I know I just want to give back to a community that has given me so much. I'm happy to be able to help out here at Stunod. Y'all are fantastic.
canadienhits 2020-2022 Xfinity and Trucks
- Thread starter canadienhits
- Start date
On a bit of a soapbox here:
To all aspiring painters, thank you for wanting to paint. You are needed in the community. Let's look at it from a numbers point of view. In Xfinity alone there are 40 teams (more, but just as a baseline) and say each team runs 10 schemes a season (again, low ball) that makes 400 schemes a season (again, low ball). In my best year, I did a titch over 200. Still leaves a lot of work (and I'm not going to be around forever)
So, the trick is to get from painting to making a great product.
Let's put one thing out there: No mod is perfect. Not even close. Mods have their limitations. Several things are in play here, the age of the game versus the mod, the poly count, and the fact we are not like iRacing and have the ability of laser measure the cars. In my mod for example, I'd say it's about 94% accurate (still a great number)
So, where do we go from here.
Well, here's some things I've learned to get good (not great)
1) Details, Details, Details....
Your good ones in the business (Hendrick9Fan, daniele, Br1sc4e, Rupe) are detail oriented folks. No detail is too small. Want to get good, make sure your b-pillars are right, or your logos are properly sized and rotated. Do the little things. You may not think it is important, but a car that looks 95% is better than one that looks 90% (and it shows). No one is 100% perfect, but it shows how much you care by how hard you try at it. Slapping together something shows no pride. Put in the work/effort.
2) First doesn't always win....
Getting it out first doesn't mean jack if it shoddy or wrong. If it takes an extra hour, day, week, to make it look better, do it. You have ones in the community that want tomorrow's paint scheme yesterday, but that isn't the majority of the community. The majority wants good quality. We are dealing with a lot of fellow artists here. Your level of work shows. Now, you can get stuff out quickly like I do and still stay within rules. One tip: either I have the base made previously (more on that later), or I get the preview of the car and work hard on the base prior to the race.
Save everything....
Save EVERYTHING you create or use. EVERYTHING! You don't know how many times I have gone back looking for some odd ball logo only to find I didn't save it, and I needed it. You don't realize how much teams re-use bases, sponsors, et al. One day someone may pop up with that they need a BR12 Clint Bowyer scheme you killed, only to find you deleted the file. oops I have oodles of numbers, fonts, logos, bases, templates, etc.
4) Use your resources...
No crime in help, especially the internet. Use those resources. Google, Getty Images, Twitter, FB, Insta, Pinestrest, Motorsports.com are all great places to see the cars as they are on the track (You will find some teams that the version of the cars released is not what they run on the weekend). Clipart is your friend. Big Evil Racing is great with numbers. Some sites have bases. Some sites have templates. Here at Stunod they have some killer resources. But whatever you use, give credit. No one likes a person who doesn't give credit to someone elses work.
5) Learn your program....
I didn't get good until I started learning the in's and out's of my paint program (Adobe PhotoShop CS2). So many teams use fades, blurs, gradients. Learn, it's how you get better. Also, learn from other artists out there. I learned the tricks of the trade from some great painters. You just don't pop out of a box overnight and paint perfect cars. Practice. Push yourself. Painting a Monster car is nice, but it doesn't challenge you out of your comfort zone. If I don't learn at least fifteen new things a season, my season is a waste.
6) Finally...
1024 is fine, but I learned the big boys paint in 2048. I only moved to 2048 when I became paint crew at SRD because I have a 2008 computer that lags, but 2048 makes your paints sharper and pop. Also, take your mask off. That is a sure sign of an amature and a pro. You may not notice it, but if you leave the mask on, you have slight lines in the seams of the car. Don't EVER rip.
That's it.
To all aspiring painters, thank you for wanting to paint. You are needed in the community. Let's look at it from a numbers point of view. In Xfinity alone there are 40 teams (more, but just as a baseline) and say each team runs 10 schemes a season (again, low ball) that makes 400 schemes a season (again, low ball). In my best year, I did a titch over 200. Still leaves a lot of work (and I'm not going to be around forever)
So, the trick is to get from painting to making a great product.
Let's put one thing out there: No mod is perfect. Not even close. Mods have their limitations. Several things are in play here, the age of the game versus the mod, the poly count, and the fact we are not like iRacing and have the ability of laser measure the cars. In my mod for example, I'd say it's about 94% accurate (still a great number)
So, where do we go from here.
Well, here's some things I've learned to get good (not great)
1) Details, Details, Details....
Your good ones in the business (Hendrick9Fan, daniele, Br1sc4e, Rupe) are detail oriented folks. No detail is too small. Want to get good, make sure your b-pillars are right, or your logos are properly sized and rotated. Do the little things. You may not think it is important, but a car that looks 95% is better than one that looks 90% (and it shows). No one is 100% perfect, but it shows how much you care by how hard you try at it. Slapping together something shows no pride. Put in the work/effort.
2) First doesn't always win....
Getting it out first doesn't mean jack if it shoddy or wrong. If it takes an extra hour, day, week, to make it look better, do it. You have ones in the community that want tomorrow's paint scheme yesterday, but that isn't the majority of the community. The majority wants good quality. We are dealing with a lot of fellow artists here. Your level of work shows. Now, you can get stuff out quickly like I do and still stay within rules. One tip: either I have the base made previously (more on that later), or I get the preview of the car and work hard on the base prior to the race.
Save everything....Save EVERYTHING you create or use. EVERYTHING! You don't know how many times I have gone back looking for some odd ball logo only to find I didn't save it, and I needed it. You don't realize how much teams re-use bases, sponsors, et al. One day someone may pop up with that they need a BR12 Clint Bowyer scheme you killed, only to find you deleted the file. oops I have oodles of numbers, fonts, logos, bases, templates, etc.
4) Use your resources...
No crime in help, especially the internet. Use those resources. Google, Getty Images, Twitter, FB, Insta, Pinestrest, Motorsports.com are all great places to see the cars as they are on the track (You will find some teams that the version of the cars released is not what they run on the weekend). Clipart is your friend. Big Evil Racing is great with numbers. Some sites have bases. Some sites have templates. Here at Stunod they have some killer resources. But whatever you use, give credit. No one likes a person who doesn't give credit to someone elses work.
5) Learn your program....
I didn't get good until I started learning the in's and out's of my paint program (Adobe PhotoShop CS2). So many teams use fades, blurs, gradients. Learn, it's how you get better. Also, learn from other artists out there. I learned the tricks of the trade from some great painters. You just don't pop out of a box overnight and paint perfect cars. Practice. Push yourself. Painting a Monster car is nice, but it doesn't challenge you out of your comfort zone. If I don't learn at least fifteen new things a season, my season is a waste.
6) Finally...
1024 is fine, but I learned the big boys paint in 2048. I only moved to 2048 when I became paint crew at SRD because I have a 2008 computer that lags, but 2048 makes your paints sharper and pop. Also, take your mask off. That is a sure sign of an amature and a pro. You may not notice it, but if you leave the mask on, you have slight lines in the seams of the car. Don't EVER rip.
That's it.
John this is a poem made by a person who loves nr 2003. You said everything that was needed. All that is missing is that mythical phrase you said about Srd ... I think: and now cooking with gasoline !!! ))
))
Here's where I'm at:
Texas: 1, 7, 8, 10, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 39 are ready to go. Waiting for renders. Should be this weekend.
Kansas: 2, 10, and 20 are 90%+ done. Just waiting to see what changes I have to make after they roll out of the haulers.
Texas: 1, 7, 8, 10, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 39 are ready to go. Waiting for renders. Should be this weekend.
Kansas: 2, 10, and 20 are 90%+ done. Just waiting to see what changes I have to make after they roll out of the haulers.
So, the 1, 2, 10, 16, 20, and 22 are complete and I'll start putting the car files together tomorrow (tired tonight) and will send the files off to Tom for rendering soon. I don't think at this time I'll do any other Kansas cars.
These are beautiful, probably my favorite cars all season
Well y'all were nice enough to give Chandler, Daniele and myself a home to stay in after we were left homeless. Least we can do is fill it up with some goodies lol.
We always welcome guys who CREATE, makes us all better.....and makes the site a good place to be or visit for your nr2k3 needs.
A bit blurry, but a sneak peek on what I'm working on today....
(I swore i wouldn't do this car)
(I swore i wouldn't do this car)
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