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The Specular Lighting Thread: For Skin Artists


-Rudel-

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Here is an example of what I am seeing.

 

The stock .dds file looks like this.

 

 

DMgocvd.jpg

 

 

And the Specular file looks like this

 

 

NoXpDZ3.jpg

 

 

0p0a0DP.jpg

 

 

aWKECui.jpg

 

 

This is what I am seeing.

 

 

y9gGd89.jpg

 

 

Any suggestions how to correct this? Thanks.

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Yes sir,

 

So I am working on two different skins but am getting the same results for both.

 

One of my skins is the "Bare Metal". I am working with the "DIF" .dds files only to get the aluminum look that I like and have not touched any of the "Spec" files.

 

The issue is that anything that has color is now black. (Prop, rims, antennas etc)

 

I am doing the standard of taking the .dds files from the liveries folder and placing the files into DXTBMP and saving it as a BMP file, placing that file into Photoshop to edit, then saving that file as a bmp and placing it back into DXTBMP to save it as a DDS file.

 

The contents of the "Bare metal" folder is this.

 

C5uNuU9.jpg

 

 

And the description.lua looks like this.

 

V1HHpmL.jpg

 

 

My goal is to leave the aluminum look as I have it in the above picture but I want to have the skin layers that I add on top of it to show in their proper colors.


Edited by Mike Busutil
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Ok, description.lua is perfect. I think your problem is the DXTBMP (a tool I don't know)... Maybe the DDS settings are somehow wrong.

 

Unfortunately I don't have Photoshop here at my office but when using the freeware paint.net (http://www.getpaint.net/index.html) which includes DDS file plugin I use the following settings for non-transparency files

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Is there a graph or list somewhere that shows the color results to color changes in the specular layer? It seems it's just a guess otherwise....

 

A green layer seems to result in black textures, a pink layer seems to result in a metal texture.

 

What color does the specular layer need to be to get white textures? Or red, blue, yellow etc?

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Is there a graph or list somewhere that shows the color results to color changes in the specular layer? It seems it's just a guess otherwise....

 

A green layer seems to result in black textures, a pink layer seems to result in a metal texture.

 

What color does the specular layer need to be to get white textures? Or red, blue, yellow etc?

 

 

Currently:

Red = Sun/Glare Strength

Green = Inverse of Red

Blue = Reflection Strength

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  • 4 months later...

how will it works now in Normandy ?

will have to update all my specular so...,

 

can't wait to experiment the new reflectiv and PBR and anderstand how to tweak it.

 

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how will it works now in Normandy ?

will have to update all my specular so...,

 

can't wait to experiment the new reflectiv and PBR and anderstand how to tweak it.

 

I'll see about making a write up this weekend.

Windows 10 Pro, Ryzen 2700X @ 4.6Ghz, 32GB DDR4-3200 GSkill (F4-3200C16D-16GTZR x2),

ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate, XFX RX6800XT Merc 310 (RX-68XTALFD9)

3x ASUS VS248HP + Oculus HMD, Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS + MFDs

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It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words... well, video must be worth hundreds of thousands, because you can't really capture the new lighting engine in a picture, you have to see the shine and reflections play over the model in game.

 

Still figuring things out and tweaking:

 

DCS%202017-05-27%2017-26-25-29_zpscri6o8rr.jpg~original

 

DCS%202017-05-27%2017-20-13-56_zpsw9s729a7.jpg~original

 

DCS%202017-05-27%2017-18-41-42_zpsijucvgps.jpg~original

 

DCS%202017-05-27%2017-28-17-74_zpssmko8pzq.jpg~original

 

DCS%202017-05-27%2017-22-11-20_zpscdpead7p.jpg~original

 

 

My favourite: You can see the Day-Glo orange wing tip reflected in the aircraft fuselage...

 

DCS%202017-05-27%2017-17-55-52_zpsrychb98y.jpg~original

 

P.S. Thanks ED for making the canopy clear again instead of having that blue tint like in 1.5.


Edited by jocko417
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For the Sabre, Specular Map, "Generally Speaking":

-Red/Green Channel = Surface Smoothness/Roughness

-Blue Channel = Surface Metallicness

 

 

Roughness: White = Smooth, Black = Rough

Metallic : Black = Metal, White = Non Metal

 

I'd Make Both RED/Green Channel Identical Just to avoid any issues.

 

These Settings will change from Model to Model, as the Extended Parameters are Stored in the Model's JSON File.

 

I believe the F-86F is actually inverted by default to avoid all skins looking polished.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All

 

So from a PBR workflow, what maps would be required to get specular working in 2.1?

 

I use Substance Painter for my texturing now, which is a native PBR product.

 

In the old way, (thanks to SkateZilla for the information on this)

 

I created the following:

 

Diffuse: I use RGB with baseColor mapped to this

 

Specular: Created a R + G + B output map

mapped:

 

Roughness GreyScale to the R channel

Roughness GreyScale to the G channel (which I invert in Photoshop afterwards)

Metalic GreyScale to the B channel

 

This works a treat in 1.5 but when in 2.1 there is no specular shown on the model, it just looks very matt

 

Thanks Specter

SPConfig.thumb.JPG.90900218038b82682577637c8644259b.JPG


Edited by Raz_Specter

Custom built W10 Pro 64Bit, Intel Core i9 9900k, Asus ROG Maximus Code XI Z390, 64GB DDR4 3200 RGB, Samsung 1TB NVme M.2 Drive, Gigabyte AORUS 2080TI, 40" Iiyama Display. Wacom Cintiq Pro 24, HOTAS Virpil T50 Stick / FA-18C TM Stick and Virpil T50 Throttle, MFG Crosswind Graphite Pedals. HP Reverb

 

SPECTER



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  • 5 weeks later...

Hi all, thanks a lot for your explanation about the new specs, really usefull !

 

I would just ask you if you too you noticed a lot of noise effect arround the light when you reduce the roughness of the aircraft. I'm working currently on specs for aerobatic aircraft that use to have a really smooth fuselage, but i saw this noise appearing. I do agree that this effect is sort of "normal", but he is way too present into DCS.

 

It looks like i had noise into my normal map or specs, but i dont.

 

PS : This noise is more visible on dark fuselage, or highly colored one.

 

 

1499242172-screen-170705-100603.jpg


Edited by Pâte

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Looks like Color Compression Artifacts,

 

Attach the Spec File.

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ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate, XFX RX6800XT Merc 310 (RX-68XTALFD9)

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Will look into it further, i cant see any color compression artifacts in the DDS but i'm viewing over a remote connection, so I have to open the file directly when I get a chance.

Windows 10 Pro, Ryzen 2700X @ 4.6Ghz, 32GB DDR4-3200 GSkill (F4-3200C16D-16GTZR x2),

ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate, XFX RX6800XT Merc 310 (RX-68XTALFD9)

3x ASUS VS248HP + Oculus HMD, Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS + MFDs

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Copy.

 

Done some test with others type of file, nothing change. Is that possible that it's a bug of the new shading ? Never saw any other aircaft that have those type of specs (as green as i used)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello again chaps. I'm getting back into skinning following my enforced absence due to an injury to my arm. Its amazing how much I've forgotten.

I am revamping a couple of old skins for the Alpha 2.1.1 (i think thats it) and I'm saving both the Diff and the spec as DXT3 with mipmaps but I'm not sure if thats right or not. It looks okay but the way of saving seems wrong.

I have tried other DXT versions but they seem to give visual problems with the aliasing on panel lines.

I'd greatly appreciate any advice.

1_zpseex5jx96.jpg%7Eoriginal

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  • 1 month later...

I thought i would run a "little exercise" just for info, so i thought i would post what i have found here, i dont think its "New news" but it might help some people understand. Any way i thought it would be interesting and something to discuss.

 

T4N1RD2.jpg

 

KSqRgxf.jpg

 

E1i2dyj.jpg

 

O4XMy0Q.jpg

 

6r5dhxm.jpg

 

jkBqXtd.jpg

 

a0mVoYo.jpg

 

cvhlTmn.jpg

 

qM7xBFA.jpg

 

eMVJ3yG.jpg

Regards

 

DL available skins here:

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/?CREATED_BY=Strut

 

 

Pictures of my Skins here: https://imgur.com/a/bOQyQqW

 

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  • 1 month later...

Anyone knows whats wrong with the su-27 and su-33 speculars since the last 2.1 update?...for some reason they look way too "glossy" and metalic and there is no way to get rid of that look.

 

I made some test and looks like now the only channel working is the red one...tested with pure white and pure black for blue and gree channels and the result was the same so they don't seem to work.

 

The problem is when you increase white in the red channel it affects both specularity AND metallicness (they are somewhat linked), so there is no way to increase one without increasing the other so to obtain a shiny look you also have to get an extremely reflective and mtalic look. Before the last update it didn't worked that way and both characteristics were isolated from each other in blue and green channels.

 

Any idea about if this is a bug, new "feature" or what am I doing wrong?

 

thanks!!

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2.1, Uses PBR.

 

thanks for the reply mate but, not sure if I didn't express myself correctly or what but I know it uses PBR, the problem is in the last update for the 2.1 (thus PBR) specular maps don't have same propieters than before...I made a fix for the su-27 speculars here where I could adjust INDEPENDENTLY metallicness (with the blue rgb channel) and specularity (with green channel)...since last update this is no longer possible and only red channel seems to work for BOTH things at the same time so when you increase one, also increase the other...thus, you cant have high specularity without an extreme metallicness...I wonder if this could be a bug from the MAX model materials??

 

 

thanks!


Edited by watermanpc

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