PRISM — an aircraft and livery viewer for IL-2

[actionhank]

8 hours ago, Haluter said:

PRISM already has an inspection mode where you can click anywhere on the 3D model and it will highlight the exact spot on the flat DDS file.

I coincidentally just stumbled on that yesterday. That's an incredible addition! I wish every model viewer did that, because it makes life so much easier. There was some weird little spot on top of the F-80 that I figured was part of the skin but couldn't find it. Finally, I just did what I always do to start finding a part, which is cover the whole template with 4 stripes of color and then slowly narrow it down until I find the part. Since it never changed color, I realized it was a part from another texture file.

Sure enough, clicking on it with the tool you've got instantly showed it. This would have saved me so much time in DCS skinning.

1 hour ago, Haluter said:

Blender is optional, and its only use is for rendering the absolute highest quality final image that PRISM can deliver. Blender uses your GPU to render the scene using path tracing, which is an improved version of ray tracing. This produces realistic colours, glass, reflections, and true shadows. I exported the same scene through a quick PNG export and through Blender as comparison (ps, looking forward to that coffee! 😋)

The issue with the C-47 liveries has already been resolved in the current dev version.

I was wondering if there was an advantage to installing Blender for it. Would I just simply need to have Blender installed on my machine and then make sure it's linked to this program?

[Haluter]

1 hour ago, actionhank said:

I was wondering if there was an advantage to installing Blender for it. Would I just simply need to have Blender installed on my machine and then make sure it's linked to this program?

I addressed this same question here: 

 

[JollyJack]

4 hours ago, Haluter said:

You have the latest public release, the dev version is up to v0.1.174

Well, there still seems a problem with the C47a in 0.1.74. (you mention 0.1.174) Maybe because i use + in the naming at the beginning of the DDS files.?  A lot of downloaded skins in the game folder just load only a basic default US army version.

It works on Haluter's BTW:  https://www.mediafire.com/file/27b2bt16sfkgt1w/%2B_C47A_DELTA_NC28340.zip/file

IL2 viewer:

Edited September 25 by JollyJack

[Haluter]

36 minutes ago, JollyJack said:

Well, there still seems a problem with the C47a in 0.1.74. (you mention 0.1.174) Maybe because i use + in the naming at the beginning of the DDS files.?  A lot of downloaded skins in the game folder just load only a basic default US army version.

It works on Haluter's BTW:  https://www.mediafire.com/file/27b2bt16sfkgt1w/%2B_C47A_DELTA_NC28340.zip/file

It works in the current dev version which has not yet been released

[Haluter]

PRISM v0.2.38 — a skin viewer, painter and render studio for IL-2
 

 

Edited October 1 by Haluter

[gabuzomeu]

AMAZED! How far will you go ?

Many thanks and congratulations

 

[SundownerVF111]

Again, Haluter it is near perfection!

A few quick things: One, how do you get rid of the polygon once it's made? Two, how do you use it properly? Three, this is a wish.  Could you paint on the 3D model and transfer it to the UV skin? Fourth, your decal method saved me from pulling my hair out on one of my skins in PS, when a marking crossed a separation and got distorted. Now it sits properly on the Saber, and I can clean it up nicely in PS later!.

[SARFlytitus]

@Haluter GREAT WORK M8 !!! I'm speechless...😲

[Haluter]

1 hour ago, SARFlytitus said:

@Haluter GREAT WORK M8 !!! I'm speechless...😲

Thank you! I'm not done yet, there's lots more to come 😊

[Haluter]

On 10/2/2026 at 6:48 PM, SundownerVF111 said:

Again, Haluter it is near perfection!

A few quick things: One, how do you get rid of the polygon once it's made? Two, how do you use it properly? Three, this is a wish.  Could you paint on the 3D model and transfer it to the UV skin? Fourth, your decal method saved me from pulling my hair out on one of my skins in PS, when a marking crossed a separation and got distorted. Now it sits properly on the Saber, and I can clean it up nicely in PS later!.

Thanks so much for trying the decals, and for the kind words. Answers in order:

1. Getting rid of the outline. That thin dashed line (with the small green mark) is just the selection frame and handles PRISM draws while a decal is selected. It's never baked into the skin, the DDS, Quick PNG or Blender renders. To hide it, click the aircraft somewhere there's no decal, or switch to another tab. Clicking the empty background or pressing Esc won't do it; Esc only cancels a placement you've started. If it ever stays after you've deselected, or turns up in a saved DDS, please send me a screenshot, because that would be a bug.

2. Using it. On the Decals tab:

• Add: choose an Image, Text, Artwork, a Set or a Marking, then click the aircraft where you want it. It lands flat on the surface under the pointer.
• Move, resize, rotate: drag the centre to move it, the corner handle to resize, and the round handle to rotate.
• Exact values: open Placement for sizes in metres. Lock placement stops it moving by accident.
• Both sides: Link opposite side puts the same marking on the other side, reading the right way round rather than mirrored.
• Warnings: if one appears, the decal wraps too far round a curve. Make it smaller, or place it again from a view that faces that surface.
• Saving:
  • Save project keeps everything editable.
  • Save skin DDS… bakes it into the skin for the game.
  • Update source writes it straight back into the DDS you loaded.

The user guide's Decals chapter covers it all in more detail.

3. Painting on the 3D model. Great wish. It isn't possible yet: the Painter paints on the flat sheet, with the 3D view updating as you go, and clicking the 3D view only finds that spot on the sheet. PRISM already knows how to turn a point on the model into the right place on the skin, because that's how decals land where you click. So brushing straight onto the aircraft is a realistic next step, and I'll look into it.

4. The Sabre. Really glad it helped. Getting markings to sit properly across panel breaks is exactly why decals are placed on the 3D surface: the marking is baked onto each piece of the skin it crosses, so it stays straight where it would distort in Photoshop. Cleaning it up in PS afterwards is a perfect way to use it.

 

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[jocko417]

Would it be possible to add other units of measurement like inches? Would save me from having to convert in Google each time I want to resize a decal.

This is really becoming a powerful program! Congrats!

Edited October 6 by jocko417

[Hanu]

I haven't check this for couple of weeks, but damn how cool and powerful this has become! Finding those pesky rivets and hinges in T-34 is not an astronomical job any more! 

As the project supports layers, would it be possible to export just a layer as png (or anything) you have painted, or the layer where the decal is? That way it would be way better to import those fixes to the original template you have.

[Haluter]

3 hours ago, jocko417 said:

Would it be possible to add other units of measurement like inches? Would save me from having to convert in Google each time I want to resize a decal.

This is really becoming a powerful program! Congrats!

Thanks, glad you're enjoying it! Letting the boxes take inches (typing something like 36in) is a good idea, I'll add it to my to do list.

34 minutes ago, Hanu said:

I haven't check this for couple of weeks, but damn how cool and powerful this has become! Finding those pesky rivets and hinges in T-34 is not an astronomical job any more! 

As the project supports layers, would it be possible to export just a layer as png (or anything) you have painted, or the layer where the decal is? That way it would be way better to import those fixes to the original template you have.

Thanks, and great to hear it's making the T-34 work easier 😊
I added the exporting of a single Painter layer, or your decals on their own, to my to do list 🙂

[jocko417]

Thanks, I asked because US aircraft markings are all referred to by inch heights/diameters, as were Canadian and British markings, at least up to the 1970s or so. I have another request if it’s possible:

Decal files are great, especially for placement issues were there are gaps and distortion on the model (ie; F-86 speed brakes area), but since they are placed on top of the existing artwork dds, you end up with a shiny new marking on top of a dirty airplane (I know you’ve included scuff and chip effects). Would it be possible, once we have our decals placed to our liking, to export the decals layer as a png image or something so we can drop it back into our psd template? That way we can place them under the weathering/rivets/lines layers so the decals look like part of the livery itself, instead of just being pasted on top. I’m not a programmer so I don’t know if this is possible.

Thanks again!

EDIT: I just realized Hanu asked (much more efficiently) for the same thing 🙈 !!!

Edited October 6 by jocko417

[Haluter]

Coming soon to Prism: Outdoors for Blender renders

Your skins can now leave the studio. Pick Outdoors and PRISM sets your aircraft or tank on real ground, about 150 m across, under a photographed sky:

• Four environments: Grass airfield, Woodland edge, Winter, Dirt Strip, Steppe, and Snowy forest. Each has two or three lighting moods, from morning sun to overcast.
• Detailed ground: individual blades of grass, wildflowers and stones grow around the wheels and tracks. They are full-detail Poly Haven models, not flat cards, and the ground fades into the photograph towards the horizon.
• Real light: the photograph lights the vehicle with its own sun and sky, so reflections and shadows match the scene. Turn the sun around the vehicle and set the brightness to taste.
• Up to 8K photographs for sharp reflections in bare metal and glossy finishes.
• Free and on demand: every asset is CC0 from Poly Haven. PRISM downloads an environment only the first time you choose it, and checks every file.

Choose the environment, set your angle and render. You get a hero shot straight out of Cycles with no Blender knowledge needed.

[jocko417]

Thanks again for the decals tool. I'll probably keep all of my hair when dealing with the mapping of this model 😉 

Original dds with stencil placed on intake.

 

Stencil placed as decal file. Mapping issues overcome automatically 🙂

[Haluter]

Glad to hear you're enjoying the decals tool, it was quite the challenge to implement 😅

[jocko417]

Finishing touches:

[jocko417]

Purely for aesthetics, would it be possible to include more animations like speed brakes open, leading edge slats extended, etc? Also for the hero shots, ammo door lowered and pilot standing on ground, left side of cockpit 😄

[Haluter]

1 hour ago, jocko417 said:

Purely for aesthetics, would it be possible to include more animations like speed brakes open, leading edge slats extended, etc? Also for the hero shots, ammo door lowered and pilot standing on ground, left side of cockpit 😄

Leading-edge slats extended: Easy
Speed brakes open: Easy to moderate
Ammo or gun-bay doors lowered: Not possible from the game's models. It would need panels modelled by hand per aircraft.
Pilot standing on the ground beside the cockpit: Very hard to impossible.

[jocko417]

1 hour ago, Haluter said:

Leading-edge slats extended: Easy
Speed brakes open: Easy to moderate
Ammo or gun-bay doors lowered: Not possible from the game's models. It would need panels modelled by hand per aircraft.
Pilot standing on the ground beside the cockpit: Very hard to impossible.

Great! As for the hero shots, we can always take screens from within the game if we want the pilot outside or getting in/out.
Back to it then. Once you get the basics set up, it becomes much faster - Canadair Sabre Mk.2 19102, No. 410 (Cougar) Squadron.

The Mk.2 was essentially equivalent to the F-86E, which we don't have in the game yet. Imagine the all-flying tail instead of elevators only. 😉

Note the leaping cougar tail art! This is the earliest example of the 410 markings, with the code letters repeated on the wings, a very short lived practice. This would be from 1951, just after the squadron converted from deHavilland Vampires and before the squadron was shipped (literally) overseas to North Luffenham, England. 

Edited October 7 by jocko417

[SundownerVF111]

On 10/6/2026 at 9:02 AM, jocko417 said:

Thanks, I asked because US aircraft markings are all referred to by inch heights/diameters, as were Canadian and British markings, at least up to the 1970s or so. I have another request if it’s possible:

Decal files are great, especially for placement issues were there are gaps and distortion on the model (ie; F-86 speed brakes area), but since they are placed on top of the existing artwork dds, you end up with a shiny new marking on top of a dirty airplane (I know you’ve included scuff and chip effects). Would it be possible, once we have our decals placed to our liking, to export the decals layer as a png image or something so we can drop it back into our psd template? That way we can place them under the weathering/rivets/lines layers so the decals look like part of the livery itself, instead of just being pasted on top. I’m not a programmer so I don’t know if this is possible.

Thanks again!

EDIT: I just realized Hanu asked (much more efficiently) for the same thing 🙈 !!!

Hey Jacko,

What I do is place the decal, and set the finish as painted. (This places it as clean as possible.) Then I save the dds. Baking in the decal. Then importing it into Photoshop.. (What I use.) then select the decal with the magic wand or poly lasso as close as I can get it. Then paste it into the working template as paste special which drops it exactly as it own layer in the position it was in on the DDS. Then it can be moved down the layers under the dirt and grime.

[Haluter]

The dev version is able to export all the layers in Prism as a .PSD 
No release date yet, yet wanted to make you aware that it will soon be a lot easier to export decals etc to Photoshop.

[jocko417]

Sundowner: good idea, I’ll try that. 
 

Haluter: Fantastic news!

[jocko417]

Ok, here's another question, specific to the F-86 model. We can choose which gun sight we want installed in the airplane, and the choice affects the model's appearance. The earliest gun sight (K-18) gives you the external model with the early all-composite intake. The later gun sight (A-1CM) choice results in the more familiar aluminum intake with the small radome at the 12 o'clock position. Right now the model always reverts to the all-composite intake. Would it be possible to have the intake choice be selectable in the loadout menu? 

Also, I can't seem to select the 120 gal drop tanks, I get the error "Game asset missing: Graphics/planes/f86a5/f86a5-tank-120gll.txt"

416 (Lynx) Squadron, RCAF Station Grostenquin, France, circa early 1950s.

 

Subject aircraft has later nose.

Edited October 12 by jocko417