Which painting software should I use?

[cfuruti]

Originally Posted by John Bowden

You have hit the nail on the head.

Well said, couldn't agree more. Also, think of long-term results. Suppose in the future you want to make corrections or create a variation of your model. Or change the camouflage pattern. How easy is to do hat in your favorite tool? With raster you must think a bit in advance and keep the colored regions masked or in separate layers, so you can repaint or retouch without disturbing the main lines. With vector, this is just natural.

[imcold]

What cfuruti said. Combination of vector&bitmap is the most powerful solution. Example:
The small details are done in vector, as well as each part's outlines and text. Usually only one fill color or gradient is used.
The larger areas that would look boring if filled with one solid colors are done as bitmaps, with vector details taken as a base and converted to bitmap as well.

[fleetsailor1981]

OK. now I am really confused. people are talking about layers and textures. I have no clue what you all are talking about. I have an older iMAC with lion on it . I was able to down load inkscape to it and tried playing around with it. what I am trying to do is recolor the transformer bumble bee camaro from yellow & black to look like one from Stevenson Motorsports

[cfuruti]

Originally Posted by John Bowden

...
Now you state "that most of the models are in vector environment".

I must disagree with this statement. Yes there are some designers that do design models in vector format, but the majority (IMO right now) do not, they still use raster.

I know I'll get flak from some people who will disagree with me on this, but I have had to convert a lot of modesl to vector in order to repaint them.......... but again this is my opinion.
...
john

Sorry, I forgot to comment. It could be just a bias - perhaps several of the models you converted were actually developed as vector data but converted to raster just for publication? Maybe the publisher believes users are more likely to be able to view raster than vector formats; it could even be an attempt to discourage modifications, or pirating in improved resolutions.

[Burning Beard]

I think they get published is raster as a security measure, to keep people from ripping off the work. It is easy to convert to raster, but it is tough to make a vector drawing from a raster format.

Beard

[cfuruti]

Originally Posted by fleetsailor1981

OK. now I am really confused. people are talking about layers and textures. I have no clue what you all are talking about.

"Layers" are just a graphic metaphor. Think of a classic hand-drawn animated movie, with a character walking in front of an elaborate background. The illusion of movement requires drawing and sequentially presenting several images with the character at different points, therefore obscuring different parts of the background at each time. In order to save time/work/money, the background is drawn only once on opaque media, but the character is drawn in different positions on separate transparent sheets ("cels"), which are overlaid on the background and photographed.
The idea can be easily generalized:

• the character's parts may be split in additional sheets, like body, head, and eyes/mouth; only the moving parts must be redrawn for each frame
• a single sheet may simply be moved across the scene, with the character "gliding" across
• if the sheets are supported by glass panes, they may not touch each other; changing their spacing gives the illusion of parallax, or even growing/shrinking elements without redrawing
• and so on

Back to graphic editors: instead of drawing everything on a single virtual pane, clever authors organize elements in superimposed layers. A simple example would be:

1. rust/weather effects
2. battle damage
3. insignia markings 1
4. insignia markings 2...
5. camouflage pattern 1
6. camouflage pattern 2...
7. base color

Because layers can be hidden or restacked at will, squadron markings, e.g., could be chosen without affecting the other layers. And layers can be partially transparent, therefore the "effect" of rust/weathering can be made more or less subtle.

Digital graphics have extended the cel metaphor. Instead of simply partially hiding the layers below, a layer could selectively lighten or darken them, or affect their colors.

Layers apply to either raster or vector, but the latter may dispense with explicit layers in simpler designs, because each element is implicitly stacked without destructing those below it. And obviously, because layers are parallel subimages, they can greatly increase the size of a raster file.

Notice that layers are saved in editor formats like XCF (Gimp) or PSD (Photoshop), but not in most presentation formats; for instance, in order to save as JPG, Gimp and Photoshop must "flatten" the image to a single layer. GIF has something that resembles layers, but is actually used for animation.

"Textures" are just 2D images like a JPG or PNG file. In graphic parlance, they are usually imported and wrapped on graphic elements. E.g., if your model has a wooden part, instead of painting the veins, just get a picture of a wood plank, import it, and (after appropriately scaling and rotating it), use it as the "color" of your part.

[sgoti]

Yeah, what cfuruti said. Let me see if I can add some visual aids.

The concepts of layers and textures are illustrated perfectly in this free model:

30mm Coach House Paper Model

One note of caution to Mac users: Do not try to use Preview to open this model. This model contains multi-layer PDF pages, which Preview does not support. Use a fairly recent version of Acrobat Reader and you should be ok.

(And all you non-Acrobat users, please feel free to chime in as to whether or not your favorite reader will or will not work with multi-layer PDFs. I don't know (or have time to research) what will and will not work.)

After you open one of the multi-layer pages (they are noted as such), look on the left side of the document window for the layers control- It looks like two isometric squares, one on top of the other.

After clicking on this, you will see a list of available features that you can select/deselect (turn on or off). This lets you select different types of walls (wood, brick, stone), windows, etc.

Each one of these patterns is on a separate layer. And notice that selecting [Walls] Stone hides/covers [Walls] Brick, while [Walls] Wood covers them all. This is because the [Walls] Wood layer is above the others.

Textures are the shading effects that make a surface look 3D (the stone looks like stone, the bricks look like bricks, and so on). This may or may not be done in a separate layer, depending on what the designer wants. As cfuruti said, they could also be imported images.

In the 2009 Camaro example you are trying to use, textures are what make the seats look like they have quilting instead of being completely flat. The treads on the tires would be another example.