Adding FaceGen property to character turns skin too bright

[munnibhai]

Hello

 

I am having this issue with character models where the skin appears too bright and white when I turn on FaceGen property in NifTools.

 

Now I understand that facegen is required for black skin tone and it works when we convert ESP to ESM. Until here, I have it under control but this issue is different.

 

I am modifying vanilla armors to adapt to my new T6P mod

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/66839

and there is no ESP or ESM involved with it.

 

It works by simply putting the modded nif files in their proper places to replace with models in FNV's Mesh ESM.

 

 

1. I have searched google for this issue but there is no solution.
2. I have also tried to put Emissive Mult. to 0 (In materials) - doesnt work (depicted in picture)

Does anyone has any clue about how to resolve this issue?

 

I will be greatful.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

[dubiousintent]

Please search on "specular" (found in the 'TIP Model Lighting' and 'TIP Improving Texture Normal Maps' entries) of the wiki "Getting started creating mods using GECK" article.

-Dubious-

[munnibhai]

Please search on "specular" (found in the 'TIP Model Lighting' and 'TIP Improving Texture Normal Maps' entries) of the wiki "Getting started creating mods using GECK" article.

 

-Dubious-

 

Thanks for your reply.

I read through the mentioned sections.

There is one block where it says,

 

 

 

If you want your texture to look even better, make a specular map and put that in the Alpha channel of the normal map. (You can use the (link) for this purpose by exporting the specular map in ".bmp" format from your paint program, opening the ".dds" normal map in DXTBmp, importing the specular map into the Alpha channel, and saving.) Just be aware that depending on the settings on the mesh itself (which I would not change for a "face", unless it's a "custom race" mod), you may need to darken your specular map extremely for it to avoid "radiating like the sun itself".

 

I used Photoshop DDS plugin's DXT5 settings which actively turns the whole N-map to grey and the skin does gets fixed in game. Now there is not radiance. I still have to check African skin tone.

 

I will let you know in a bit

 

thanks

[munnibhai]

OK, saving normals file in DXT5-interpolated alpha does seem to resolve the shining sking issue but now it has just too much glare on it.

 

I have checked and cross-checked with almost every resource out there on the internet but nothing resolves the issue.

 

I think Bathesda based its engine on very unorganized framework. I can find a single post about FaceGen issues and troubleshooting.

 

[dubiousintent]

I'm not a modeller, so I can't really help with that. I did find a mod ("Bryns SPF42 Vitality for your face and skin") for Skyrim which says in the comments that the author used the (free) tool "xNormal" to fix the shiny skin problem via the "specular map". Unfortunately the mod author hasn't been active on Nexus since July 2018.

 

I did find the following threads on the search for "normal map 'shiny skin'" related to other Bethesda games:

* Shiny skin (Dragon Age)

* Glossy/Shiny skin? (Skyrim)

* Directions for DDS Files/Adding Gloss (for Skin) via Photoshop (DDS files in general)

* Texturing Characters (GIMP) (Oblivion)

 

Changing the search term "normal" to "specular" did not produce any different results.

 

Do let me know if you solve this, as it would be a useful addition to the wiki "Getting started creating mods using GECK" article.

 

-Dubious-

[munnibhai]

Thanks for a very informative update.

From your resources, I have triend everything but all in vain.

I even shifted from HDR to Bloom but did not see any changes.

 

The vanilla NIF and my mesh have identical settings.

The textures, their normal maps are identical settings.

 

Only the character body is shining like a B*. The face, hands are all good because they werent modded

 

So i guess this is the end of my search. I am ashamed that I could not add any of my experiences to the wiki, so this shoves the last nail in my search coffin.

 

I am going to do all settings without FaceGen and ask users to live with it.

 

Thanks