Making Textures For NTBI Vehicles

These are instructions on how to make textures for NTBI vehicles by using local textures.

All Second Life viewers should support local textures (including the LL "default" viewer). Local textures allow you to apply a texture to an object without actually uploading it and paying L$10, but only you will be able to view it. Additionally, local textures update instantly, so you can view your changes almost immediately after saving to the file.

Themes require a template. Templates for most NTBI vehicles are available here. You can also find the template on page 1 of Web Config (if the vehicle supports it) under the Custom tab for themes. Otherwise, templates are available in the manual.

Side door decals do not require a template on mesh vehicles. On sculpted vehicles, templates are usually found in the manual notecard, but this guide does not address setting up sculpted vehicle decals.

1. Download the PSD (if you use GIMP and an XCF file is available, download that instead) and save it to your computer. Note that Photoshop Elements does not support PSDs with layers; you must use a full version of Photoshop.
2. Visit an NTBI Distribution Terminal in-world (one is available at the Astaro store in Prototype) and get a copy of the free Texture Grabber tool.
3. Open up Photoshop, start designing your theme, and save as a JPG when you are ready to preview it. Make sure you save as the maximum quality. Do NOT save as PNG.
4. Rez the Texture Grabber and select a colored face using the Select Face tool. Click the texture on the Texture tab. Go to "Local" in the texture picker, create a new local texture, select the JPG file you just created, and apply it.
5. Then, touch that face. You will be given the UUID of your local texture in chat. Use this UUID in a custom theme field for the vehicle you're working on.
6. Now, when you save to that file (overwrite) with changes, they will appear on the vehicle almost immediately without any upload costs. This lets you preview it in realtime. You only need to use the Texture Grabber once.
7. When you are finished, make sure you upload the JPG file and apply them to the vehicle normally! If you do not upload the JPG as a normal texture, nobody else will able to be see your theme.
8. Save the file as a PSD or XCF so you can edit it later, if you want.