Railworks America

Hey guys, what is a good shader to use on buildings (brick/concrete) that will make use of normal maps, but not reflect the light? I tried using TrainBumpEnv.fx but the concrete kinda looks like chrome.... cool, but not exactly what I was looking for.

dogrokket wrote:Hey guys, what is a good shader to use on buildings (brick/concrete) that will make use of normal maps, but not reflect the light? I tried using TrainBumpEnv.fx but the concrete kinda looks like chrome.... cool, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Try TrainBumpSpecEnvMask.fx but making the alpha channel in the specular slot almost black so that there's almost no shine.

Thanks Mike! I may need a little help from some blender users here: Would the alpha channel need to be layered in the diffuse texture, ie. slot 2, or the normal map slot 3? Slot 4 is the dummy texture.

>>>Edit: Along with blender, I also use Gimp for texture editing (I fancy the free stuff). What I did was darken the normal map textures almost to black. It has the desired effect in daylight, but at night, it still has some reflectivity. Don't know if that's the proper method, but it seems to work, somewhat.

mrennie wrote:Try TrainBumpSpecEnvMask.fx but making the alpha channel in the specular slot almost black so that there's almost no shine.

Actually Mike, I do have a few questions for you... I assume that you use PS. I use Gimp and when you add an alpha layer, it automatically assumes transparency. Do you add this as a mask on the diffuse layer? Or do you apply this mask to the normal map texture?

dogrokket wrote:

mrennie wrote:Try TrainBumpSpecEnvMask.fx but making the alpha channel in the specular slot almost black so that there's almost no shine.

Actually Mike, I do have a few questions for you... I assume that you use PS. I use Gimp and when you add an alpha layer, it automatically assumes transparency. Do you add this as a mask on the diffuse layer? Or do you apply this mask to the normal map texture?

I put the alpha channel into the texture that I use for the diffuse channel, just to reduce the number of files needed - I use the same file (with the alpha channel) for the diffuse slot and for the specular slot. The diffuse slot reads the RGB channels (the image) but ignores the alpha channel, while the specular slot reads the alpha channel and ignores the RGB. I sometimes copy the RGB image into the alpha channel (which automatically makes it into a greyscale picture) because often the light parts of the image tend to be the shinier parts anyway, so doing that is a quick and easy way to enhance the contrast between shiny and dull parts of the texture.

mrennie wrote:I put the alpha channel into the texture that I use for the diffuse channel, just to reduce the number of files needed - I use the same file (with the alpha channel) for the diffuse slot and for the specular slot. The diffuse slot reads the RGB channels (the image) but ignores the alpha channel, while the specular slot reads the alpha channel and ignores the RGB. I sometimes copy the RGB image into the alpha channel (which automatically makes it into a greyscale picture) because often the light parts of the image tend to be the shinier parts anyway, so doing that is a quick and easy way to enhance the contrast between shiny and dull parts of the texture.

You know Mike, when you're trying to figure out new stuff, it all comes down to how you word your searches in google. I figured out how to do what you said in Gimp and had I done that before, it would have saved me a few hours of work. I was making the shiny windows a separate plane object that I was using as an overlay. Now that I know how to use this spec mask thing, it's all in the photo program! In blender, you only have 4 slots for use with trainbumpspecenv, so I had to put the alpha mask in the diffuse texture, as you said.

Now the concrete texture is duller than a piece of MSTS rolling stock

dogrokket wrote:

mrennie wrote:I put the alpha channel into the texture that I use for the diffuse channel, just to reduce the number of files needed - I use the same file (with the alpha channel) for the diffuse slot and for the specular slot. The diffuse slot reads the RGB channels (the image) but ignores the alpha channel, while the specular slot reads the alpha channel and ignores the RGB. I sometimes copy the RGB image into the alpha channel (which automatically makes it into a greyscale picture) because often the light parts of the image tend to be the shinier parts anyway, so doing that is a quick and easy way to enhance the contrast between shiny and dull parts of the texture.

You know Mike, when you're trying to figure out new stuff, it all comes down to how you word your searches in google. I figured out how to do what you said in Gimp and had I done that before, it would have saved me a few hours of work. I was making the shiny windows a separate plane object that I was using as an overlay. Now that I know how to use this spec mask thing, it's all in the photo program! In blender, you only have 4 slots for use with trainbumpspecenv, so I had to put the alpha mask in the diffuse texture, as you said.

Now the concrete texture is duller than a piece of MSTS rolling stock

WFb.jpg

Yes, somewhere out there, there's usually an answer

Nice building

A great looking building!

Another useful shader for creating dull but "bumpy" surfaces is TrainBumpSpec.fx -- not sure how much use it'll be for your building, but it's very good for creating non-glossy metal parts (for example faded paint or brushed metal surfaces).

Cheers
Michael

GreatNortherner wrote:A great looking building!

Another useful shader for creating dull but "bumpy" surfaces is TrainBumpSpec.fx -- not sure how much use it'll be for your building, but it's very good for creating non-glossy metal parts (for example faded paint or brushed metal surfaces).

Cheers
Michael

Thanks Michael

Hii, Could anyone tell me how to apply normal map in 3ds max? I m using shader TrainBumpSpec.fx which requires normal map in 2nd slot....
But what is procedure?
I have clicked on Bitmap(and selected normal map) and simply applied material and showed in viewport, but i can't see any effects in game.
Is there anything i am missing?
Thanks in advance

1st slot diffuse, alpha channel on diffuse provides spec map. Full black will not reflect.
2nd slot normals, and I don't remember what off the top of my head the alpha does to this one.

Should work fine