Fiber Pattern our base color to our Mini Project.

    Open the RD BMW Mini.psd file you saved earlier.

    In the Layers Window, select the base color layer by clicking on it once. This tells GIMP we are

    working on only this layer. (screenshot 07)

    In the Toolbox Window, select the Bucket Tool. Then under Fill Type, select Pattern Fill. Click the

    little box below Pattern fill, then locate and select your Carbon Fiber Blue pattern. (screenshot 07)

    Now click somewhere in the center of the screen, like on the roof. You should end up with your Blue

    Carbon Fiber pattern filling the base coat of the car. (screenshot 07)

    Screenshot 07

  • Converting our file to DDS

    Before we go any further, we are going to get our skin visible in Race 07 so we can view it. Make sure

    you have the DDS plug-in installed for GIMP.

    In the Layers Window, right click on any of the layers. In the context menu select, Merge

    Visible Layers. A dialog box will appear, select Clipped to Bottom Layer, then click Merge.

    Click File -> Save A Copy.

    Navigate to your Documents\SimBin\Race 07\CustomSkins folder. Then Create a new Folder

    Called RD BMW Mini. (screenshot 08)

    Save your file inside this folder as RD BMW Mini.dds (we are changing the file extention to

    .dds instead of .psd)

    Screenshot 08

    Click Save, and the following Dialog Box and error will appear. (screenshot 09)

    Screenshot 09

  • In the Save As DDS dialog box select compression type BC1 / DXT1, and put a checkmark in

    Generate mipmaps, click ok. Click Ok in the GIMP Error message box. (Screenshot 09)

    At this point, always make sure you select Edit -> Undo Merge Visible Layers. So you dont

    lose your saved work!

    If you have changes you havent previously saved, Save and Exit GIMP.

    Getting your skin to show up in Game

    In order to get your skin to show up in game, we will have to create an .ini file. But before we do that,

    lets make sure you can see known file extentions in windows.

    I am using Windows 7 64bit, I think the following process is exactly the same for Vista.

    Navigate to your Documents\SimBin\Race 07\CustomSkins\RD BMW Mini folder.

    If you do not see a Menu bar showing File / Edit / View / Tools / Help. Do the following step.

    Under Organize / Layout / select Menu Bar (screenshot 10)

    Screenshot 10

    Under Tools, select Folder Options. Then click the view tab.

    Make sure Hide extensions for known file types does NOT have a checkmark in it. Click OK.

  • Right click anywhere inside the RD BMW Mini folder. Select New -> Text Document. Change

    the filename to RD BMW Mini.ini (remove the .txt file extension). Click Yes when the dialog

    box comes up. Then open the file.

    Now open the Template.txt file in the Tutorial Package Files. This is where you can find the

    various .ini file templates for the various car types.

    Search for the BMW Mini ones... (Tip: Ctrl + F)

    Copy the following text from the template file to your RD BMW Mini.ini file.

    [[[TEAM_NAME]]]

    [[DRIVER_NAME]]

    [BMW MINI COOPER]

    body=

    windows=

    interiorwindow=

    driver=

    ext_driver=

    helmet=

    Change it to: (Change Licensed Driver to your name)

    [[[RaceDepartment]]]

    [[Licensed Driver]]

    [BMW MINI COOPER]

    body=RD BMW Mini.dds

    windows=

    interiorwindow=

    driver=

    ext_driver=

    helmet=

    Save the file, and close it.

  • Now check out the skin in game. Fire up Race 07 and see how your skin looks in game. It should look something like this:

    Creating Complex Shapes Open GIMP, and your RD BMW Mini.psd file again. We will start creating some custom shapes to liven up our skin a little. (Tip: File -> Open Recent -> RD BMW Mini.psd)

    Introducing the Wire Frame Layer!

    On the very top of your available layers, you will see one called Wire. It will not be visible, go ahead and make it visible by clicking the eyeball. This will make it much easier to see the natural lines of the car, and line up our shapes between different body panels.

    Now lets start with the hood. I like to rotate the entire image 90deg counter clockwise, so I am looking at the car from the front. To do this click the Image menu, Transform -> Rotate 90Deg counter-clockwise. There, much better!

    Zoom into the hood area. (Cntrl + Mouse Wheel)

    The first thing we want to do is create a new layer to work on, and we are going to place it right above the base color. To do this, click on the base color layer, then click the New Layer button. (screenshot 11)

  • screenshot 11

    A dialog box will appear. Name the Layer Hood Stripes, and select Transparency, click OK.

    Your new Layer should now be directly above the base color layer, and visible (eyeball on). (screenshot 11)

    Click on the Hood Stripes Layer once, so GIMP knows we are working on it.

    Lets Create a Path.

    Select the Paths Tool in your Toolbox Window

    Left click once on the screen at Point A

    Then click and HOLD the mouse button at Point B. (Tip: you can undo using Cntrl + Z if you do something you didnt mean to)

    While still holding the mouse button down, drag the cursor away from Point B a little until you see the lines with square boxes on the end of them (called handles). Let go of the mouse button.

    Now click and drag the handles to alter the shape of your line, make yours look the same as mine below in screenshot 12.

    screenshot 12

  • Click once again at Point C on your screen to create it. (screenshot 13)

    Click on Point B again, to select it and bring up the handles.

    Move the square box as show in screenshot 13 to change the curve of the line between Points B and C.

    screenshot 13

    Click once on Point C to select it, then click the location on your screen at point D to create it. (screenshot 14)

    Click once on Point C again to select it.

    Now while holding down Ctrl, click and hold Point C and drag your cursor a little away from it to bring up the handles.

    Move the square box to alter the curve of the line between Points C and D to mirror the curve of the line between Points A and B. (screenshot 14)

    screenshot 14

  • Click once on Point D to select it.

    While Holding down Ctrl, click once on Point A. This will close the Path.

    While holding down Ctrl again, click and hold Point A and drag your cursor a little away from it to bring up the handles again.

    Make the curve between Points D and A the same as in screenshot 15.

    screenshot 15

    Make any minor adjustments to your points by clicking and dragging them to move, and / or by moving the handles to modify the curves until you are happy with it.

    Click Selection from Path in the Toolbox Window, near the middle.

    Using the Bucket Fill Tool, fill the selected area with a nice dark red color. Make sure you have Foreground color Fill selected instead of Pattern Fill. (screenshot 16) (Tip: When done, I usually unselect an area by clicking my rectangle select tool then just clicking once somewhere else on screen)

    screenshot 16

  • Notice how the area on the front grill didnt get painted inside our selection? Thats because the grill is included in the parts layer, which is above our Hood Stripes layer.

    Im going to add some silver racing stripes to the hood of my car.

    Create a new layer called Hood Stripes 2, just above the Hood Stripes layer.

    Again using the Paths Tool, create a shape similar to the one in screenshot 17. You can overlap the red painted area a little since we will be painting on a layer above it.

    When you have created your shape you can make adjustments to it using the Paths Edit Mode (circled area in screenshot 17), and you can move it around. (Tip: When creating a new Path, make sure you have this area set to Design).

    When you have your path where you want to paint, click Selection from path, then fill the selected area with a silver color using the bucket fill tool.

    Screenshot 17

    Before we create a matching silver stripe on the other side, Im going to show you a little trick with paths.

    While in Paths Mode. In the Layers, Channels, Paths Window to the Right, click on the Paths tab (screenshot 18). Here we will see any existing paths we created during this session. Make sure your path is visible, and selected.

  • screenshot 18

    In the Toolbox, turn on your Flip Tool, then in the circled area in screenshot 19 change the flip effect to Path, and flip type to Horizontal.

    Using your cursor click once on the path in your work area.

    Your path should now be flipped over to the other side of your hood, like in screenshot 19.

    Make any fine adjustments to it by selecting your paths tool, select Edit in Edit Mode, then using your cursor click once on the frame of your path to re-activate it (screenshot 18). Using the different edit modes, you can move individual points and handles, or move the entire path as a whole.

    When you are ready to paint the selected area, click selection from path, and paint the area using your bucket fill tool.

    Turn the visibility off on your Path by clicking the eyeball, then return to your layers tab. Note, we were still working on the Hood Stripes 2 layer.

    Save your work.

    (Note: Each time you close GIMP your list of created paths will clear. If you want to keep any of your complex creations, you will need to export them. You can do this by right clicking on it, and selecting Export Path. To import one, right click in the area and select Import Path.

    Screenshot 19

  • At this point we are going to convert the file to DDS again, but before we do that make sure you adjust the image back to its original orientation. Image / Transform / Rotate 90Deg Clockwise.

    This time we are going to leave the wire frame layer turned on so we can see it on our 3d model in game.

    Using the steps described earlier, merge your layers and save the file to DDS overwriting the previous file in your CustomSkins/RD BMW Mini folder.

    When you are done, dont forget to undo merge visible layers!

    Your skin should show up like this in game. (Screenshot 20)

    screenshot 20

    Now obviously you wouldnt want that wire frame on your final product, but certainly you can see the benefit of having it there when you are skinning the rest of the body, so you can match your lines up between the various panels, and check your angles.

    (Tip: There is no need to close GIMP after you convert a file to DDS. I like to leave GIMP open, and run Race 07 in windowed mode. You also dont need to re-launch Race 07 every time you make a change to your skins DDS file, you just need to refresh the skin in game. I simply do this by going back to the track selection screen, then back into the car / skin selection screen. As long as you dont make any changes to the .ini file or the file name, you dont need to re-launch the game.)

  • Skinning the Body of the Car. Using the techniques youve learned, go ahead and skin the front bumper parts and the panel between the hood and front window with your racing strips. Ive also painted the Roof Red. (screenshot 21)

    A few tips that might help:

    Dont forget to create new layers, its just easier to edit stuff later.

    You can clear the entire contents of a layer by selecting it then pressing delete on your keyboard.

    You can erase specific parts of a layer by selecting it with the rectangle or Ellipse select tool, and pressing delete on your keyboard.

    You can also erase by using the eraser tool (image that!?)

    Not all of the panels will be to scale with each other, or lined up perfectly with the next one.

    Screenshot 21

    Ive decided that I dont like the number panel and the checkered stripe on the side of the car, so using the eraser tool I can remove them from the parts layer (zoom in really close). While doing so you will lose some of the outline of the door, but thats ok we can add them back on.

    Turn off the visibility on layers 1 and 1 copy for now.

    Click on the Parts Layer to select it.

    Be careful not to erase any more than you need to, zoom into the pixel level for increased accuracy. You can change the size and type of eraser in the Toolbox window, under the Eraser options.

    You can use the rectangle select tool, or even the paths tool to make a wider selectable area then press your delete key to clear the contents.

  • Once youve erased the number panel and checkered stripe, we can redraw the door lines using the paths tool. If you look closely, youll be able to faintly see the door lines thanks to the Shading layer. Also, if you turn on the wire frame layer youll be able to see where the door lines should be as well.

    Create a line using the paths tool to reconnect the door line, as shown in screenshot 22.

    Select the color black as your foreground color in your Color Chooser Tool.

    From your main window select Edit -> Stroke Path.

    Select Stroke Line, Solid color, 2.0 px (pixels), and press Stroke.

    Repeat for any other areas you need to redraw. Easy!

    Screenshot 22

    Now we have a blank canvas to work with for the side panels. Lets create some shapes for the side panel.

    Create a new layer, above the base layer should be fine. Call it Side Panel.

    Using the Paths Tool, create a shape similar to the one in screenshot 23 and press the selection from Path button.

    Select the color silver to match your hood stripes as your foreground color, in your color chooser tool.

    From your main window select Edit -> Stroke Selection.

    Choose Stroke Line, solid color, 4 px, and press Stroke.

    Change your foreground color to Red, to match the hood and roof.

  • Fill the selected area using the Bucket Fill Tool.

    Using the trick I showed you earlier, flip the path you created vertically, and repeat the process to paint the same pattern on the other side of the car.

    Screenshot 23

    Your car should now look something like this. (screenshot 24)

    Screenshot 24

  • Using the tools and techniques youve learned, skin the rest of your car body. Mine ended up looking like this. (Screenshot 25).

    Dont forget to save your work!

    Screenshot 25

    Importing Graphics and Logos to your Skin. This is where your work really starts to come together. Importing graphics into your skin is easy. I searched the web and found the following BBS logo. (Tip: Google image is your friend, and the higher the resolution the better).

    BBS logo.jpg (included in the packaged files)

  • I like to place my images above the Parts layer initially. Click on your Parts layer to select it.

    To import this image into your skin file, choose File -> Open As Layers. Browse to the BBS Logo.jpg file and open it. The image will now be displayed over your skin as a new layer directly above your parts layer.

    To resize it, select Layer from your main window, then click Scale Layer.

    In the drop down box under layer size, select percent. Then select 25% for both the width and height. Click Scale.

    Your Skin file will look like this (screenshot 26). Notice the black background on the image? We dont want that, we want it to be transparent so the car colors and livery show through it. Delete the BBS Logo Layer by right clicking on it, and selecting Delete Layer.

    Screenshot 26

    Open the BBS Logo.jpg file in its own window by selecting File -> Open. The BBS Logo will appear in a new window.

    Choose File -> Save As. Change the file name to BBS Logo.xcf. GIMP really likes the .xcf file extension.

    We will need to add an Alpha Channel to this image in order to enable transparency. Do this by right clicking on the Layer, and select Add Alpha Channel from the drop down menu. (Screenshot 27).

  • Screenshot 27

    Turn on your Fuzzy Select Tool, then left click once on the black background area in your image to select it. Press the delete button on your keyboard to clear.

    Your image will now look like this. (screenshot 28)

    Screenshot 28

  • Save the File, and close the window.

    Import the new BBS logo.xcf image into your skin file again as previously described and scale the size down to 25%.

    Make sure your BBS Logo.xcf layer is selected, then click your Move Tool and make sure it is set to Move Layer.

    While holding down your Shift Key. Click on the BBS image in your screen and move it to where you want it. By holding down your shift key you are telling GIMP that you only want to move the selected layer.

    You can change the orientation of the image by clicking on Layer in your menu bar, and selecting Transform.

    Once you have an image layer sized and positioned where you want it, you can duplicate it by right clicking on the layer and selecting duplicate, which will place it directly over top of the original. You can move it somewhere else by holding shift and dragging it.

    Screenshot 29 Screenshot 30

  • There you have it, very easy. Now using the RaceDepartment and Simbin graphics in the package files (or find some of your own), add more graphics to your car to liven it up more!

    I skinned my car to look like this. (Screenshot 31)

    Screenshot 31

    Windows Windows are very simple. But it requires the use of more software (Paint.NET). Im not sure if its the fault of GIMP for not being able to flatten the image properly, or if the DDS plug-in for GIMP isnt compressing the file properly. At any rate, we will be doing the skinning in GIMP (because that is what I am familiar with). For the conversion to DDS we will need Paint.NET.

    To start lets cover the basics.

    Open GIMP, and open the file Mini Challenge Windows.psd

    Turn off visibility on the banner front, and banner rear layers.

    Click your window color layer.

    Move the Opacity slider to determine the level of tint you want for your windows. The higher the number, the darker your windows will be. 100% will be completely black and cannot see through them. (Screenshot 32)

    Save the file as RD BMW Mini Windows.psd to your desktop, or wherever you want it.

    Close GIMP.

  • Screenshot 32

    Open Paint.NET. Make sure you have the psd plug-in installed (provided in the Tutorial Package Files).

    Open the file RD BMW Mini Windows.psd.

    Click Image on your menu bar, then choose Flatten.

    Click File, Save As. Browse to your CustomSkins\RD BMW Mini Folder.

    Change the Save as type to DDS, and save your file as RD BMW Mini Windows.dds

    Screenshot 33 Screenshot 34

  • When the Save Configuration Window comes up, select file format DXT5 (Interpolated Alpha), put a checkbox in Generate Mip Maps. Click OK. (Screenshot 35)

    Screenshot 35

    Open your RD BMW Mini.ini file.

    Add the windows file name to your ini file: windows=RD BMW Mini Windows.dds.

    Save and close.

  • There you are, that was the simple version. But I want to do something a little more special with my windows. Fire up GIMP again, and load the RD BMW Mini Windows.psd file again.

    Turn off visibility on the window color layer, we arent going to use it.

    Increase the Opacity on the paint here layer to around 80%.

    Using the Paths tool, create a path around the front window, as in screenshot 36. Create a selection from it.

    Click on the Blend Tool in your Tool box, and change your FG (foreground) Color and BG (background) Color to match mine in screenshot 36.

    In the Gradients Dialog area, choose the FG to BG (RGB) Gradient. (Screenshot 36)

    Using your cursor inside or around the selected area, click and drag a small line to create an effect similar to mine in screenshot 36. Remember you can use Ctrl + Z to undo.

    Repeat the above steps for the other windows on the same layer.

    screenshot 36

    Create a new layer called Lights above the Paint Here layer.

    Set the Opacity to around 70%. (I dont want my headlights and tail-lights as dark as my windows).

    Using the Paths Tool, create a selection around the lights as in screenshot 37.

    Using the Bucket Fill Tool, fill the selection with the color black. Or whatever color you want.

  • screenshot 37

    Import some graphics to your windows as I did in screenshot 38. File -> Open As Layers.

    I set Opacity on those layers to around 90%

    screenshot 38

  • Save your file and exit GIMP, then using the steps described earlier convert the file to DDS using Paint.NET.

    Your skin should show up something like this in game. (RD BMW Mini)

    RD BMW Mini

    Well we are pretty much done, but if you drive cockpit and you want to put the final touches on the Interior window. Read on.

    Open GIMP and the file named Mini Challenge Windows Int.psd from the Tutorial Package Files.

    Turn off visibility on the banner layer, and the window color layer (we dont want any window tint looking out).

    Import the same graphic you used for the front window as a new layer, and set the Opacity to where you want it. I set mine at around 80%. (Screenshot 39)

    Save your file as RD BMW Mini Windows Int.psd to your desktop, or wherever you want too.

    screenshot 39

  • Open the file with Paint.NET

    Flatten the Image. Image -> Flatten.

    Save As the file to your Documents\Simbin\Race 07\CustomSkins\ folder as RD BMW Mini Windows Int.dds. Save as file type DDS.

    When the Save Configuration Window appears, select DXT5 Interpolated Alpha again, but this time do NOT put a checkmark in Generate Mip Maps. Click OK.

    Open up your RD BMW Mini.ini file.

    Change the Interior Window line to read, interiorwindow=RD BMW Mini Windows Int.dds

    Save and Close it. Congratulations, your skin is complete! This concludes the Tutorial. I hope you found my guide helpful and had fun along the way. Im looking forward to seeing you, and many more fantastic custom skins on Track sometime very soon!