Track making tips & tricks in photoshop

[wilson213]

Hey guys. I thought it'd be a good idea to have people post some of the processes they use to make tracks. Also post tricks that save time. I'd love to hear peoples take as well as I plan to show how I've been doing it and I'd like to share what I've found. I'm sure there's some great info that I think should be documented for future aspiring track creators.
Show me what you got

[Jakob Hubbard]

I know checkerz streams sometimes when he's building tracks in photoshop.

I don't know if you would want to go through two hours of footage to find techniques he does. but I don't have any idea on building tracks in photoshop. So my best recommendation would be watching previous videos or just watch him when he streams.

https://www.twitch.tv/checkerz448

[AtlasZoor]

So this has nothing to do with Photoshop but its one thing I feel is important. One Thing I do and that alot of people DONT do it, Is decal sizes and what type of decals they use. I create many different sizes of the same decal. For example, many people use one size of grass, dirt, rut decals etc. but by creating different sizes on these types of decals it allows you to be way more detailed in certain areas. Also to go along with this, is how many different types of decals you have. If you open up my Mt Whitney track folder I have a like 4 different types of dirt to use from. I feel its very important to not have a repetition on anything really, it makes it feel way more real. so to sum this up. Decal choice is probably the most overlooked thing on a track.

I understand its definitely hard in sim to create a "realistic" looking track But I feel putting just a little bit more effort in how a track looks for sure goes along way. And maybe I get a little to carried away with that but hey

[wilson213]

So this has nothing to do with Photoshop but its one thing I feel is important. One Thing I do and that alot of people DONT do it, Is decal sizes and what type of decals they use. I create many different sizes of the same decal. For example, many people use one size of grass, dirt, rut decals etc. but by creating different sizes on these types of decals it allows you to be way more detailed in certain areas. Also to go along with this, is how many different types of decals you have. If you open up my Mt Whitney track folder I have a like 4 different types of dirt to use from. I feel its very important to not have a repetition on anything really, it makes it feel way more real. so to sum this up. Decal choice is probably the most overlooked thing on a track.

I understand its definitely hard in sim to create a "realistic" looking track But I feel putting just a little bit more effort in how a track looks for sure goes along way. And maybe I get a little to carried away with that but hey

Thats a good idea for sure Ill try that when I go to decal a track next. On a seprate note Ive been wondering if custom mipmaps on decals would help them with being viewed at distance. Theres like a bubble around the rider where decals are clear then blurred right next to it. Anyone know why?
Good call on the stream

A comment on how you've arranged your sections:

You have a lot of rhythm sections. In essence, there is one long continuous rhythm section that starts near the black rectangle in this picture (assume thats stands of some sort), and continues to the far right side of the track. Just before the whoops, there are 2 short sections, about 4 jumps each, which are borderline rhythm or one line.

This is followed by whoops straight, whoops to double, and setup section to triple.

A more interesting way to arrange your sections is to have broken them up so you have whoops, rhythm, whoops to double, rhythm, triple, rhythm. This would give you track more "harmony", a feeling of variety and balance. It's the contrast of fast to slow, options to no options that gives your track interest. It also makes for better racing.

Also, screwups in the rhythms are going to make for a miserable lap. Mixing your options allows people to recover from mistakes and make decisions about where to take risks to makeup time.

I believe this quote was from goardy back in the day but Its something that I like to do as well.

Ive been using the track path to blur the sides of the jumps and its been working well for me. I'm using the layer mask option with the layer mask unlinked. That way you can size the jumps easier and not worry about getting the width the same every time. This makes the track path very important as you're gonna use it on almost every layer or folder. When you need to move or rotate the jump just hold shift and click the layer mask to hide it and get a better idea of placement. I can add pics but its a pretty simple process..Sometimes you just need to get into it and do it.

This is the first mx track I have worked on. Im learning to make a full track since Ive always been more into modeling and the enviroment design or whatever. Ive always done sx tracks and mx was always too tough to figure out lol. I know its not too crazy looking right now but this will be my first national at all so just trying to get the process down and learn new stuff along the way from others.