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MikeyPI

Reskinning Vehicle(s)

By MikeyPI, in Alteration Help

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MikeyPI Newbie

MikeyPI

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In order to Reskin a vehicle from the LA Mod you will have to "unlock" the dds file(s) that are required for the vehicle, for this example we will be asking to reskin one of the many crown victorias. In this example the CHP Vic.

First you must Unlock the dds file, in order to do this you must find the dds file that you wish to alter which would be located in the following folder:

Game Install\Mods\LA MOD 1.8\Models\Vehicles\03 LA Police\cv_chp.dds (some vehicles have multiple texture files)

You have to rename the file to something else and change the extension from dds to v3o, this will allow the editor to unpack the file making it readable by Photoshop or a dds converter.

Due to the fact that most vehicles have the same name for the Vehicle model and the dds Texture file, it is advisable to name it something such as follows:

cv_chp.dds to cv_chpt.v3o

Now, you need to open the editor, load the modification and then select "unpack file" again you will have to navigate to the same folder but the editor shows the folder structure a bit different:

Mod:Models\Vehicles\03 LA Police\

Find your renamed dds which for the example is cv_chpt.v3o and press ok, this will unpack the file so you may edit it.

Now you need to rename the file back to dds, in order for the vehicle model file to recognize the texture be sure to rename it back to what it originally was, which in this example is cv_chp.dds

Once this is done you then have to either convert the dds file using a dds converter (one is available in our downloads section) or import it using Photoshop.

Convert/save the image to whatever format you wish to use, .BMP, .PNG, .TGA, etc. whichever you prefer and open it in the painting application of your choosing and alter it as necessary to do whatever you wish to do to the vehicle skin.

Now you have to take your texture and turn it back into the dds file for the model file which accompanies the vehicle to recognize it's new texture.

Ensure that all of the dds files you have changed are in the folder where they belong and when you load the editor you should see your newly skinned vehicle there now.

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topfuzz Newbie

topfuzz

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Posted
In order to Reskin a vehicle from the LA Mod you will have to "unlock" the dds file(s) that are required for the vehicle, for this example we will be asking to reskin one of the many crown victorias. In this example the CHP Vic.

First you must Unlock the dds file, in order to do this you must find the dds file that you wish to alter which would be located in the following folder:

Game Install\Mods\LA MOD 1.8\Models\Vehicles\03 LA Police\cv_chp.dds (some vehicles have multiple texture files)

You have to rename the file to something else and change the extension from dds to v3o, this will allow the editor to unpack the file making it readable by Photoshop or a dds converter.

Due to the fact that most vehicles have the same name for the Vehicle model and the dds Texture file, it is advisable to name it something such as follows:

cv_chp.dds to cv_chpt.v3o

Now, you need to open the editor, load the modification and then select "unpack file" again you will have to navigate to the same folder but the editor shows the folder structure a bit different:

Mod:Models\Vehicles\03 LA Police\

Find your renamed dds which for the example is cv_chpt.v3o and press ok, this will unpack the file so you may edit it.

Now you need to rename the file back to dds, in order for the vehicle model file to recognize the texture be sure to rename it back to what it originally was, which in this example is cv_chp.dds

Once this is done you then have to either convert the dds file using a dds converter (one is available in our downloads section) or import it using Photoshop.

Convert/save the image to whatever format you wish to use, .BMP, .PNG, .TGA, etc. whichever you prefer and open it in the painting application of your choosing and alter it as necessary to do whatever you wish to do to the vehicle skin.

Now you have to take your texture and turn it back into the dds file for the model file which accompanies the vehicle to recognize it's new texture.

Ensure that all of the dds files you have changed are in the folder where they belong and when you load the editor you should see your newly skinned vehicle there now.

i followed the steps and i got photoshop but i dont know how to reskin the image in it isnt there a way to just copy and paste pics onto the texture?

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Texas_DPS Newbie

Texas_DPS

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the way i do it is i open and edit it with gimp 2 and just copy and paste what i need from the picture to the skin and just hand do all the rest. its a way that can be a pain sometimes but it looks good. at least i think so.

take a look at some i did.

http://forum.emergency-planet.com/index.php?showtopic=6744

if you need some pointers or something im sure any one of us would help you.

- Jon

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topfuzz Newbie

topfuzz

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the way i do it is i open and edit it with gimp 2 and just copy and paste what i need from the picture to the skin and just hand do all the rest. its a way that can be a pain sometimes but it looks good. at least i think so.

take a look at some i did.

http://forum.emergency-planet.com/index.php?showtopic=6744

if you need some pointers or something im sure any one of us would help you.

- Jon

ok thanks

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topfuzz Newbie

topfuzz

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you could take the picture and paste it on top of the reskined one. as long as they matched up i dont see a problem. i dont know which one is BETTER but i dont like photoshop so i use gimp. use whichever one you like.

- Jon

how do u get the pictures u have to match up to the texture?

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Texas_DPS Newbie

Texas_DPS

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it looks like you were on the right track but the skin isnt on there correctly. i think it would be best if you tried to manualy paint it and just get the decals pasted on. just my opinion. thats what i do.

give me a day and i will see what else i can come up with.

- Jon

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Xplorer4x4 Enthusiast

Xplorer4x4

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Technically photoshop is probably better, but its an advanced program. So is gimp but I think gimp might be easier to learn, and theres always paint.net and good ol mspaint. Any such program will work. Your best bet is to paint the car by hand. If Jon's method works, then its fine, but everyone here has done it by hand because as you see copy and paste has no guarantee.

Honestley your better of using the LAPP car instead as it will require less painting then the LAAP will since LAPP is already mostly white and the LAAP is mostly Black I think.

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topfuzz Newbie

topfuzz

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it looks like you were on the right track but the skin isnt on there correctly. i think it would be best if you tried to manualy paint it and just get the decals pasted on. just my opinion. thats what i do.

give me a day and i will see what else i can come up with.

- Jon

ok i tried that and thats what i came up with

Technically photoshop is probably better, but its an advanced program. So is gimp but I think gimp might be easier to learn, and theres always paint.net and good ol mspaint. Any such program will work. Your best bet is to paint the car by hand. If Jon's method works, then its fine, but everyone here has done it by hand because as you see copy and paste has no guarantee.

Honestley your better of using the LAPP car instead as it will require less painting then the LAAP will since LAPP is already mostly white and the LAAP is mostly Black I think.

yea i realized that after i did the laap and then i did the lapp which i just copied and pasted and it came out just like the laap idk

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Texas_DPS Newbie

Texas_DPS

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that looks ok....you just need to work on it. i worked on this for ya. i used gimp 2. i sugest using it cause its easier to work on it. just my opinion. if you want the jpg i will send it to you so you can see what i did.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/370538...b4c573c.jpg?v=0

good luck and just keep working on it.

here is a link to gimp 2 if you want it.

http://www.gimp.org/

- Jon

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topfuzz Newbie

topfuzz

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that looks ok....you just need to work on it. i worked on this for ya. i used gimp 2. i sugest using it cause its easier to work on it. just my opinion. if you want the jpg i will send it to you so you can see what i did.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/370538...b4c573c.jpg?v=0

good luck and just keep working on it.

here is a link to gimp 2 if you want it.

http://www.gimp.org/

- Jon

ok thats what i used its easier than photoshop but yea that looks alot better i just copied and pasted but i didnt have good pics so idk how to make it look clearer but would you send the jpg thanks

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