Tutorial Skinning ( And something else ) Created 18 years ago2006-03-04 23:33:34 UTC by Bobthereaper

So here we go.

Someone knows a good tutorial that explain really how to create our own skins? Because I just loooked some of them and I totally understand nothing ( like you sometime you don,t understand me : )
So I need a good tutorial, A GOOD

( Someone know if it can makes a problem if the photoshop thing is on another comp as the one I'm using? )

I assume you mean skinning of a model? or a texture in a map...

I don't have much knowledge on model skinning however in my journal is a tutorial on custom textures which I wrote ffor those who need it.

The whole key to skin succesfull is to look, not only look at the model, but look at the world around you, study different materials and make sure you understand how it reflects on serval objects.

Dodge and burn tools are your friend, use em wisely because they can make or break a model. If your done with the skinning part then apply a sharpening filter and as a final touch up the contrast and change the lightning up to how it suits you.

here are a few guidelines i use for different weapons wich should give you some insight.

metal: it is reflective, but not quite as much as chrome, usualy varying from a dark gray to a white basic colour but can be adjusted with heu saturation. Metal scratches easily and bounces the light around the skin. Skin in some scrachtes with dodge on highlights, 1PX and 100%.

Chrome: Most of the times chrome looks quite clean, it reflects almost all of the light. Usualy seen as a light colour, along the lines of white, light gray and light yellow(gold look). The base of the textures is mostly the same as metal only less worn. Also the contrast is usualy higher.

Plastic: low level of reflection, shoft shadows and soft lightning. Probably the most difficult material of all to skin. Small scratches usualy show the worn use of it. But, dont overdo it or it will look like metal.

That are my guidelines that i use by skinning.

And why dont you show us a example of what you dont understand, i might be able to shed a better light on it.

Offcourse, the only thing i can say is practice a lot.

... What I meant is that what I need to create a skin.

A program to pain the skin with offcourse.

Bah how I compile the skins in photoshop? Like me I want to do a scarecrow, I take the skin of ct from GCFScape a program for the files of steam, I put that on cd, I transfer that into another comp who has already photoshop. But what I do after? How I done the skin in photoshop that I wnat to understand.

It will be joyfull if you would understand what I just said

I assume saving?

Goto:

File / Save As

Or:

File / Export

In both cases you can select the file format you prefer.

But what I don't know it's when I open the file they ask me if I want to see a website about it or i want to open it with something. What is the something in "open it with something"? :

That is before I do something with the skin.

Hmm, I assume you're taking .vtf's and try to open them with Photoshop?

Well, for starters, .vtf's are Source specific files, so don't expect them to be readable by other paint programs. There are programs that allow you to browse through your .vtf files and export them to other filetypes like .tga, .jpg or .bmp. Try VTF Explorer.
To compile images into useable texture files, use vmtCREATE.

You've got tools for this already in your SDK folders, but those are console programs, that are generally much harder to work with.

I'll check so, but it's the comp of my mom and I don't know if shee'll want me to download that -.-

There's some Import/Export VTF photoshop plugins Wunderboy did a while back. You can probably google 'em cause I dont have a link handy.

Ok...
Captain what does VMTcreate do? I don't understand it!

It allows you to easily create .vtf files from .tga files, and to make the .vmt's easier to create as well by giving you all the available options as choises already.

You would need to know something about the options though, otherwise it's still abracadabra...

hum... does vtf or tga or vmt's files are the ones of a skin? If so how i do something with that?

The .vtf's are the actual image files. You can convert .tga's into .vtf's.

.vmt's are text files that refer to one or more .vtf's and contain some information about the material - whether or not it's shiny, contains bumpmaps and such. These .vmt's are what Hammer and Half-Life 2 search for.

So, for a basic texture, you'll need a .vtf that contains the image, and a .vmt with the basic texture properties in it. Check the pages about materials on the Valve Wiki for more info.

So, it's for skinning?

Both skinning and texture creation.

Dharg! I don't understand a fuking thing of the program! Are you sure it's for skinning? ( skinning for me it's to apply textures the form the colthes verything about someone and maybe sometime a hat )

Ok I know that discussion is old, but i don't want to do another one.

Can we use Gimp to get skins of Counter-Strike Source and change the skin?

Uh, of course. Same as with Photoshop.

Ok, but how I put them on? I have GFCScape a program for skins and materials of Steam, but how I extract them to Gimp? Each time I try they tell it's an unknow file. There is another program to extract skins into an image or something like this?

( Photoshop is my enemy #1 -.- )

I wonder... do you ever read the Valve wiki? Do you look at file extensions? Do you google for program names and functions?

These things really aren't that hard to find out if you read the right documents (and those aren't hard to find, either).

In other words: a little searching and experimenting solve a lot of questions.

It's called a VTF file, and PS can import it with a special program. Valve Wiki and Google, as CP said, have more information.

I don't get it... I think I did asked the wrong thing... I mean I want to load a model ( like gign, a ct skin or guerrilla, a t skin ) to know where I should exactly do a skin to see and to help me creating one, but where I go get that file!?

When I go in GFCScape they only show me vtx. or mdl. but I don't find VTF anywhere on my comp. I think I didn't understand something and it's that I wanna know.

The skins for the models are in a different place to the models. Try going to cstrike/materials/models and then the applicable folder from there in GCFScape.

Ah... ok thanks it's that I wanted to find, but if I want to create a skin ( phoenix it's the rightskin for my scarecrow! ) I compile it into vtf, but after is it really a skin? can I use it as a skin?

k I just need Vtex something to extract the file to one for skining. If I get another problem I'll shoot back here with no edit ( or one if someone says something after this )