Neon help?

[afterimage]

Can someone give me an easy tutorial or point me to one on here or some other website on how to give the cars a neon glow?

[firstdriver]

Ok .. Quick tutorial of how I do the neons for the TM2 CanyonCar. We're dealing with '.dds' files so if you haven't got a .dds viewer .. you can get a free WTV one here . Very small install http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia ... /WTV.shtml

1. First you need the car zip file, The cay zip location is usually here C:\ ...... \My Documents\ManiaPlanet\Skins\Vehicles\CanyonCar. If you've already got the files ,great.... if not, you can get them here http://www.mediafire.com/?rbqptlc0sx58gjs

2. You'll need some .dds editing software. If you haven't got any you can get a freebie here http://www.getpaint.net/

3. Next, open up your car zip file and drag the file called 'FakeShad.dds'' onto your desktop and rename it to 'FakeShad Original' ... This is your backup file.

4. Go back to your car zip file and drag the file called 'FakeShad.dds' onto you desktop again. This is your 'working copy'.

5. Start your art Prog (Paint.net , GIMP, Photoshop whatever. I use photoshop but the same applies.) and open the 'FakeShad' file on you desktop. If it asks to "Add MipMaps?" say NO. A picture of the car shadow or neon will appear. You MUST rotate the image 180 degrees (so its upside-down)... the rear of the car is now at the bottom. You can now use the normal painter tools to alter the shadow/neon.

6. At this point, because I'm using Photoshop, I change the colour of the shadow/neon by going to the Tool Menu at the top and choosing Image / Adjustments / Levels and use the slider to alter the colour. If you cant get the colour you want, then go to Image / Adjustment / Desaturated .. then try the Levels again. You will find what suits you best. Use the Text Tool to add text etc etc. Be sure to make sure that the edges of your image, includding corners, are WHITE or you will turn parts of the track the same colour as your shadow/neon and annoy players driving close to you.

7. Once you have finshed your shadow/neon, you MUST flip it horizonally ... and then you MUST rotate it again 180 degrees. The rear of the car should now be at the top of the image. Any text should read backwards/mirrored. This is correct

8 Once thats finished, name it FakeShad and save it as a .dds to your desktop and answer 'Yes' to replace FakeShad' file .... (FakeShad.dds)... another box will appear.

9. Change the settings in this box to 'DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha' or equivilent. Also make sure that the 'Generate MipMaps' is ticked/checked or it won't work. Don't close your art program in case you want to make some adjustments.

10. The FakeShad file on your desktop should now have become you new shadow/neon. If you installed the WTV program you should be able to double-click on the image and view it in a WTV window.

11. Finally, if all is to your liking, drag the new FakeShad back into your car zip folder and answer Yes/OK/Add to the "Add File?" prompt. You can check the correct file is in the zip by double-clicking on the file INSIDE the zip folder and viewing it (dont worry if it looks pink, that dds)

Job done Remember that because you have altered a file inside of the car zip file, you must reselect the car in you TM2 Profile. You may need to restart TM2 if it doesn't show up in TM2 Profile. Check ithe car out on the tracks before closing the painting program and zip file in case you want to alter the FakeShad.dds

Lastly, just to say it's not as hard as it may sound. Have fun

[zarexz]

The problem is though:
This seems to be buggy too. It seems on some systems, people can only see a custom neon colours if they use Fast or Very Fast shaders in the launcher settings.

[Trackmaniack]

The problem is though:
This seems to be buggy too. It seems on some systems, people can only see a custom neon colours if they use Fast or Very Fast shaders in the launcher settings.

Why did you underline colors? Secondly, I can attest to being one of the "some systems"

[zarexz]

Well, I underlined the word colours because if you have text or other art, that does show up on every setting.
Maybe I should have mentioned that before

[firstdriver]

I'm the same Trackmaniack ... I can only see the coloured neon if my Shader in Config is set to Fast or Faster and on those settings it means I have no lights to see on dark tracks

[afterimage]

Ok .. Quick tutorial of how I do the neons for the TM2 CanyonCar. We're dealing with '.dds' files so if you haven't got a .dds viewer .. you can get a free WTV one here . Very small install http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia ... /WTV.shtml

1. First you need the car zip file, The cay zip location is usually here C:\ ...... \My Documents\ManiaPlanet\Skins\Vehicles\CanyonCar. If you've already got the files ,great.... if not, you can get them here http://www.mediafire.com/?rbqptlc0sx58gjs

2. You'll need some .dds editing software. If you haven't got any you can get a freebie here http://www.getpaint.net/

3. Next, open up your car zip file and drag the file called 'FakeShad.dds'' onto your desktop and rename it to 'FakeShad Original' ... This is your backup file.

4. Go back to your car zip file and drag the file called 'FakeShad.dds' onto you desktop again. This is your 'working copy'.

5. Start your art Prog (Paint.net , GIMP, Photoshop whatever. I use photoshop but the same applies.) and open the 'FakeShad' file on you desktop. If it asks to "Add MipMaps?" say NO. A picture of the car shadow or neon will appear. You MUST rotate the image 180 degrees (so its upside-down)... the rear of the car is now at the bottom. You can now use the normal painter tools to alter the shadow/neon.

6. At this point, because I'm using Photoshop, I change the colour of the shadow/neon by going to the Tool Menu at the top and choosing Image / Adjustments / Levels and use the slider to alter the colour. If you cant get the colour you want, then go to Image / Adjustment / Desaturated .. then try the Levels again. You will find what suits you best. Use the Text Tool to add text etc etc. Be sure to make sure that the edges of your image, includding corners, are WHITE or you will turn parts of the track the same colour as your shadow/neon and annoy players driving close to you.

7. Once you have finshed your shadow/neon, you MUST flip it horizonally ... and then you MUST rotate it again 180 degrees. The rear of the car should now be at the top of the image. Any text should read backwards/mirrored. This is correct

8 Once thats finished, name it FakeShad and save it as a .dds to your desktop and answer 'Yes' to replace FakeShad' file .... (FakeShad.dds)... another box will appear.

9. Change the settings in this box to 'DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha' or equivilent. Also make sure that the 'Generate MipMaps' is ticked/checked or it won't work. Don't close your art program in case you want to make some adjustments.

10. The FakeShad file on your desktop should now have become you new shadow/neon. If you installed the WTV program you should be able to double-click on the image and view it in a WTV window.

11. Finally, if all is to your liking, drag the new FakeShad back into your car zip folder and answer Yes/OK/Add to the "Add File?" prompt. You can check the correct file is in the zip by double-clicking on the file INSIDE the zip folder and viewing it (dont worry if it looks pink, that dds)

Job done Remember that because you have altered a file inside of the car zip file, you must reselect the car in you TM2 Profile. You may need to restart TM2 if it doesn't show up in TM2 Profile. Check ithe car out on the tracks before closing the painting program and zip file in case you want to alter the FakeShad.dds

Lastly, just to say it's not as hard as it may sound. Have fun

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[firstdriver]

Np, my pleasure ... hope you find it works for you ok

[Xymph]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

You really didn't have to quote the whole post to add that, no matter how grateful you might be.

[Trackmaniack]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

You really didn't have to quote the whole post to add that, no matter how grateful you might be.

Just be nice, X...you'll make more friends that way.