probally a dumb question but i ahve looked long enough lol

[Doofy 2]

Is there a good tutorial out there on youtube that in vovles how to texture with the ArmA tools instead of having to upload six diffrent programs ..for the life of me cant find one.

if there isnt one i would Pay for someone to make one lol

[max power 21]

What do you mean by texture, and what do you mean by 'upload tools'?

[Doofy 2]

I mean from start to finish on textureing your model,From white to Color.. ..lets say a solider..I was just saying "upload tools" because i haven't seen any vidieo of ArmA2 tools being used for it ..I've got the body done i just do not know how to do the rest. :(

[max power 21]

Well, on the most basic level, you require some kind of paint program. Unfortunately, BIS doesn't supply that. For a free paint too that is quite powerful, might I suggest GIMP?

Edited April 12, 2012 by Max Power

[Doofy 2]

i have Adobe Photoshop 7.0.1..Thank god my future father in-law is a teacher :)

[max power 21]

Well, to do the diffuse and smdi maps, that's pretty much all you need. You can do a basic normal map with a plugin.

[Doofy 2]

Right on but i still have no idea how to do it ..I'm a visual learner..i see something done once i can do it.Presenting the idea.5 and a half months ago i didn't know much about this stuff.I couldn't even tell you how to put a guy on the map in the editor.lol I'm serious. Now I'm teaching my self and getting hints from freinds along the way ,C++, sqf ,and hopefully java.i can pound out a mission on the editor no problem now.I've been really looking into modelling as well .i talked to a friend and downloaded the tools watched the movies for oxygen "all 7" and customized that downloadable unbinirized solider model"Google a mans best friend" :) .I maid it so it looked like a sweatshirt.i just need to get read of the bumps on the vest and the shadows and put my own in so it makes it look like a sweatshirt.It sounds simple but its not going to be for this first timer lol.

[Doofy 2]

yeah every vidieo is 3d max.. lol

[max power 21]

Well, don't be afraid to ask specific questions.

[Doofy 2]

Well, don't be afraid to ask specific questions.

Ok so i have decided to use Gimp.. seem to let the plugins work a lot better..i just messed around to see i fi could make a bump map and sure did. :) .. K i took nohq texture off anopther model and converted to grey scale..now i have opened it up in gimp and dont know what to do from there

Edited April 13, 2012 by Doofy

[jagheterjan 10]

If you're asking for advice (My personal advice that is): Dump the work you've done until now and sit down to read and learn what NOHQ maps are (And in the process, what tangent space normals maps are), what precisely they do and how you need to treat them to get the maximum possible detail. Then you'd see that just taking an existing normals map (Likely made with a completely different UV setup), tinkering with it the way you did and then turning it back into a NOHQ map will yield you something that's barely working as a normals map. That is because with normals maps, unless you know precisely what you're doing and how you need to treat them, they _will_ turn out utter pish, leaving you with alot of time and effort wasted.

As for your question: There are tools out there that can convert a greyscale bump map into a tangent space normals map (Since that's what a NOHQ map really is), both freeware and payware. NVidia Texture Tools for PS, nDo, Crazybump and a heap of other tools are easy to find on Google. But unless you carefully prepare the images you are feeding the program (And set up your mesh to work with them), all of those programs are guaranteed to produce nothing more than funky blueish images that will perform not even halfway decent.

[Doofy 2]

i know and i do understand that witch trust me i have been sitting here reading non stop..But Reading and seeing are two different things..Not every individual out there can read something and put into practice totally..There are what we call visual learners .Witch i know for a fact there are a lot of them out there..one of witch including me..I just think most people that download the tools have this understanding that all these tools are what you need ..i know that's not true but maybe they should put that in there..i Just thought it would be cool if someone actually did a Visual tutorial instead of a written one with useing the Arma tools and then the other ones you need but the most solid one of the bunch..i know alot of the people out there that are visuial learners want to ask but then they just get thrown off to the side so they get fed up or just dont deal with it..i cant tell you how many people ive talked to that just said they gave up.."no one wants to give secrets" they say.Given a man a fish and say go down there and eat that, Does one thing but if you teach the man how to fish maybe even quickly but show him ..he could eat for a life time..<-----cheesy i know but makes sense and is true.

[max power 21]

I guess converting the normal map to greyscale is supposed to produce some kind of cavity map or something for your diffuse map?

[Doofy 2]

I guess converting the normal map to greyscale is supposed to produce some kind of cavity map or something for your diffuse map?

i thought that would work but that only works on 3dmax errrr sounds like to me i just gunna haft to go by 3d max lol

[max power 21]

You do not have to buy max to make a diffuse map.

If your aim is to create a map from the normal map that shows shadows made by surface crinklies and stuff, download xNormal. It's free, powerful, and integrates some of its functionality into Photoshop.

[Doofy 2]

to late just bought it .lol and im happy :) way more tutorials

[PuFu 4600]

to late just bought it .lol and im happy :) way more tutorials

do you actually consider us all idiots?

[Doofy 2]

No.. i didn't say that..didn't say that all..

[max power 21]

It does seem quite implausible that you bought 3000 dollars worth of software to make diffuse maps...

[jagheterjan 10]

Then maybe it's time you admit you've stretched the truth a bit when you told people you've forked out 3000 bucks for a max license just to tinker with it in your free time.

Curse your ninja'ing powers, Max! Is max really just 3000 bucks in the states?

Edited April 14, 2012 by jagheterjan

[slatts 1978]

lol just 3000 bucks? and i thought MS office was a rip off [/sarcasm]

[PuFu 4600]

lol just 3000 bucks? and i thought MS office was a rip off [/sarcasm]

4500 € / 2250 € - new seat / upgrade from 2010/2011/2012 (if you have an older version you are out of luck...)

so...MS Office is indeed a rip-off....

[max power 21]

$3495 USD on their website, for a download package.

[Doofy 2]

K i know it might seem a little out of the play that i just bought it because i needed a better way to do textures.

yeah why would a guy fork that much over just cuz..i spent more then that because i also bought Maya,lol don't know why but

i did lol.hey i can mess around with it to.But your talking to a guy that seen a video on you-tube

that had Arma in it and i was Sold ,I Had to play this game ..Learn more about it .So i proceed to go to the store cuz my computer well didn't fit the bill

a laptop i used for work. TETRA Note.nice computer but just for playing Arma?? no way needed something good.I went out and bought me a new computer ,Moniters spent almost three grand that day just to play a 20 dolor game off steam,true story lol

The clan that I'm involved with is doing a Mod pack update witch some of it needs to be modeled.im one of the guys in s3 so i bought to get done faster and hey what they hey to tinker around with as well lol..so did my pride hurt a little when i forked that much over yes. it always does but with every great triumph you haft to take that first step. witch might just make the wallet a little less tight

[max power 21]

I'm not going to say that those softwares don't do textures at all, they do transfer maps, and they do do special textures, but to do diffuse textures, you're basically just out 8 grand without any capability to do what you wanted. If you did indeed buy them, I would suggest returning them if diffuse textures is what you want to do. There is nothing really in those software packages that's going to allow you to do textures better / faster than photoshop. If you want to model, all you need is one. Maya and Max each have their strengths and weaknesses, but they are not so different that I could recommend buying both to anyone- especially not a hobbyist.