Note before i start: this is only for PC; Also backup all your files that i mention editing just to be safe.
Also, if this tutorial looks long and intimidating, it’s not. I just like to be descriptive . The only difficult part is physically designing the livery.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen my thread for the Horizon Livery [link], but i’ve decided to make a tutorial. All downloads i mention will be at the bottom of this post.
Begin by opening up Ryder PSSG Editor
Open Me
By clicking File > Open, navigate to this directory
[i]C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\dirt 3\cars\models[/i]
There will be a list of a bunch of 3 character folders, these are all of the cars. For this tutorial i’ll show you how to make custom skin for the STI Hatchback. It’s mostly a guess and check kind of deal when trying to find a car.
Open the folder gym then navigate to \livery_00 extures_high\gym_tex_high_00.pssg (any of the livery_## folders will work BTW)
You should now see this
Open Me
(a list of images)
On the bottom of the form, click “Export All Textures”, it should display a message box saying it was successful
Photoshop
After installing the NVIDIA .DDS plugin [link below] open this these two files. (in photoshop, and seperately)
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\dirt 3\cars\models\gym\livery_00 extures_high\gym_tex_high_00_pssg_textures\gym_main.tga.dds
and
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\dirt 3\cars\models\gym\livery_00 extures_high\gym_tex_high_00_pssg_textures\gym_specocc.tga.dds
You should see this image before opening each, just click “ok”
You’re going to want edit both files.
And
The next part is critical for speeding up the process, and essentially having a preview while making it.
With the second image (gray one) change the size to 2048 x 2048 (to match the first images size)
Now, click on the “Channels” tab above where the layers are displayed. (there should only be one layer).
Set only the Alpha channel
now, it should have a 3d/shadow look. Using the rectangular marquee tool select the whole canvas and press CTRL + C to copy.
Now go back to file one (with color and actually looks like a livery) and press CTRL + V to paste the layer.
Set the blending mode of the gray layer to Multiply
It should look like this.
While keeping the gray layer above everything else, you can now design your own livery.
You are going to want to edit the gray file as well an remove the logo’s etc.
Here’s what i came up with for the that.
RGB Channel
Alpha Channel
The color file with my Horizon Design (yes, it looks horrendous without the multiply layer above)
Once you have designed your livery, you will save in the .DDS format again. i suggest making another backup folder for these.
Make sure you remove the shadow layer from the color image and flatten it (Layer > Flatten Image). Also flatten the shadow image.
Settings for the color file
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Shadow file
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Final Step
Hopefully you still had Ryder’s PSSG editor still open.
By clicking import on the bottom of the form, locate where you saved the two images above.
after importing the two .dds files (in my case since we’re doing the subaru it’s gym_main.tga.dds and gym_specocc.tga.dds) click any of the files in the list
that refreshes the list. You should see your newly designed livery after clicking back on the file in the list
Main File (color)
Open Me
Specocc (gray)
Open Me
LASTLY, to save these changes click File > Save (make sue you have a backup!) and overwrite the .pssg file (in our casegym_tex_high_00.pssg)
Load up Dirt 3 and your livery should be on the car & original livery you edited
Downloads
Ryders PSSD Editor - http://petar.outer-heaven.net/downloads/ccount/click.php?id=1
NVIDIA .DDS Photoshop Plugin - [32 Bit][64 Bit]