13 réponses à ce sujet

[belevezero]

Having an issue on my custom weapons, specificly due to the specular map (I think).
Compared to all the other items in game, my custom stuff is super Hi-Gloss. Everything else is semi-gloss/matte finish. Screen shots dont do this issue much justice, since the image doesnt move and you cant get the full effect of the light refection, but they are truley Hi Gloss, like they are wet.

If anyone has had this problem or similar, and knows what it could be... any form of help appreciated!
Thanks




By belevezero at 2010-02-16


By belevezero at 2010-02-16

Modifié par belevezero, 17 février 2010 - 12:18 .

[DarthParametric]

Bit hard to see what you are describing in the screenshots. Perhaps you should post your spec maps.



Nice Atlantean sword btw, although it looks like it could benefit from a more aggressive normal map.

[belevezero]

Thanks for the feedback Darth. I'm still a noob at modeling and mapping so any crit is welcome and appreciated. My specular map is 256x256 dxt3.


By belevezero at 2010-02-16

[belevezero]

I deepened the normal map, it definitely looked flat before, thanks. But it actually looks even more glossy now since there is more highlights

[DarthParametric]

The blade portions of the spec map look pretty bright. Try dulling the whole map down by about 50% or so. Have a look at the vanilla weapon spec maps - they are all pretty dark.



Very nice improvement of your normal map by the way. Much better. You really have to overdo it to get a good result in the DA engine. Make it about twice the depth you actually think you need.

[Adonnay]

First guess: Reduce the falloff parameters and multiplyers in the .mao file. Take a look at the .mao file from the juggernaut armor (very shiny) and compare it to the one of the warden longsword (less shiny).



Second guess: Make sure your spec map's alpha channel is not bright white. Even though I expect DarthParametric to disagree the alpha channel does make a difference. If you check the stock weapons the alpha channel for reflective surfaces (i.e. juggernaut armor) is pretty bright while it is rather dull on less shiny surfaces (grip on swords).

[DarthParametric]

Adonnay wrote...

I expect DarthParametric to disagree

Not sure why you'd expect that.

I haven't had much to do with spec maps but my understanding is that generally the RGB controls the spec colour and the alpha controls the "shininess". Presumably DA follows this but I haven't tested it. On the occasions I've played with spec maps in the past I've just stuck to editing the colour channels but experimenting with the alpha is worth a go.

Modifié par DarthParametric, 18 février 2010 - 01:21 .

[belevezero]

Thanks for the input guys, and I'm glad you bring up the specular maps alpha channel. For some reason, my nVidia / Photoshop exporter of DDS files wont allow me to export with an alpha channel - I get this error "Too many alpha channels (5)". Therefore when I create a DDS with dxt3 and up, it created its own alpha channel in pure white (rgb). So I'm guessing my problem lies somewhere in the exporting process. I had a feeling it was alpha channel related. I scoped out the developer spec maps, and they have detailed alpha channels that look like darker versions of one of the other rgb channels. I've tried duplicating and editing the red channel for example, saving it as an alpha, but Photoshop (cs4) or the nVidia plug wont allow me to export ANY alphas, at all.

As for the falloff parameters, do you mean this line ?? (<Float Name="mml_fSpecularReflectionMult" value="0.50"></Float>). Otherwise I don't know what that is.

And thanks for your complements on the normal map Darth, but it was a fluke. I forgot to down-sample the map from 2048 down to 512 lol, so yea, it should look pretty damn good. But at 512 not as sharp, but still better than the first screen for sure. I went with 1024x1024 in the end.

Modifié par belevezero, 19 février 2010 - 06:06 .

[Talynsin]

If Nvidia’s plug-in is causing you problems I’d suggest
trying the DDS converter to simply skirt the issue until a solution can be
found.

http://cs.elderscrol...S_Converter_2.1

Save as TGA then convert using the tool.  

PS, the weapons look cool. 

Modifié par Talynsin, 19 février 2010 - 08:40 .

[belevezero]

Thanks Talynsin, I'll try using this too, but I figured it out... or Photoshop was just being buggy at the time. But once I was able to save my DDS files with alpha channels, it made the difference. ( the bug seemed to accur when formating from PSD to DDS, going from TIFF to DDS worked for me !?)

I also found that the matte finish effect came through once the the Normal Map had an alpha channel with definition, not just all white. Now my item looks like it belongs in the game : )   The specular map's muted alpha channel did effect the luminosity however, bringing it down a bit.

The alpha channels in the spec and normal maps do bring out some more imperfections in the design though, but I guess thats a good thing, so I can fix.  Thanks for the help all, cheers!

[DarthParametric]

belevezero wrote...

I also found that the matte finish effect came through once the the Normal Map had an alpha channel with definition, not just all white.

That would be because DA normal maps aren't the same as standard ones - http://social.biowar...mats#Normal_Map

[belevezero]

Thanks again Darth!



Do you by any chance know how to convert a tangent space map to RGBA?

[DarthParametric]

Yeah it's easy. Copy and paste the R channel into the A channel, then copy the G channel into R and B.

[belevezero]

Yep, that was easy. I'm assuming that's the only way to do it? I've tried just about every export option in the 3DS Render to Texture window and the nVidia DDS exporter in PS, and was never able to get a grey normal map like DA's maps were. I never thought much of it since the tangent maps worked for the most part. Anyhow, thanks dude.

Modifié par belevezero, 21 février 2010 - 05:25 .