Rivets and Bump Maps

[Vraciu]

Ugh...

Okay so I have tried my best to create a rivet and panel line bitmap to overlay my master image with later...    Two questions came up.

1) Is a bump map *REQUIRED*?

2) Is the bump map supposed to be offset in some manner or is it exactly the same as the texture bmp?

I am worried I spent half my life drawing in all these lines for nothing.   

[Devil 505]

Ugh...

Okay so I have tried my best to create a rivet and panel line bitmap to overlay my master image with later...    Two questions came up.

1) Is a bump map *REQUIRED*? No

2) Is the bump map supposed to be offset in some manner or is it exactly the same as the texture bmp? Same place.

I am worried I spent half my life drawing in all these lines for nothing.   

[Dragon Tamer]

I don't even touch the bump map for my skins. It's not required and I will most likely mess it up worse than it already is. The bump map is what gives the plane depth when it's enabled (rivets look like they are standing up, panels look stacked etc).

The specular map on the other hand, I always try to modify. This is what gives the plane it's shiny appearance. This should line up exactly with the plane.bmp file.

[Devil 505]

I don't even touch the bump map for my skins. It's not required and I will most likely mess it up worse than it already is. The bump map is what gives the plane depth when it's enabled (rivets look like they are standing up, panels look stacked etc).

The specular map on the other hand, I always try to modify. This is what gives the plane it's shiny appearance. This should line up exactly with the plane.bmp file.

Funny, because I do the opposite.

The bump maps are kind of funny though. Sometimes the effect is reversed, where a part that you intend to appear raised is instead indented, and sometimes even if displaying the correct elevation, it may not react to lighting in the correct way: I.E. highlighted portions facing away from light source.

That said, when the effect works properly, which is the norm, the results are stunning and can really make a skin outstanding.

Here's a visual example of the benefits of the bump maps, from my 109E. Look that the bumps on the upper and lower engine cowlings, as well as the reinforcement strip above the wing. There are no true 3D shapes for those bumps but purely the effect of the bump map on a flat surface.

[LCADolby]

Such a fantastic skin

[Vraciu]

Such a fantastic skin

I definitely need to learn how to flatten the paint out like that.   Wow.

[FTJR]

I definitely need to learn how to flatten the paint out like that.   Wow.

It is a sweet piece of work

[Devil 505]

I definitely need to learn how to flatten the paint out like that.   Wow.

Plug these numbers into your materials file:

0.259,0.259,0.259,1.000,Ambient
0.741,0.741,0.741,1.000,Diffuse
0.000,0.000,0.000,1.000,Emissive
0.208,0.208,0.208,0.000,Specular
33.420,Power

[Vraciu]

Plug these numbers into your materials file:

0.259,0.259,0.259,1.000,Ambient
0.741,0.741,0.741,1.000,Diffuse
0.000,0.000,0.000,1.000,Emissive
0.208,0.208,0.208,0.000,Specular
33.420,Power

Thanks. Will try it.

Another issue.  This plane is also too shiny I trust...

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,357987.msg4775049.html#msg4775049

[-ammo-]

Funny, because I do the opposite.

The bump maps are kind of funny though. Sometimes the effect is reversed, where a part that you intend to appear raised is instead indented, and sometimes even if displaying the correct elevation, it may not react to lighting in the correct way: I.E. highlighted portions facing away from light source.

That said, when the effect works properly, which is the norm, the results are stunning and can really make a skin outstanding.

Here's a visual example of the benefits of the bump maps, from my 109E. Look that the bumps on the upper and lower engine cowlings, as well as the reinforcement strip above the wing. There are no true 3D shapes for those bumps but purely the effect of the bump map on a flat surface.

Dude, that is a beautiful skin. 

[Devil 505]

Thanks. Will try it.

Another issue.  This plane is also too shiny I trust...

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,357987.msg4775049.html#msg4775049

Those numbers will work for the basic materials file. For your skin I definately recomend making a specularity map. The painted parts should be on the flat side, but keep a bit of shine for the bare metal.

Dude, that is a beautiful skin. 

It is a sweet piece of work

Wow.

Such a fantastic skin

Thanks.

[Vraciu]

Those numbers will work for the basic materials file. For your skin I definately recomend making a specularity map. The painted parts should be on the flat side, but keep a bit of shine for the bare metal.



Thanks.

Let's say I make the entire spec map black.  Will it apply an equal amount of "flat" to the entire plane?

My skin viewer keeps crashing when I try to go into the MATERIALS tab to adjust it for a preview of what the effects will do...

[Devil 505]

Let's say I make the entire spec map black.  Will it apply an equal amount of "flat" to the entire plane?

yes

[Motherland]

The spec map was the best part of that update.
A plane is not the same shininess all over. And most of them were a good amount shinier than how we portray them.

The reason that skinners have to do that is that when the entire plane is shiny, it looks ridiculous because the panel lines, extremely dirty parts etc. shine through the same as anything else. You can't capture really interesting nuances like the different reflectivenesses of different paints used on the aircraft. The mattness that preceded them was fine, but with spec mapping you can make planes look a  bit spiffier for sure.
Bump mapping and spec mapping are both central in taking your skins to that 'next level', in my opinion.

Unfortunately I got largely out of the game by the time spec maps were introduced, and only ended up playing around with them for a bit, but they're a really amazing tool for skinners to take advantage of, even on planes that don't include bare metal areas.

Also you can do most of the work by for both of them by just taking your original skin, converting it to grayscale, and playing with the colors/saturations of the layers

Also if you modified your panel lines at all from the original and don't change the bump or spec maps it will look stupid
Also if the default spec map takes in dirt/paint differences that aren't in your skin it will look stupid

[Dragon Tamer]

My skin viewer keeps crashing when I try to go into the MATERIALS tab to adjust it for a preview of what the effects will do...

I just tried the P-51D in my skin viewer and it didn't crash. I don't have any custom skins for the P-51D though, only the default. That might be the issue.

The spec map was the best part of that update.
A plane is not the same shininess all over. And most of them were a good amount shinier than how we portray them.

The reason that skinners have to do that is that when the entire plane is shiny, it looks ridiculous because the panel lines, extremely dirty parts etc. shine through the same as anything else. You can't capture really interesting nuances like the different reflectivenesses of different paints used on the aircraft. The mattness that preceded them was fine, but with spec mapping you can make planes look a  bit spiffier for sure.
Bump mapping and spec mapping are both central in taking your skins to that 'next level', in my opinion.

Unfortunately I got largely out of the game by the time spec maps were introduced, and only ended up playing around with them for a bit, but they're a really amazing tool for skinners to take advantage of, even on planes that don't include bare metal areas.

Also you can do most of the work by for both of them by just taking your original skin, converting it to grayscale, and playing with the colors/saturations of the layers

Also if you modified your panel lines at all from the original and don't change the bump or spec maps it will look stupid
Also if the default spec map takes in dirt/paint differences that aren't in your skin it will look stupid

It's a blessing, I can't wait for HTC to allow updates to old skins so I can rework my B-29 to incorporate this feature. For a visual reference, here is a close up of one a set of skins I've been working on that shows the effect beautifully.