Why is this shiny?

[Messerkampf]

Hello!

 

I am attempting to retexture Grimoa's Scarves (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/17401) for my own use and I'm running across a confusing bug/glitch/texture?

 

I'm experiencing very shiny textures of the fur capes, and I'm not sure what is causing it. Perhaps I am doing something wrong? I am very new to modding ...

 

For reference: this is the female fur cape pulling its textures from the new-fur-textures from aMidianBorn (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/27810). This is how Grimoa's scarves behave normally for certain colors, but there are other colors she added. I am trying to make the added colors now look like the aMidianBorn textures!

 

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108177206383309/3E71421EAF4268FD3CE0046BFBD0519AC80CD206/

 

But, when I load up my recolors ...

 

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108177206381494/363909D1231C65CEAA7645F5B0E02E9BA45CB7C2/

 

It's all shiny! I checked some other scarves I have not retextured yet and it appears that aside from the scarves that pull their textures from the "game's defaults", they are ALL shiny!

 

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108177206384674/FC82AE58712ACBEBA87FD2F1A021B77267434A86/

 

Even the male versions of the mod:

 

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108177206385837/1DFD2C41F5D346F69F4AE0CD3458D083AD7B57D2/

 

The one above is one I recolored, and this is one I haven't touched yet:

 

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108177206390921/7C093FDA7CC6199813FC2A50AC0B8CE982C75806/

 

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108177206389802/F220B2359C790980F9DED8E2C4DB6BC0A8E8D39D/

 

it's really noticeable from the back, because it makes the scarves look like they're made of rubber or something :/

 

 

Any help you can give me/advice would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you very much!

[Grimoa]

Which normal map are you useing?

Open the nif in nifskope and in the Block List find NiNode -> NiTriShape -> BSLightingShaderProperty -> BSShaderTextureSet

Then in the Block Details the second entry (_n.dds) that's the normal map.

Most items use the default one, so it should use aMidianBorn's if you have that installed.

For the some of the "Fur Capes f" I created a new one, namely those with the finer fur. It should then point to the normal map in my texture folder. (You can change that of course...)

 

From your pictures the cape looks shiney and flat as if the normal map was missing? If it's set correctly in the nif check if everything's in the right place in the data folder.

 

If you try to create your own normal map, make sure to put a specular map in the alpha channel. Specular defines the gloss of the item. Darker parts of the texture are less shiney. So in Gimp you would use colors -> components -> decompose to get the normal map decomposed into layers representing the red, green and blue channel. Add another layer with a black and white version of the texture. You will probably have to decrease the brightness of that one too. Then compose the layers with the new one being the alpha channel. The new normal map will be really, really transparent.

 

Hope any of that helps. I never know what's the right amount of detail when explaining stuff. ;)

[Messerkampf]

Most items use the default one, so it should use aMidianBorn's if you have that installed.

For the some of the "Fur Capes f" I created a new one, namely those with the finer fur. It should then point to the normal map in my texture folder. (You can change that of course...)

 

From your pictures the cape looks shiney and flat as if the normal map was missing? If it's set correctly in the nif check if everything's in the right place in the data folder.

 

Oh, hm.

 

I looked in my textures folder and the only "_n.dds" normal map file I see is for the gugels ... I will redownload and see if that fixes the problem!

 

Thank you so much for your reply~~ :D Your information is so helpful!

 

[eta:] Okay, I checked in nifskope, and I looked in "gri_banditf_f_0", "gri_banditf_f_1" and "gri_banditf_go" and it looks like they all reference Beth's normal map ... ? (Keep in mind I'm SUPER new to modding, so I could be looking at it completely wrong *G*)

 

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/10151360/55713/55713_original.png

 

Is that where I'm supposed to be looking for the normal map assignment?

Edited December 6, 2012 by Messerkampf

[Grimoa]

Yep, that's the right spot to look. I forgot the other colors are added in ck. Sorry I confused you with that. :blush:

 

And I can't find the normal map for Fur Cape f white, black, red and choco in my WIP folder. Maybe I forgot to upload it...!? Put this in you data folder and see what the fur capes look like then.

All other fur capes use vanilla normal maps. If they are to shiney there is still another problem.

 

I'll rewrite this entire post and hopefully get the info straight this time:

 

The meshes follow a Skyrim naming convention:

itemname_gender_weight.nif

So _f_0 is the item displayed on a slim female, _f_1 is the same Item for a heavy female. Itermediate weights are interpolated by the game.

_go (sometimes _gnd) is the item you see in the menu and when you drop it to the ground.

 

Each mesh needs a texture and a normal map. This can be assigned in the nif. Additionally the esp-file can overwrite these with other textures and normal maps. I do that for all color variants.

 

A normal map adds fake 3d detail to the mesh by telling the game how light has to bounce off the surface. Additionally the alpha channel stores the specular map, which tells the game how shiney / glossy which parts of the item are.

 

Textures are what applies the color to the item.

 

 

 

Now, to do your retexture you would open aMidianBorns fur armor texture in Gimp (or photoshop) and fiddle with the colors until you like it, then save as dds and overwrite one of my textures with it.

The changed cape will still use aMidianBorns normal map, so the cape should have the same amount of shine as the fur armor and as not-recolored capes.

 

The only reason to change the normal map would be if your new texture is so much different that the fake 3d detail does not fit anymore. That's why I'm using a custom normal map for the capes with the finer fur texture. (The one I forgot to pack :/ )

 

If you want to do custom normal maps there's a Gimp plugin that generates a normal map from the texture. Only the generated normal map has no alpha channel which will esult in extremly shiney items. Add one like I explained previously.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Grimoa

[Messerkampf]

Put this in you data folder and see what the fur capes look like then.

 

Thank you! They look perfect now and I was able to finish my recolors! I'll edit this with pictures so you can see :)

 

[eta:] And here they are!

 

red - http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108287330851072/0BEC6EE6377723C0AD6624374093E5AE83F2E3E4/

 

light brown - http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/902108287330856843/5ED869E552D76FC70C9A81EFF9A85AB71A776DFF/

 

dark brown - http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108287330861893/9B2CBEFF99F0F953CEA288302F8DB47BB0AAB203/

 

chocolate - http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108287330867768/359583F1CE5C3868B08A9815022F6E0DF0D0F338/

 

black - http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/902108287330871950/9DD143C25EE6E506ACA044E7CE721CB025E6177F/

 

white - http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902108287330877292/E23693D632F6DC68C4B3C27E552DE011145B43F2/

 

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/902108287330844117/FE616BC7B3184A8BAE7029CCDD01C006DAFB6245/

 

I'm not SUPER keen on the red one myself, but my bf loves it so I guess I will keep it as is. The others I'm proud of :) Though the white is definitely my favorite!! (lol that's why there are 2 pics of it xD)

 

 

I really appreciate you helping me - all your explanations were SO helpful! I've actually screenshotted what you said so I can refer back to it if I never need to make my own normal map :)

 

At the moment I've "replaced" your textures with the ones I did ... because I'm still not 100% sure how to save something as its own new thing. I'll probably watch a tute on that later tonight, since I want to add more gugel colors while still keeping the ones you did! I'm also trying to decide if I want to replace the short-scarves with patterned ones or do a mix of solid and patterned ... My boyfriend really wants a scarf that looks like the Dunmer banners in Windhelm, so that's probably where I'll start. :D

 

Thank you again, I'm having so much fun!!

Edited December 8, 2012 by Messerkampf

[Grimoa]

Awesome! :thumbsup:

So good to hear you are having fun modding.