Custom fly tying materials

[paul]

I'm really impressed with how quickly a number of you have worked out some very creative ways to assemble sophisticated flies. For those tech-savy folks who want to get further into the nitty gritty, I'd like to offer another way to expand the possibilities.

Take a look in the "tying" folder. You'll find two files for every component. One is a bitmap image and the other is a Fly Tying Component (ftc) file. There's one called "master.ftc" that explains how to set up fly tying components. You can edit ftc files with Notepad. The parameter in the file tell the game how to position the material on the hook, whether to stretch or crop it when you change the size, where it belongs in the menu of components, etc. You can look at any of the ftc and bmp files to see how they've been set up.

It's pretty easy to add any component you like if you're comfortable with image editing. You just need white for the background and (if applicable) black for area that should be removed by adding the new component. That would include the area above a nymph shellcase, or above and below each wrap of a rib.

Some things you might want to try:

Make a copy of one componet (both the bmp and ftc file), rename the copy (including the name in the ftc file) and then alter the image. You could create feather wings in many colors so you don't need to adjust colors in the game and you can have more than one color version of that material in a single fly.

Photograph your own components. For best results shoot them in front of a background similar in color to the fly box lid in the game. That's the background color in the "preview.bmp" file the game creates for every fly you tie and save.

Share your creations! You can send your new components to others and they just have to drop them into the tying folder. Just as we can share flies and build a huge collection, we can all expand the assortment of materials.

Sorry about any typos... posting from my cell phone and my thumbs are giving out.

Tight threads!

Paul

[Pitti]

Thank you for the tips I'll try it later today.

Regards Pitti

[Pitti]

Hello

I've tried to add two materials (Guinea Fowl and Jungle Cock for Salmon Flies) and it works fine. Unfortunately I can't create clean outlines. I tried several things, but get allways the black outlines.
Any tips?

If anybody want try the materials, here is the download:
http://members.aol.com/Pethein/materialaddons.zip

Regards Pitti

[paul]

The tricky thing about images of feathers is that the outlines tend to be soft. If the background behind the feather in the photo is very different from the background color where the image will be used, you'll usually end up with a tinting of the original background around the edges. If you do the photography yourself try to use a background of that pinkish gray from the fly tying screen background (also the color of the back of the fly box where you see the flies in the game.) I print out a sheet of paper of that color and tape it to the wall behind the vice when I'm photographing materials.

Another thing that helps is to do most of the image editing while the image is high-resolution. I mask the background of a material in the original 3 megapixel photo and fill that with the pinkish gray background color, then crop and reduce it to the size I need for the game. After that I remove all the area that's exactly the pinkish-gray color and replace it with white. That way any trace of background color that remains is a fairly neutral color and one that blends in well at the time you see the fly up close in the game.

One more tip: Whatever image editor you use, when you mask the background area before you fill it with background color or replace it with white, use a setting in the editor that will give you a binary mask. That is, don't use anti-aliasing or mask feathering. You want every pixel to either be completely part of the background or completely part of the subject. Otherwise you'll get a halo around the material.

Cheers!

Paul

[Pitti]

Thank you Paul

Regrds Pitti

[shanksi]

Have tried to download the materials but can't find it when I open the game. As per instructions put in to fly tying folder but do not have anything under wings/feathers special. Anyone help? Thanks.

shanksi

[jcroc36]

hi shanksi

I downloaded the feather files to desktop, then moved the rar file to a new folder, then unzipped it to that folder,, then i copied the files to c/program files/pishtech/rwff/tying .


When i went into the game and added a wing i clicked on i think it was feather (special) and they were both there.

Give that a go and good luck

[jcroc36]

By the way thanks Patti for the feathers i will use them with luck i hope

[shanksi]

Have tried again to download the materials can see them in the tying folder in Pishtec file but when I open the game they are not there. Have been able to download the flies in zipped files without any problems.

shanksi

[jcroc36]

hi again
if you place a new folder onto yur desktop. and then pace the zip file in that folder and unzip it.
you will then see another folder open that folder and you will see 5 files. copy all of the files in that folder to your tying folder in the game files.

if you have any problems please fell free to pm me

[Pitti]

Hello

I've updatet the addon. I've put gold pheasant crest (often used for salmon flies) and a new curved salmon hook Patridge cs10 into the zip. Also a testfly which use that hook.

Using this hook is a little bit tricky, because the curve make some problems if the thread and body is added. Please look at the HowToUse.txt and the testfly:



After download unzip the file.
Then copy the bmp and ftc files into: c:\program files\PishTech\Real World Fly Fishing\tying.
Then copy all the complet flies folders (c000..) into c:\program files\PishTech\Real World Fly Fishing\flies.

If you open the flytying part of the game, you will find the new Patridge hook at "Add Hook/Wet Fly" and the new materials under "Add Wing/Feathers (special).

The flies can be found in the flybox under "Misc Wet Flies"


http://www.alice-dsl.net/pethein/materialaddon.zip

Regards Pitti

[shanksi]

Thanks for posting these Pitti. Had a bit of bother downloading them but gotit to work. Thanks also to jcroc36 for his help.

shanksi

[Cutch]

Pitti,
Where were you a couple days ago when I tied the "Cutch Rainbow Trout" streamer? He, he,....I had to fabricate a JungleCock feather by using a black feather then pasting a white and yellow dot on them.
I think I'll retie the fly with your feather,..it will look better.
Beautiful flies you've tied,.....keep the materials, hooks, etc, coming, it makes the tying more fun. A wider variety flies can be tied now with these materials you've posted for us.
Thanks again

[jcroc36]

Hi Guys

i have a couple of pictures up of my flies now if you want the files there is a link to email me for the files as i cannot store the wole files on the site.

the web page is

http://www.hometown.aol.com/jcroc36/index.html

hope this works for you all if not just copy and paste the link. it works for me when i copied it

GOOD LUCK

[William Feltham]

hi there can anybody help me with pittar"s downloads please try to make easy for me to follow thank you.