B-17 The Mighty 8th - Getting Started Tutorial Video Series - Now Available!!!

[ikrananka]

Originally Posted by emmetthi

... I stumbled on your tutorials. You have giving me the desire to get going again with this great game.
I got fairly decent at it way back when. Your guides will be very helpful in becoming proficient.
Your explanations are spot on, clear and precise!
Thanks again.

Thank You

Good luck with getting back up to speed with the game. Let me know how you get on.

[Sean C]

Great ... now I'm addicted to this game. I'm even losing sleep playing it.

I've even started making my own custom nose art.

Thanks, I guess.

(At least I got it on sale for like, a buck seventy-five. )

[ikrananka]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel B.

Great ... now I'm addicted to this game. I'm even losing sleep playing it.

I've even started making my own custom nose art.

Thanks, I guess.

(At least I got it on sale for like, a buck seventy-five. )

LOL - you're welcome

Just curious, with the nose art, have you figured out the masking procedure? I managed to do it a while ago with Photoshop Elements 10 but have forgotten how.

It's funny, I'm losing sleep due to the current game I'm playing. Weird how games can do that to us.

[Sean C]

Originally Posted by ikrananka

Just curious, with the nose art, have you figured out the masking procedure? I managed to do it a while ago with Photoshop Elements 10 but have forgotten how.

Yes. It's the same as with all other game graphics I've dealt with. I use Photoshop CS3, so there might be some UI differences.

I start by creating a background of one solid color (grey in this case - just like the original files). I then use the "Lasso" tool to select and copy just the portion of the graphic I want to use from another image and paste that onto a new layer on top of the grey background.

Once I have the graphic in the orientation/placement I want, I use the "Magic Wand" tool on that layer to select everything except the graphic and then invert the selection. This results in a selection in the shape of the graphic and is easier than using the wand tool to try and select the graphic directly because of the way the tolerance works.

Next, I click on the "Channels" tab in the "Layer" window and select the alpha channel. With the selection still active, I use the "Paint Bucket Tool" to make only the selected area white. The result is a white shape on the alpha layer in the same position and in the same shape as the graphic. This means that only the graphic will be rendered. The grey background (which is black in the alpha channel) will be transparent. As always, you can paint with various shades of grey on the alpha channel to create areas of varying transparency.

Finally, I flatten the layers and save the image. Of course, in this case, there is the additional step of adding that image back to the omf file by overwriting the original. (For that, I am using Taff in Exile's omf editor.)

The colors in this forum make it kind of hard to see links, so in case you didn't notice: the words "custom nose art" in my previous post are a link to an example I made. I think it turned out quite nice.

Anyway, I hope that helps and if anything wasn't clear or you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Cheers!