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Post by jurisprudence on Mar 21, 2019 7:57:03 GMT -5
Hello again.
I guess I am obsessed with shiny things since most of my questions revolve around that. Lol. I have a few items which are supposed to look like chrome, but there is only so much shine I can get from the texture, so they look less-than great in my game. Taking a queue from some very, very shiny floors, I've been using a different (shiny, transparent) swatch as both the bump and spec. This actually works well with a few things, but on others it looks terrible. Is there another/easy/easier way to get a shiny, almost mirrored surface? I tried the mirror thing too, but could only get the reflective part on one side of any object.
Thanks in advance if anyone has a suggestion!
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Post by menaceman44 on Mar 21, 2019 17:48:47 GMT -5
Do you have any particular items that we can provide feedback on? What works well for one object might not work well for another.
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Post by jurisprudence on Mar 22, 2019 16:10:58 GMT -5
menaceman44 Thank you for responding. YES. LOTS!  I generalized because I didn't know if to post all those screenshots, and though I thought about it, posting the files seemed presumptuous. :D First of all, "THE" table I have posted about before - probably ad-nauseum. It looks amazing in a mirror, shiny finish ... but I couldn't get the reflection everywhere so I just made it shiny by using the shiny bump and spec, but now the top is super glassy-shiny, whereas the bottom is still not as shiny as I'd like; two Remy Martin Louis XIII Cognac bottles; a few vases; a sideboard, a decorative scorpion ... ... now I forgot what else. Lol. There are a lot. In fact, let me post a video, and if you have a moment to give it a glance-through and to offer any thoughts, I'd really appreciate it.
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Post by menaceman44 on Mar 23, 2019 12:44:50 GMT -5
Thank you very much for that video. I'm not really sure I know what to suggest. For me looking at the content you have made I would already say it was quite shiny. Shine will always look more obvious on a dark object because of the contrast between the light. A white object that is shiny isn't going to look that much different. I would say go ahead and have a look at those counters and see what the specular looks like for those. The whiter and brighter the specular is, as well as the alpha channel, the stronger the shine will be in game. I suppose the issue here is that you know in your head what you want the objects to look like but I don't so I'm not sure how best to help. Perhaps you will find this article about the specular map helpful? teanmoon.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-specular-texture.html |
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Post by simsi45 on Mar 23, 2019 13:53:20 GMT -5
Can you show us what your specular for the table looks like? You might know this already but, The Sims 4 has different kinds of shininess applied to different kinds of objects. The guide menaceman44 linked is very useful to understand what and how each color gets applied on an object. When I want to make something EXTREMELY shiny and glossy (a porcelain vase, a glass panel etc.) I make the specular a very hot pink. Now, the odd thing is, that for the hot pink areas ONLY the alpha needs to be dark in order to see the shininess. The darker the more shiny it will get. For the rest of the colors the alpha works the opposite way (the brighter the more shiny it will get.) |
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Post by jurisprudence on Mar 23, 2019 16:04:07 GMT -5
menaceman44 simsi45Thank you both. The article about the maps was especially helpful, since not completely understanding the channels and what they did/do may be part of my problem. Normally, instead of firing up Photoshop and using all its' bells and whistles I opt for Pixlr online Editor because it is just simpler and faster, but I am missing the ease of the channel manipulation. It is apparent I have too much green on lots of my shiny stuff. And yes, menaceman44, on the table in particular, I have seen how it looks with a mostly mirrored base when I tried creating it piece by piece (haha), so I think my mind is still trying not to accept it isn't going to happen. simsi45 This is an excellent tip, thank you. Will try to familiarize myself more with the channels and will definitely try this .... unless of course you'd like to share one of your hot pink specs to get me started. (Ahem). Oh and this is the spec currently on the table ... ShinySpec
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Post by jurisprudence on Mar 23, 2019 17:40:30 GMT -5
Hi simsi45. I was working on my cognac bottles still, and I thought about something you said: "The Sims 4 has different kinds of shininess applied to different kinds of objects" ... With that in mind, is there a particular object you use to create your shiny objects? I generally use the Minimalist Unplant (the reward vase with the branch and the glass middle) for shiny deco items. Would you suggest anything different? I have thought about using a lamp or two but then I'd have to remove the light tuning and I didn't particularly want to do that. |
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Post by simsi45 on Mar 23, 2019 17:51:52 GMT -5
Hey jurisprudence . The object I usually use for this kind of shininess, is that rabbit sculpture from the base game. I don't have access to my computer atm so I don't really remember the name but you can easily find it. You can also check out its specular to see what I'm talking about. If you need any help in finding it I'll give you the name once I get home! |
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Post by jurisprudence on Mar 23, 2019 18:00:25 GMT -5
simsi45All good. Found it. The Garden Friend. Thanks so much! Enjoy what you're out doing.
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I generalized because I didn't know if to post all those screenshots, and though I thought about it, posting the files seemed presumptuous. :D