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Post by Bunta on Jul 3, 2008 23:11:13 GMT -5
Thanks for your support.
The wire frame for the XRT is complete but as yet untested.
The black mask will need to be changed as well, especially around the spoiler and also the muffler/tailpipe.
I think I will have to re-release the whole XRT kit once I have recreated all of the elements.
I haven't seriously looked at the other cars yet.
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Post by Bunta on Jul 8, 2008 23:03:34 GMT -5
The new Z-version XRT Pro Kit is now completed and will be released shortly on the forum only. Once any issues have been fixed, the kit will be posted on our website.
There are significant changes to the new XRT and therefore some of your existing XRT skins may need updating.
While I was compiling the various components of the kit I did a small experiment with the black mask. From time to time I see people posting arguments against the benefits of the black mask layer. I have always claimed that it can reduce the overall file size of your images (skins) and therefore save you space and perhaps not take up so much video resources. Some people seem to think that the black mask can not reduce the file size and I can respect them for their opinions.
Here's the results of my little test: - I took the default XRT skin (1024 x 1024) and resampled it to 2048 x 2048 pixels @ 300dpi.
- I saved the skin as a JPG using 5% compression.
- File size is 516KB
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- I took the default XRT skin (1024 x 1024) and resampled it to 2048 x 2048 pixels @ 300dpi.
- I added the black mask layer.
- I saved the skin as a JPG using 5% compression.
- File size is 320KB
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Post by Bunta on Jul 8, 2008 23:24:36 GMT -5
This kit is untested! Please report any problems directly in this thread. XRT Pro Kit 2008 (for LFS S2Z) 1.4MB
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torp
New Member
Posts: 3
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Post by torp on Jul 9, 2008 5:45:46 GMT -5
Thank you very much Bunta
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Tim
Advanced Skinner
Posts: 157
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Post by Tim on Jul 9, 2008 13:02:04 GMT -5
Quick work Bunta cheers! you're a legend.
One quick (noob) question regarding your experiment: I quite often invert the Black mask as most of my skins are dark and I find this helps me visualise them...would the blank bits of the jpg being white have the same effect as black or should I flip it back when I've finished?
Thanks again for all the time you spend on this stuff!
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Post by Bunta on Jul 9, 2008 20:30:37 GMT -5
Quick work Bunta cheers! you're a legend. One quick (noob) question regarding your experiment: I quite often invert the Black mask as most of my skins are dark and I find this helps me visualise them...would the blank bits of the jpg being white have the same effect as black or should I flip it back when I've finished? Thanks again for all the time you spend on this stuff! I did a bit of research on this a long while back and came to the conclusion that 100% black should be the best colour for reducing file size. Having said that, it seems that any single colour will do a similar job as black, the difference is only small. I think the biggest gain is made around the perimeter of the image. If the pixels right around perimeter are many colours it seems to add data to the file. This also seems true for video files - a black border resulted in a lower file size in the video experiments that I did (although I did not test this extensively with different software and file formats). In conclusion: I don't think it is a big deal which colour you make the mask, but using a mask certainly does seem to reduce the file size of JPG images.
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Tim
Advanced Skinner
Posts: 157
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Post by Tim on Jul 10, 2008 16:42:56 GMT -5
Cool, thanks again Bunta!
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Post by Bunta on Jul 25, 2008 1:08:22 GMT -5
The wireframe of the XRR update is about 96% complete.
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Post by OkaChan on Jul 28, 2008 13:36:07 GMT -5
Very nice work, can't wait till they all get updated. As for the color/filesize discussion. Black indeed takes up less information then any other color. but u have different blacks aswell. You could make your skins in cmyk and convert them to rgb later. Making sure u use not rich black(0,0,0,100). It wount matter that much. I wish we could use tiffs with LZW compression. lzw writes data abit differently then jpeg. jpeg is like pixel 1 is black pixel 2 is black pixel 3 is black. andlzw tiff is like; pixel 1 to 3 is black etc. So with lot of the same color in a picture lzw tiff saves alot of size while retaining great quality. Also a good way to save size with jpegs is to use progressive scan when u save them. I use 3 scans usually, when saving for web. I find myself doing that more and more, and keep to the max quality as possible.
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Post by Bunta on Jul 28, 2008 17:03:19 GMT -5
I see no reason to use cmyk, since the texture will ultimately be displayed in RGB. Furthermore, the cmyk colours are so different than the final result (RGB) that your skin will not look the same as you intended. RGB 100% black also appears darker than the cmyk black.
Maybe I'm missing some vital piece of information here, what advantage can you gain from using cmyk for digital art?
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Post by Bunta on Aug 2, 2008 22:14:13 GMT -5
The XRR wireframe is complete. The black mask is almost complete. The main parts or "panels" of the skin are about halfway to completion. I hope to finish the new kit in the next day or so.
As with the XRT, I've had to completely make a new Pro Kit for this car. Nothing in the old kit was usable.
Thanks for being patient.
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Post by Bunta on Aug 3, 2008 7:15:13 GMT -5
XRR Pro Kit (new) This kit is untested, please post any issues in this thread. download rar file 1.8MB **updated and released September 3rd.**
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Post by cayenne on Aug 3, 2008 9:54:49 GMT -5
Thank you very much Bunta
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Post by drew555 on Aug 5, 2008 6:08:07 GMT -5
You sir, are a legend.
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ldriver
Advanced Skinner
nice stunt !
Posts: 189
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Post by ldriver on Aug 5, 2008 12:08:54 GMT -5
Thanks Bunta , the only thing i noticed was a little black dot on the left mirror . It s coming from sponsor on the windshield layer which can be easily removed . Top job as always
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