HowTo/Reskin an Asset
Contents |
Introduction
Say the locomotive, or item of rolling stock you want is available, but not in the paint scheme or livery you want, then there is a way to change the livery of the said item of rolling stock So here's a step-by-step guide to reskinning Trainz assets :
How To Reskin - A step-by-step guide
1) Open Content Manager (CMP, CM2 or CM3 depending on what version of Trainz your using )
2) Find the asset, using the search function, then clone it, by right - clicking it, and selecting "clone asset"
3) Close or minimize content manager
4) Open "My Computer"
5) Go into the C:// drive, then open "Program Files" then open the folder "N3V Games".
6) Open the folder that corresponds to your version of Trainz e.g, if you use Trainz Classics 3, the folder would be called TC3
7) Open the folder titled "editing"
8) Open the asset that your reskinning ( NOTE: sometimes the asset folder is named "New Asset" but do NOT change the folder name, as CM will sort itself out)
9) Open the folder "(asset name)_body" and find the desired file, normally it is named 'main' or 'body' but occasionally the loco is broken down into parts, such as "boiler" and "cab".
10) Edit the image file, save it as a .TGA file, unless it was originally a .bmp file, then close the reskinning program.
11) Re-open Content Manager, find the asset (most likely in the "Open For Edit" tab), then commit it ( CTRL + M )
Reskinning programs
Besides PhotoShop and PaintShopPro, there are a variety of programs available. Below are the links to some of the most used:
[1] Paint.net is a versatile and free program suited to reskinning, and this is what i use to reskin.
[2] GIMP is another well - known program, along with irfranview, is one of the most popular programs used for reskinning.
[3] Irfanview is another well - known program, along with GIMP, is one of the most popular programs used for reskinning.
Notes and Licences
As a general rule, you are allowed to reskin assets for personal use (i.e - for your own use only ) However, it is always a good idea to ask permission from the author, and ALWAYS ask permission before releasing the reskinned asset, and you are obviously not allowed to release reskinned payware assets, as this is against many laws and rules.
I hope this guide has helped all of you reskinners in training :)
Meyshollop
