Screen Glare from Light Sources

[MesserSandman]

I am a huge fan of mods that provide an enriching cinematic experience; mods like Dynavision and Anime Sunglare are great for this, but I am looking for something a little more. My computer doesn't have the horsepower to run ENB, so anything that can provide a cinematic approach to the presentation of the game is pure gold for me.

 

So, I would like to propose something that hasn't really been approached outside of the ENB market, and that is screen glare from light sources. Anything that could be considered a light source would give them off: Lamps, Running Lights, Street Lights, Wall Fixtures, and Flood Lamps are all just examples of what would provide glare as you passed by them.

 

 

Examples of what I'm talking about can be seen in recent games like Battlefield 3, 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and Mass Effect 3.

 

This link goes to a Mission Briefing video for Black Ops 2. In the first 25 seconds, as the main character's head moves, you can see the glare effect coming off of the fluorescent lighting in the upper left hand corner, and that is sort of what I am looking for.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s2FVCnHcRE

 

I suppose a question that I have is do regular light sources even have an editable texture? I know the sun does, as there are a few glare mods for it, but do other light sources?

Edited June 5, 2013 by MesserSandman

[devinpatterson]

I suppose a question that I have is do regular light sources even have an editable texture? I know the sun does, as there are a few glare mods for it, but do other light sources?

 

It depends on the type of light your refeering to. I just extracted one of the jacobstown light beams (FXLightBeamBrt04.NIF) and it had a texture (FXSoftGlowBeamMulti.dds). But the light from a lamp near by (NVTopsWarmKey2) does not. It has some basic properties (color, fade, falloff Exponent, radius) & optional effects (flicker etc), but no model and thus no texture.

[MesserSandman]

I am referring to the texture itself, not the lighting effect, as editing its appearance to something that I'm looking for would be impossible without an ENB preset in effect.

[devinpatterson]

I am referring to the texture itself, not the lighting effect, as editing its appearance to something that I'm looking for would be impossible without an ENB preset in effect.

 

OK I think you may be confused here.

 

I'v listed two types of light sources (the beam & the light source for a lamp) so you can see which types do and do not have a texture. A lamp has a model (has a texture), but if it glows it has a light source placed upon it in geck (no texture). Thus my response to your query; "I suppose a question that I have is do regular light sources even have an editable texture?".

 

I know your not asking if a lamp, for example, has a texture because that one is pretty dang obvious.....so did you want to try and rephrase your question?

[MesserSandman]

Let's see...


I don't think I am so much confused, as just not phrasing things in the right way.

 

I just extracted one of the jacobstown light beams (FXLightBeamBrt04.NIF) and it had a texture (FXSoftGlowBeamMulti.dds).

 

If you can extract a specific light beam texture from a model of a light source, then that is exactly what I mean. I'm not talking about the texture of the model itself, as that is obvious; nor am I talking about the lighting effect itself, as we have already concluded that no textures exist there. What I am trying to get at is the textures of the light beams or rays (much like the one you extracted from Jacobstown). Since those beams of light are what would be giving off the glare in the first place, that is what I'm talking about.

 

Can one edit the texture of a light beam so that it can give off a glare effect?

[devinpatterson]

Let's see...

 

I don't think I am so much confused, as just not phrasing things in the right way.

 

OK there is a fundamental misunderstanding you need to get a handle on.....in regard to the way lighting functions in the geck. On a lamp, street light etc the lighting effect is the light. *****

 

I'll try to walk you through it.

 

 

If you can extract a specific light beam texture from a model of a light source,

 

First there is no model of a light source, we covered that in my first post. There is a light form that is placed over the model of a lamp, streetlight etc. A light beam is a different entity completely. It is placed in geck, not generated by the light form. & if you extract it, it is a very basic texture 128x4.

 

 

What I am trying to get at is the textures of the light beams or rays (much like the one you extracted from Jacobstown). Since those beams of light are what would be giving off the glare in the first place, that is what I'm talking about.

 

No those aren't what are giving off the glare from a light source. Light beams and glares from a light source are two different things. You don't have a light source and have 1000's of light beam nifs pointing off in every direction available in 3D space.

 

 

Can one edit the texture of a light beam so that it can give off a glare effect?

 

You can edit the texture of a light beam all you want, but it's not going to give off a glare effect.

 

 

[MesserSandman]

I will go through this as...carefully as possible:

 

Firstly, my definition of "Light Source" isn't what "Light Source" means in to you and in the GECK. To me, "Light Source" means...light source, you know, where light comes from. So a lamp or a pip boy light would be a light source to me. Not the lighting effect that has no texture. We covered that, and I already said we had covered it, so no point in telling me we covered it, you know? However, I will attempt to use the terminology correctly from this point forward in order to avoid any more confusion.

 

Secondly, I know that there aren't "1000's of light beam nifs pointing off in every direction available in 3D space." That would be quite silly, and frankly, I'm not that stupid. I know that is how it looked the way I said it, but that isn't what I meant, and you probably knew that. When I say "model of a light source", I don't mean the lighting effect. Again, I'm talking about the model of the physical object that is giving out light, like a lamp for instance.

 

Lastly, I may have ignorantly interchanged the terms "Glare" with "Flare". You can't really do a glare because that has everything to do with the ahem...Light Source. You can however create a lens flare effect and overlay it with the base texture of a light beam texture in a dds editor like GIMP or Photoshop. You essentially replace the default beam texture with the edited one. It can be done with the Sun beam textures, and it can be done with light beam textures as well. That just makes sense. I know that the beam textures and the "Light Source" are two separate things, I was just using the term "Light Source" wrong, so it seemed like I didn't.

 

 

So to recap: Light Source is the lighting effect placed on an object in 3D space, not the object giving off the light, like it is in you know...real life. The beam textures are simple 128x4 dds files, but are editable, and so therefore, are able to have a flare effect layered onto them in order to give off the effect I'm looking for. That much I know can be done.

[devinpatterson]

Firstly, my definition of "Light Source" isn't what "Light Source" means in to you and in the GECK. To me, "Light Source" means...light source, you know, where light comes from. So a lamp or a pip boy light would be a light source to me. Not the lighting effect that has no texture.

 

No, once again a lamp isn't a light source. A light form is dropped over a lamp, in the geck to make it emit light. The light form has no texture as I pointed out in my first and 2nd post.

 

 

We covered that, and I already said we had covered it, so no point in telling me we covered it, you know? However, I will attempt to use the terminology correctly from this point forward in order to avoid any more confusion.

 

The point in covering it again is that you don't understand it. This is what I was referring in re: to confusion on your part. Quick recap; I can explain it to you, I *can't* make you understand it.

 

So to recap: Light Source is the lighting effect placed on an object in 3D space, not the object giving off the light, like it is in you know...real life. The beam textures are simple 128x4 dds files, but are editable, and so therefore, are able to have a flare effect layered onto them in order to give off the effect I'm looking for. That much I know can be done.

 

A light form is placed on a object, like a lamp. The beams (like for instance in the Jacobstown lodge) are completely separate objects/entities. They can be placed near a light form to give an effect or the light form (and this is the case with most) may not have any light beams at all. The fact that you believe, because the beams have textures that are editable, you can create glare or flare effects from light sources, means you do not understand that these are separate forms. You can edit every texture for every beam in teh game, but that's not going to give you a glare effect from light sources.

 

 

Secondly, I know that there aren't "1000's of light beam nifs pointing off in every direction available in 3D space." That would be quite silly, and frankly, I'm not that stupid. I know that is how it looked the way I said it, but that isn't what I meant, and you probably knew that.

 

Right, somehow I went with what you typed instead of what you were thinking....go figure.

 

 

When I say "model of a light source", I don't mean the lighting effect. Again, I'm talking about the model of the physical object that is giving out light, like a lamp for instance.

 

Considering the light form *is* the light, and is irrelevant to the model of the lamp, street light etc, the concept that "the physical object that is giving out light, like a lamp for instance" seems to be a mental stumbling block that you still haven't grasped. I think that's why your not putting together this information.

[MesserSandman]

You know what? Never mind. Forget it.

 

We both tried, but apparently this isn't going to work the way I'm going about this.

[devinpatterson]

Yeah that method won't get you anywhere.

 

You can try something with the beams, understanding that the only glare you will get will be exclusively with them. But the beams meshes are parallel to your POV if your looking directly into their end. You'd have to add a mesh perpendicular, and then something to create the glare, a simple texture edit woudlnt' do it. Maybe some change in emmitance or some other factor.

 

So a lot of work, that wouldn't affect the majority of what you consider "light sources". Probably not a profitable road to travel down.