LieutenantHawk Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 @LieutenantHawk Here's an example of maps for one of my weapons: Diffuse Texture Normal Map Specular Map As you can see, the specular map is black and white with non-reflective parts darkened (the wooden handle). Some create it from the Bump Map (the easiest way), some do it in the Normal map's alpha channel (the best way) but I do it from the diffuse (lazy way :tongue:) and I still get a decent result. That's a little more helpful. Can you explain in a little more detail exactly how this is done? I don't want to screw something up on accident. You can send me a private message if you prefer that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghogiel Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 The specularity map is the alpha channel of the normal map. Can be done that way, but I prefer a separate map. It's not a matter of what your prefer. This is the skyrim modding forums, so presumably... yeah you don't have much of a choice. The spec maps are stored in the normal maps alpha channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LieutenantHawk Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 (edited) Okay, I understand that they're a part of the alpha channel. I just don't know how to alter it! I don't know how to view the alpha channel. EDIT: I just downloaded Gimp and its .dds and normal map plugins. I'll mess around with it a bit and see if I can figure this out. Edited January 5, 2012 by LieutenantHawk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LieutenantHawk Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 *BUMP* I've messed with the alpha channels in Gimp but when I save it as a .DDS, it doesn't include my changes. Any help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnie Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I don't use gimp, I am a long time Photoshop owner. Creating an alpha channel in Photoshop is a 2 click operation. click on the channels tab in the navigator, click on the "create new channel" button next to the trashcan, there ya go. Alpha channel. Just make sure that you export it in the correct compression (DXT3 or DXT5) with alpha from the DDS plugin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LieutenantHawk Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 I don't use gimp, I am a long time Photoshop owner. Creating an alpha channel in Photoshop is a 2 click operation. click on the channels tab in the navigator, click on the "create new channel" button next to the trashcan, there ya go. Alpha channel. Just make sure that you export it in the correct compression (DXT3 or DXT5) with alpha from the DDS plugin. There is no Channels tab in my Photoshop for some reason... >.> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnie Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I don't use gimp, I am a long time Photoshop owner. Creating an alpha channel in Photoshop is a 2 click operation. click on the channels tab in the navigator, click on the "create new channel" button next to the trashcan, there ya go. Alpha channel. Just make sure that you export it in the correct compression (DXT3 or DXT5) with alpha from the DDS plugin. There is no Channels tab in my Photoshop for some reason... >.> Hit F7 if your layers window is not open. If it is open, the Channels tab is right next to the Layers tab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LieutenantHawk Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 I don't use gimp, I am a long time Photoshop owner. Creating an alpha channel in Photoshop is a 2 click operation. click on the channels tab in the navigator, click on the "create new channel" button next to the trashcan, there ya go. Alpha channel. Just make sure that you export it in the correct compression (DXT3 or DXT5) with alpha from the DDS plugin. There is no Channels tab in my Photoshop for some reason... >.> Hit F7 if your layers window is not open. If it is open, the Channels tab is right next to the Layers tab. I don't have any tabs. All that's in the window is "Layers." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnie Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I don't use gimp, I am a long time Photoshop owner. Creating an alpha channel in Photoshop is a 2 click operation. click on the channels tab in the navigator, click on the "create new channel" button next to the trashcan, there ya go. Alpha channel. Just make sure that you export it in the correct compression (DXT3 or DXT5) with alpha from the DDS plugin. There is no Channels tab in my Photoshop for some reason... >.> Hit F7 if your layers window is not open. If it is open, the Channels tab is right next to the Layers tab. I don't have any tabs. All that's in the window is "Layers."Ok, lets back up a bit.. what version of Photoshop do you have installed? You can also go to the "Window" pulldown menu and select "Channels", which should open up the channels tab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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