Logo Creation Tutorial

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This tutorial is intended to assist you in creating logo updates for NBA Live. This guide applies primarily to NBA Live 2005, NBA Live 06, NBA Live 07 and NBA Live 08.

You will need...

  • EA Graphics Editor (EAGE)
  • FshX
  • DOLFFIN
  • Adobe Photoshop and/or GIMP

The Basics

  1. Using EAGE, open logos.viv (located in the fe folder). Schedule logos can be found in schedule.viv (also located in the fe folder) while transition screen logos can be found in the xtrans.viv file (located in the sgsm folder, under common).

  2. Extract the .big file you wish to edit (highlight the .big file and select Extract from the File menu or use the Extract button on the Toolbar). The name of the .big file indicates what kind of logo it is and where it's used (eg large, medium, pause, score etc); see below for more information.

  3. Open the .big file that you've extracted using DOLFFIN.

  4. Extract the .fsh file by clicking on it then selecting Export Blob from the File menu or by using the Export button on the Toolbar. This is the logo art file that you will be editing.

  5. Open the .fsh file using FshX. Export the texture as a .dds file (Direct Draw Surface) by selecting the Export... option from the Texture menu.

  6. Open the .dds file in GIMP or Photoshop. You'll need a plug-in to be able to do that, which you should be able to find through Google.

  7. Replace the logo art with a new logo that you've sourced or created. Note that the replacement logo must have a transparent background, so cut out your logo or use the Magic Wand tool in Photoshop as necessary. You must then resize the new logo so that it matches the dimensions and positioning of the old logo; in other words, it must be roughly the same size as the old logo (if you were to draw a box around it) and placed in the same spot on the canvas (either completely cover up the old logo if you can or clear the canvas and position the new logo in the same position). When you're done, save the .dds file.

  8. Now, you reverse the export process. Open the .fsh file using FshX.

  9. Import the updated .dds file into the .fsh file using the Import... function in the Texture menu and then save it. It's important that you save the file in FshX or the change will not be retained.

  10. Open the .big file using DOLFFIN and import the .fsh file. Make sure you've highlighted the .fsh file within the .big when you click Import Blob in the menu or the Import button on the Toolbar.

  11. Place the updated .big file in your sgsm folder. The game will now load it instead of the .big file contained in logos.viv.

  12. Start the game and check out how your logo looks in-game. If it looks right, then you're done. If it's not positioned correctly, too big or whatever, then you'll need to go back to step seven and make some alterations, import it again and re-check.

Logo Filenames

Here is a rundown of the different filenames and the in-game logos they contain. Please note that XX represents the two letter team abbreviation.

NBA Live 2005

  • logos~allstar~XX_l.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen in All-Star Weekend (team on left)
  • logos~allstar~XX_r.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen in All-Star Weekend (team on right)
  • logos~large~XX_l.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen (team on left)
  • logos~large~XX_r.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen (team on right)
  • logos~medium~XX.big: Medium sized team logo which appears in various places in-game and in the frontend
  • logos~misc~as_3pt.big: Three Point Shootout logo
  • logos~misc~as_logo.big: All-Star Weekend logo
  • logos~misc~as_rooki.big: Rookie Challenge logo
  • logos~misc~as_slamd.big: Slam Dunk Contest logo
  • logos~overlays~XX.big: Team logo that appears on overlays in-game
  • logos~port_lrg~XX.big: Team logo that appears behind player portraits
  • logos~wordmark~XX.big: Team script logo that appears above the team logo on the Team Select screen

NBA Live 06

  • logos~allstar~XX_l.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen in All-Star Weekend (team on left)
  • logos~allstar~XX_r.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen in All-Star Weekend (team on right)
  • logos~large~XX_l.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen
  • logos~large~XX_jsel.big: Logo seen on the Jersey Select screen
  • logos~medium~XX.big: Medium sized team logo which appears in various places in-game and in the frontend
  • logos~misc~as_3pt.big: Three Point Shootout logo
  • logos~misc~as_logo.big: All-Star Weekend logo
  • logos~misc~as_rooki.big: Rookie Challenge logo
  • logos~misc~as_slamd.big: Slam Dunk Contest logo
  • logos~misc~court.big: All-Star Weekend court logo
  • logos~overlays~XX.big: Team logo that appears on overlays in-game
  • logos~pause~XX.big: Team logo that appears on the pause screen
  • logos~PDA~XX.big: Team logo that appears on the PDA in Dynasty Mode
  • logos~port_lrg~XX.big: Team logo that appears behind player portraits
  • logos~wordmark~XX.big: Team script logo that appears above the team logo on the Team Select screen

NBA Live 07

  • logos~allstar~XX_l.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen in All-Star Weekend (team on left)
  • logos~allstar~XX_r.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen in All-Star Weekend (team on right)
  • logos~large~XX_l.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen
  • logos~large~XX_jsel.big: Logo seen on the Jersey Select screen
  • logos~medium~XX.big: Medium sized team logo which appears in various places in-game and in the frontend
  • logos~misc~as_3pt.big: Three Point Shootout logo
  • logos~misc~as_logo.big: All-Star Weekend logo
  • logos~misc~as_rooki.big: Rookie Challenge logo
  • logos~misc~as_slamd.big: Slam Dunk Contest logo
  • logos~misc~court.big: All-Star Weekend court logo
  • logos~overlays~XX.big: Team logo that appears on overlays in-game
  • logos~pause~XX.big: Team logo that appears on the pause screen
  • logos~PDA~XX.big: Team logo that appears on the PDA in Dynasty Mode
  • logos~port_lrg~XX.big: Team logo that appears behind player portraits
  • logos~port_lrg~XX_p.big: Team logo that appears behind player portraits (identical to logos~port_lrg~XX.big)
  • logos~roadtrip~XX.big: Team logo that appears on the Road Trip screen in Dynasty Mode
  • logos~score~XX_s.big: Team logo that appears on the in-game scoreboard
  • logos~wordmark~XX.big: Team script logo that appears above the team logo on the Team Select screen

NBA Live 08

  • logos~allstar~XX_l.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen in All-Star Weekend (team on left)
  • logos~allstar~XX_r.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen in All-Star Weekend (team on right)
  • logos~large~XX_l.big: Logo seen on the Team Select screen
  • logos~large~XX_jsel.big: Logo seen on the Jersey Select screen
  • logos~medium~XX.big: Medium sized team logo which appears in various places in-game and in the frontend
  • logos~misc~as_3pt.big: Three Point Shootout logo
  • logos~misc~as_logo.big: All-Star Weekend logo
  • logos~misc~as_rooki.big: Rookie Challenge logo
  • logos~misc~as_slamd.big: Slam Dunk Contest logo
  • logos~misc~court.big: All-Star Weekend court logo
  • logos~overlays~XX.big: Team logo that appears on overlays in-game
  • logos~pause~XX.big: Team logo that appears on the pause screen
  • logos~PDA~XX.big: Team logo that appears on the PDA in Dynasty Mode
  • logos~port_lrg~XX.big: Team logo that appears behind player portraits
  • logos~port_lrg~XX_p.big: Team logo that appears behind player portraits (identical to logos~port_lrg~XX.big)
  • logos~roadtrip~XX.big: Team logo that appears on the Road Trip screen in Dynasty Mode
  • logos~score~XX_s.big: Team logo that appears on the in-game scoreboard
  • logos~teamlogos~XX.big: Medium sized team logo with a large blurred version of the logo behind it
  • logos~wordmark~XX.big: Team script logo that appears above the team logo on the Team Select screen

Schedule Logos

The team logos displayed on the season schedule in Dynasty Mode are stored in schedule.viv (located in the fe folder), using filenames of schedule~sched_XX.big (where XX is the two letter team abbreviation). They can be edited using the same steps as outlined above.

Transition Screen Logos

Transition Screen logo files are stored in the xtrans.viv file (located in the sgsm folder, under common). NBA Live 2005 uses team-specific screen transitions, with filenames of XXXX_trans.fsh (where XXXX is the four letter team abbreviation). Because they are stored in .fsh format, you do not need to use DOLFFIN when extracting the logos and once the .fsh has been updated, it can simply be placed in the sgsm folder where the game will load it instead of the one contained in the .viv file.

NBA Live 08's team-specific transitions are also in .fsh format and can be placed in the sgsm folder. They have filenames of XXXX.fsh (with XXXX once again being the team's four letter abbreviation).

A note about positioning

For the most part, resizing and positioning the new logos on the canvas is fairly straightforward. When editing the portrait logos for NBA Live 2005 and 2006, use the old logo as a guide as incorrect positioning will result in parts of the new logo peeking out from behind the border the game places around the portrait logos.

Likewise, make sure that the scoreboard logos in NBA Live 07 and NBA Live 08 are positioned correctly, otherwise they will overlap and cover up the score.

Links