Making Clouds

[BLlTZ]

Making Clouds - UNIVERSAL GTA ERA Tutorial

 

 

 

The Notes of this Tutorial and what will show to you:

 

- Universal Tutorial is refering that this tutorial can be used on any of the GTA Series :

- Grand Theft Auto III

- Grand Theft Auto Vice City

- Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

- Grand Theft Auto IV - very good to create such clouds for this game, specially for those users that are using ENB IV.

- Gona teach you how to make the clouds in 'step by step' mod for every single person, to be understood much better.

- A Program that is for Artworks & Painting

- TXDWorkshop Last Version (V4.5)

- IMPORTANT : IS BEST to use Project Reality Last Version. To have any sky clouds color you want. Default game makes the sky clouds to be only brown.

 

 

= THE START =

 

STEP1. - THE BEGINNING

First we gona need a program, where I will gona use Photoshop CS2 for example, because I'm most used with it. You can use any Photoshop version or any other program of painting or artworking.

We gona open the program and we gona start to by using CRTL+N to make a new image and we gona make Width & Height in 7000x7000 pixels. Yes, is big image but it will help just enough to not make unstable clouds or buggy like seeing them on sky in square effect and other things that will come on step-by-step route.

 

 

STEP2. - BACKGROUND COLOR

- The color background can be any color you like but for in comparing the sky color and day color we gona choose a combo of blue-green-light color of clouds color seeing in real life. Is the best to use familiar colors from the reality to not give something out of planet reality, like in this picture, below.

- Another important thing to do, is to click the Square icon to make a transparent image "Create a New Layer", where we gona talk about this when we gona reach the proper STEP for it.

 

 

STEP3. - BRUSH CLOUDS

- Many clouds can be found around internet. The Best start to go and find them is :

- Google

- DeviantART

- The way of how to find them can be used in words like

- cloud/s brush/es

- brush/es cloud/s

IMPORTANT: Some of them can have the effects that cover all the corners and we don't need such effect. We need clouds effects that are only in the middle of the brush.

Now we gona download something that is good for your eye when you see that brush, example pictures found and save it on desktop for example to be found easy, to not browse around your PC.

 

 

STEP4. - LOADING THE BRUSHES IN PHOTOSHOP

To do that, we have to go on the top-right corner of the Photoshop CS2 and click on Brushes that can bee seen beeing the first on the line starting from the left position.

We left-click on the Brushes, left click again on the arrow pointing to the right and go to Load Brushes and click it and browse on desktop where you saved your Cloud Brush.

 

 

 

STEP5. - CHOOSING THE CLOUD COLORS

For this again, for the clouds can be used any color you want, but because we made the background in a combo of blue-green-light we gona choose a white-grey color to give a extra shadow on clouds. Again we can use not just only one color for the clouds, we can use multiply up 3 to 4 colors on an image.

After this we gona choose the Brush Tool that can be view on the image I posted.

 

 

STEP6. - MAKING THE CLOUDS

Now we gona right-click on the background the go slide down to choose the brush clouds and choose one of them.

We gona MAX out the Master Diameter that is 2500. Is ok for that and is very usefull for the clouds to give that extra detailed effect; here that's why we chosed 7000x7000.

 

About the transparent image created on STEP2; from here, on this image we gona paste the clouds brushes, because on another proper STEP I gona talk why you have to make them on this transparent image

First is best to start with the middle and the corners.

IMPORTANT: - DON'T put the clouds effects exactly on corners, let them to have some space to not get that buggy square effect on in-game-sky of what I mentioned just above on the STEP1. If you see on the default clouds, they are in the middle and is used just only one cloud per effect. Again, is best to not fill out the image, using to many times the brushes to turn out the image to be more white. Let some space between each clouds pasted, like in the pictures.

You can see now from the pictures where the progress is going. We done the clouds now.

 

 

NEXT STEP CONTINUE ON THE NEXT POST!!

[BLlTZ]

 

PART II

 

 

 

STEP7. - RESIZE THE IMAGES & ALPHA IMAGE

Because we can't put a image like 7000x7000 pixels into the game, where the tools doesn't suport such size, we gona resize them into 1024x1024 because is the proper size image for the game. 512x512 will make to lose the details, but can be used for Low PC perfomance.

Now we gona save the image and choose OS/2 cuz TXDWorkshop will not accept the image, giving an error.

 

 

And we gona obtain something like this.

 

After this we have to make the background black, for the alpha images. To do that, we gona have to click on that combo of blue-green-light background and press CTRL+U and slide the Lightness to the left to make the background black like in this picture.

Always the alpha image has to be black, not any other color. Will give that square effects problem.

We gona save this image too in OS/2 mode. The result is this

 

 

STEP8. - INSTALLING THEM

 

Now we gona open the last version of TXDWorkshop (V4.5) and browse around the GTA game - GTA DIR/models/particle.txd

We gona slide and search for cloudmasked image.

Install both images, normal & alpha and well done. Go and test the game.

NOTE: You can use the clouds not just for cloudmasked but for the

- cloudhigh

- cloud1

and for effectsPC like :

- smoke5

- bullethitsmoke

- smoke4

- bullethitsmoke1

- smokeII_3

- collisionsmoke

- smoke

- cloudmasked

- explosions

and many other things usefull and related to them.

 

 

 

If you are clever enough and know how to use the colors, clouds and the way of how they have to look, their shape and positions you will get a outstanding result.

 

 

Pictures & Video Sample

 

 

Below are some In-Game Pictures and A short Video of how they look in real moving.

 

 

 

 

 

[BLlTZ]

Making Clouds - IV ERA Tutorial

 

 

For this we gona need to make 3 Clouds in ALPHA MODE ( BLACK & WHITE ) in order to get the result like the picture above and is very simple to do.

After we made 3 clouds in 1024x1024 resolution like this 3 images below :

 

 

 

 

IMPORTANT: On clouds GTA IV, we can cover all the area of the image, so we can go with all bunch of clouds. Some of the clouds brushes has not only clouds in the middle but they have clouds on the entire erea where you can just use Master Diameter to 2500 and just click on time and will cover all the area of the image.

Here this is a different engine so you will not get square effects on sky.

 

How to make them.

 

STEP1. - THE BEGINNING

Use CRTL+N to make a new image and choose a 1024x1024 pixels Width & Height because the 3 clouds has the same resolution.

Now we gona paste all those 3 clouds in this new image.

 

 

STEP2. - HOW TO MAKE THEM

So we gona start with the last pictures below and right-click on it and choose Bleding Options

After that, we unmark R and G and leave only B marked from the Channel like in the picture below.

 

 

Now we take the middle cloud and unmark R and B and leave G marked

 

Now we take the first one and urmark G and B and leave marked R and in that moment already the clouds being made.

 

 

Save them in .BMP file and choose OS/2 again.

 

IMPORTANT:

Always you have to start like this:

 

First Clouds - has to be Red Channel (R)

Middle Clouds - has to be Green Channel (G)

Last Clouds - has to be Blue Channel (B)

 

Well done - you made the clouds for IV. Go and try it out.

 

 

[_CP_]

Oh man, it is very useful, thanks bro!

[BLlTZ]

So, the tutorial can be understandable. Great to hear it!

Thanks

[Darecki]

Very well made tutorial. But, after my testing GTA IV ENB, I have to say that one of the layers don't show up at all. I don't remember which one exactly. Probably Green. It won't affect in making these clouds, but they just won't work. It's easy to chceck which layer doesn't work by making a cloud with something red, then green, and then blue on it. But it needs to be checked in all of the different daytimes in game as they're used for different times..

[Spider-Vice]

Whoa nice tuto Though I can't make decent clouds

 

Spider-Vice needs training

[BLlTZ]

Well, I know you are right here, most because I don't have IV and can't play it, so most of what I showed here, is like more a basic tutorial on IV . I don't know when I gona improve my PC so it can take some time, meanwhile, by this basic tutorial, at least you can start to have boundless ideas of how to improve the clouds.

[coin-god]

This is great, not only for GTA! Thanks for sharing this Blitz.

[[GwM]Chavez]

this is awesome BLITZ

as I said in GWM, great tutorial and ur clouds are very nice ! ^^

 

here some screens with ur clouds:

 

 

 

[hristobg]

Really good tutorial!

[BLlTZ]

Thanky my [GwM]Chavez for the screens. I really need it some good screenshots for samples for IV because I can't run IV. I'm glad that IV tutorial is worth it.

[_CP_]

One from shot from your tut:

[lancerevo]

Hey where do i transfer the bmp file to?

[andri-andre]

hi bro

I want to ask ..

I've followed the steps to create a cloud that you post

after I made it, why the results are like this?

(black on cloud image is still visible, so it becomes invisible clouds only)

whereas I've made a black background and I've put it with alpha formats

maybe one of you know about the problems that I experienced this

can give solutions and the help for this problems

especially to Admin

attention please

sorry my bad english

sorry i am not put image

thank you

[PacketOverload_x64bit]

Send me a copy of the clouds you created and I can check. Also, timecycle might be the reason for weird results.

[andri-andre]

@Packet0Verload_x64Bit

how do i can send you my cloud bro?

what if I gave you a link to download my cloud

and you check the problem

do you agree?