Help making that Latex shine effect

[dread74]

Ok... doing all what you have said... I am getting a good result - black, smooth with some shine to it.

I think the corrected way of saving my files removed the pixelation I was getting :)

... getting there ...

 

BUT... its not the shine I am after. Its more like a shimmer than an all over wetlook latex look which is what I am after.

If you look at this mod:

http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/5878/

.. you will see what I am after.

 

I'm guessing at this stage I have done all I can do with the texture files, and I have tried everything combination of colour, contrast, alpha chans on/off up to and including block colours and no detail. (blk for _d nothing/lilac for _n and yellow/orange for _s) and nothing improves on the shine finish beyond the shimmer.

It lacks the long mirror like reflections all over and in more smaller specular reflections where you look whilst the remainder of the outfit seems flat.

I have looked at the above mod and my texture file/colours are the same as far as I can see.

 

P.S. What 'exactly' is the _n file for ? I get the _d is general texture, the _s is the reflection/shine/metalness etc... - haven't quite worked out what the _n does :/

[dread74]

Ok - got it working :D

 

Comparing material files I noticed some differences.

I applied the following changes:

Gen Tab:

Alpha Test ref = 127

Alpha Test = On

Two Sided = Off

Enviro Mapping = On

Material Tab:

Enviro Map Texture = Shared/Cubemaps/MetalShineTopCube01.dds

 

That combined WITH (have checked without to be sure) the changes already made as suggested by you has provided the look I am after :D

I now have a latex catsuit with no gloves or feet :) Cool...

 

Now thirsty for knowledge, can anyone shed any light on which of the material file changes made the difference/what they did ?

I know that the Enviro Map Texture had something to do with the finnish as before I changed that the outfit was mirror silver.

Dont really know what the other changes did/do :)

 

Ultimately I want to work on a sexy overhaul for fallout 4 with all/most of the female outfits replaced with sexy-er alternatives. I'd like to incorporate mods like easy girl etc.. into it making default outfits use items from mod etc... and of course lots of latex stuff here there and everywhere ! :D

My ideal post apoc future ! lol

[montky]

well, that sounds like a case of all's well that ends well hehe

 

 

 

you can also use your new-found mod-fu powers for good too,

all kinds of holographic effects and textures can be achieved that way,

and you'll likely find it challenging to make things like

-translucent opaque attire that changes color depending on viewing angle,

-lenticular clothing (aka future marty mc-fly cap)

-oil-like clothing (another modder wanted a "Reman/Shinzon style" attire). it's a little like the spray-on clothing concept hehe.

-UV black-light attire/self-luminescent attire ala tilarta

-different diffraction patterns from under and over garments (Madonna once wore clothes like that, which made different patterns when she danced on stage- the outer garment was transparent, the undergarments diffracted differently).

 

to say nothing of reflective surfaces etc,

it'll be awesome to see what else you come up with.

 

 

[dread74]

So is there a handy guide anywhere which details what settings in the materials file give which effect ?

(as per spoiler above)

[Perraine]

Most likely the use of the Environment Map was the change that made the most difference.

...

 

None that I'm aware of. There are various forum posts (like this one) where you'll find small bits of information on certain aspects, but, it's mostly a case of "trial and error".

 

Thankfully Nifskope is WYSIWYG capable, so you can see changes to the outfit in real time as you make adjustments, with some caveats =

 

You may need to reload the .nif / update Tangent Space on the mesh to see certain changes made in the .bgsm file.

The lighting and shaders used in Nifskope are NOT the same same as those used in game, so it might look perfect in Nifskope, but not in game. (trial and error again)

 

Transparency effects and "oil" or "pearl shimmer" effects are usually done by way of an EffectShaderProperty with an associated .bgEm file, rather than a LightingShaderProperty and .bgSm file. But that is a whole other rabbit whole. (my advice is take the Blue Pill)

 

True relfections. are impossible due to the sheer amount of processing power required to render them. Games us "Environment Maps" to make "fake" reflections by overlaying certain textures and/or colours on top of the mesh. This is what all the files in the " \textures\shared\cubemaps" are for, so you can make subtle (or dramatic) changes to the look of an item by changing the cubemap to something else.

[dread74]

thanks again.

certainly a steep learning curve :)

[dread74]

http://imgur.com/a/6NywI

 

I think it's looking pretty good thus far!

..Well given my tastes :D

[montky]

well done, dreadSevenFour re post #17 of this thread;

that looks very proper 'batman suit'/ 'catwoman suit' in terms of diffraction and that surface texture!

i mean, wow. it looks like you've even mimicked the outer surface coatings too.

 

 

 

I look forward to seeing what other kinds of texture you might do,

particularly for things such as "Damascus Steel" "Rhodium-Vanadium swirls"

"VanadiumV plating" "vanadium-chromium-osmium plating" "parkerizing" etc...

 

and, yes, such processes can be mimicked by

latex, neoprenes, spandex etc. "Metalized fibres" are how they achieve it,

I was wondering how they managed to coat that with Ultra-Ever-dry.

wouldn't the Ever-dry have acted like Cyano-acetate and just melted and clumped the latex or neoprene?

nope.

 

remember also, Season 1 of TNG, they wore Spandex coverall uniforms.

Mr Data's uniform was to have been fauxMink and Latex, hence why some 'early borg'

have mink interior panels, and a different kind of latex.

 

and of course, the X Men's outfits are a neoprene-ish 'wonder fibre' which affords some bullet-proof protection...

for, the non-exposed parts of their uniform I suppose hehe.

 

wonder woman's new 52 costume is spray-on 'latex'. Batman alludes humorously in a panel while fighting with Wonder Woman,

who uses capoeira fighting style, that she "missed a few spots".

 

 

[dread74]

thx montky

 

have done my best to make it look dirty as well - as much as I want my raider chicks running around in various latex outfits, its got to be realistic! :)

 

Thus far I have 4 outfits for the raiders: a few different catsuit cuts, leotard and bikini and with the game generated armour and dirty-ness of them they look really good. I've converted them all to bodyslide to and given them a stereotypical post apoc raider look, slim, muscular shoulders n legs etc.. and fake looking (not too big) boobs.

 

On top of that I've now made simular but appropriate conversions for the gunners, bos and synths. :)

 

As a side note, it appears that some of the textures and/or material files are shared between male and female outfits resulting in half the male raiders running around in dirty latex outfits too.... but... it fits with the look I was after so I'm not overly bothered by that.

I know I could fix it if I really wanted...

 

I think once you get the idea of how it all hangs together, what settings matter most and which files point to which etc.. its 'reletively' easy to make simple changes.

 

For anyone else struggling with or new to this:

Best way (from my limited experiance) to replace in game textures/meshes is as follows:

1. Save and then kill in game character to make sure you know name of clothing

2. Open FO4Edit and find outfit/armour and which mesh it points to.

3. Using bae open Fallout4 - Meshes.ba2 file and find mesh file in Clothing or Armor

4. Open Mesh file in Nifskope and see which material file/s are pointed to.

5. Repeat step 3 for Material file/s

6. Open Material file/s in Material Editor and see which dds files are pointed to

7. Repeat step 3 for texture files

8. Everyone's happy ! :)

 

Just remember if you are making a replacer mod that the file names all have to remain the same. Keeping to that changing a mesh is a simple as renaming and replacing the mesh file you have extracted in step 3. You then need to open with nifskope and change the material file it points at etc...

[Craw25]

Hey there. Recently i was making an AK rifle. But it was too glossy. I wanted a matte finish. After trying to change the normals dds file so many times without any luck. I changed the spec dds. I had used the emboss option in paint.net to get the sense of depth to the detailing. It was a very light grey. Silver almost. When i darkened the silver-ish spec dds. Low and behold my AK changed to matte. i now do this when i either want something matte, or glossy.

 

I'm a 'lil late to the party, but just putting it out there. I hope you fixed your problem by now.