Getting rid of the shine

[Arriere]

I have ridiculous difficulties in getting rid of the shine on modded objects.

 

Using GIMP:

1. Make normal map.

2. Make grey scale of image.

3. Darken to near black.

4. In the normal map

- Layer->Add Mask

- Set to translucent (or something like that , it basically puts the mask in the alpha channel).

- Anchor layer

- Apply Mask

 

When I am done the translucence is high enough such that the normal map almost disappears. This should alter the vector such that it is interpreted as near matte, but no luck.

 

Any ideas?

[tonicmole]

I have been trying to learn the ins and outs of Normals, and what worked for me was instead of using black, use white. Black seems to produce a lot of shine where as white is matt. Maybe I'm wrong. I also have not noticed transparency on the alpha channel of making any difference, though I know thats wrong.

[born2bkilled]

i gave up on gimp and moved over to photoshop, using the dds plugins.

 

using photoshop ive got a routine nailed. i know this doesnt help you with gimp, and im sure it is possible in gimp, i just couldnt get to grips with it.

 

grab yourself a copy of photoshop and never look back!

 

this is how i have been doing it...

 

save as a dds.

 

apply normal map filter

 

save as normal map

 

open BOTH the main and the normal map texture in photoshop

 

lower the exposure of the main texture till it is almost completely darkened out.

 

merge layers

 

select all

 

copy

 

move over to the normal map texture you opened and select the CHANNELS tab next to LAYERS

 

you should see RED, BLUE, GREEN, ALPHA

 

select thew ALPHA image and paste the almost black image in here.

 

save over the normal map texture

 

close the main texture WITHOUT SAVING, done this too many times and ruined the whole texture!

 

 

for me this gets me the results i want, adjusting the exposure rate to different levels with add more or less shine to the final normal map.

 

 

you might be able to use some of this in GIMP but i dont think it works the same way :unsure:

[Arriere]

Thanks for the responses but still no-go. Using GIMP I noticed that the alpha channel is all black by default after creating a normal map. I tried deleting it and then recreating it. Didn't work.

 

What is frustrating me is that I don't even feel as though I understand the rules. Does alpha channel on the normal map control shine? Is black matte? If those statements are true then why the results?

[born2bkilled]

as far as i know, alpha channels control which parts of the texture are visible, so editing the alpha channel in the normal map channels should delete any shine where you make it darker, black completely deletes the shine.

 

this is the theory i operate on but i cant guarantee that it is correct, i'm no artist!

[Arriere]

There is something - probably simple - that I am not doing or not getting. I might not be using GIMP properly either. Editing the alpha channel is a pain in the rear.

[ResolveThatChord]

It sounds like you're saving it as a DXT1 .dds, instead of a DXT5 .dds.

 

Here's how it works.

The _n.dds texture holds two properties:

The normal map, a colour image which stores geometry detail,

And the specular map, which is a greyscale image that controls the "shininess".

 

The normal map is stored in the usual three colour channels, and the specular map is stored in an additional 4th "alpha" channel- often otherwise used as a trasparency channel.

 

This means that you can add the specular map by copying it into the alpha channel, or as I prefer, copying into a transparency mask.

 

Once you've done that, you MUST save it as a DXT5 .dds file- only DXT5 has enough channels. If you save it as anything else, it will not have the specular map, and your object will be too shiny all over.

 

Good luck, and I hope this helps.

 

(it's also worth noting that you shouldn't save it as DXT5_NM; this type isn't used by ES games.)

Edited April 25, 2012 by ResolveThatChord

[Arriere]

ResolveThatChord: good information. I did not know that. I'm also sure that you are onto something. Among other experiments this evening I tried opening the original, working normal map and saving it without editing it. Doing so produced the same shine as my edited maps. I am saving as DTX5.

 

So it is something about the way that I am saving from GIMP, but what?

 

Thanks as always to all respondents.

[Arriere]

The more that I deal with this nonsense the more that I am convinced that there is something wacked about the hair models. I have done other 3d models and skins and shine isn't anywhere near as much of an issue on anything else as it is on hair. In addition, the color of the hair in game really doesn't match the color in the texture. Again, not at all what I see on other objects types like weapons and clothes.

[Zaflis]

I just recently came to realize that there is a lot about shine in the NIF file, model of the clothing. Shader properties, specular properties etc can make a big difference.