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Post by eurostar27 on Apr 23, 2020 5:04:06 GMT -5
Have more time, until back to work. Trying to get to grips with creating new textures for clothing from S4 Studio. Firstly, I use Corel PSP which is similar to Photoshop. I have the Nvidia DDS plugin. I have been using PSP for years and very familiar to most features and effects. I don't always get the full understanding of tutorials, as they appear directed to ones who have a vast knowledge of photo editing, by using terminology which sometimes is hard to grasp.
I am looking for a step by step guide, starting from S4 Studio and saving the original texture files, is that too much to ask?
Starting at S4 Studio and select 'Create CAS Standalone', select clothing e.g. 'Bottoms' save package to a new name, then save all the textures. Save the diffuse texture to a PNG 1024x2048. The shadow and specular are saved as 512x1024, BUT what format, DDS or PNG? The normal saved at 1024x1024, and again, DDS or PNG? Why does S4 Studio save the shadow and specular textures a different size to the diffuse texture? As far as the specular texture, S4 Studio saves 2 files, one has 'mask' in the file name? I assume these files are saved as DDS files? I open the 2 DDS specular files in PSP, the 'mask' file is all black and the other is all green, no outline shape that resembles the diffuse texture? The PNG diffuse texture I understand, and I can happily edit this in PSP, and the 'normal' dds file, I can create a new 'normal' bump map. But this specular file either dds or png is a swine to understand, and I cant get my newly created textures to show up properly, either there is a transparent or black gap, or the texture does not show at all. Please help me to understand this pesky 'specular' texture. Thanks
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Post by mauvemorn on Apr 23, 2020 10:34:17 GMT -5
Hi. Create CAS Standalone will create a standalone recolor that requires the original to function ( if you're cloning someone cc, for example ) while Create 3d Mesh will make an independent copy with all external resources included. Default sizes: diffuse - 1024x2048, shadow - 1024x2048, specular - 512x1024, normal - depends ( varies on the chosen item, for bottoms its 1024x1024); HQ compatible sizes: diffuse - 2048x4096, shadow - 2048x4096, specular - 1024x2048, normal - does not really care about it; I think the reason specular is different is because the quality of it does not matter, so it just a memory saving measure maybe?
If my memory serves me well, The Sims 4 studio converts any image format you import into .dds. So logically it's best to use .dds but not in practice. For one, using .png is more convenient. You do not need to switch between channels to edit transparency. But there's also this odd thing: there may be loss in texture quality during conversion from .png to .dds, but the same thing may happen when you save the image as .dds. I get worse results when I make .dds diffuse maps ( but that may have something to with the fact that I mostly make HQ compatible shoes that have a lot of one pixel seams that do not always compress nicely, but anyway), so I prefer .png. I usually see moderators recommend people to try switching between formats if they experience quality loss, so that's what you can do. Anyway, that I was talking about diffuse maps. When it comes to shadow maps, you should always save in .dds. There seems to be a new issue related to the format in which you import a shadow map. If it’s .png, there will be black lines along the border. In the past this would happen only when the shadow map had transparency. Now even if you export a shadow map from a maxis item in .png and re-import right away without editing anything, this issue will appear.  Specular and normal maps are easier to edit in .dds because they have transparency. Specular comes in two files. The colors in the RBG channel of the first one will define what type of shine the 3d model will have while alpha channel will define the intensity. Here is a great explanation that shows what colors correspond to what material's shine.The second file that ends with .mask ensures proper layering in CAS. All areas where you have textures in diffuse should be filled with white, even if you do not want shine there at all. For example, if your pants have no proper mask, the moment you put shiny pantyhose under them, that shiny specular will show up on top of your pants. Anyway, I go about it this way: I find an item in CAS that has the same material my item is meant to be made of (specular and normal are not visible on lower graphic settings ). I clone it and export its specular in .dds. I sample the color in the RGB channel and paint mine with that. Then I switch to alpha, if the area is painted with solid grey, I sample it and paint mine; if it's not or I want some areas of my item to be shinier than the rest, I copy-paste it into RGB channel and move it a bit away, then I paste my desaturated diffuse texture and try to adjust it so that the brightest area is of the same shade as the brightest area on the maxis texture. But painting everything with one solid color works just fine. |
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Post by eurostar27 on Apr 24, 2020 11:01:53 GMT -5
Thank you very much. I think that I have the understanding what you are saying, and the rest will suddenly come to me. One thing, do I need to create two separate dds files for the specular, or one with a mask? So why does S4 Studio create two separate files, rather than one file with the mask? I know how to save the dds, DXT5+alpha. So the first specular is the shine, so white would be very shiny, so if the whole area of area was black, the pants would be matt. Don't quite get what the mask does. Intensity, of what? I thought the first file does that. Black -all matt, mid grey - medium shine, and white- maximum shine, isn't that the intensity? I did create a specular, that worked, but forgotten how to do it. Cotton matt pants with shiny pvc belt. Maybe if I look at that spec file, then I can understand it a bit more. At the moment, I have the time, but when I'm back to work, the time will be very limited. It will come to me, and I will still look in all the forum posts regarding textures. Thanks again, a real help. I am using a texture, with no spec, no shadow, and no normal. Cotton pants and that looks OK in Sims 4. It would be a little better with a normal, so the back pockets stand out a bit. If your pants are matt, then you would not need a specular texture?
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Post by mauvemorn on Apr 24, 2020 11:24:47 GMT -5
You just need to export a specular map from a maxis item you cloned and edit it. In my case, I cannot create a file with .mask.dds, so that's what I do.
The rbg channel in the first file defines the type of shine, its alpha defines the intensity. The mask file ( it has no alpha ) corresponds to the area of the diffuse map that has textures to ensure that the specular map of the item below does not come on top of your item. The point of it is not intensity but layering.
So, again, the mask file should look just like the alpha channel of your diffuse map.
If the item is too shiny, make the rbg color or the alpha darker in the first specular file.
I have never seen white in the rbg channel of a specular map of any maxis item, if that was what you mean. They are usually blue, green, red, yellow, etc. But the alpha, yes, if it is white, the item will be very shiny. From my experience, medium shine start around dark grey. Usually the alpha channel is very dark.
All you need to do is find a maxis item that looks the closest to yours ( in this case in terms of materials) and study it.
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Post by eurostar27 on Apr 25, 2020 6:17:52 GMT -5
Sorry to continue with this specular problem. I looked at the dds spec files that showed up ok in Sims4 (pants with shiny belt) and followed this example in the new textures. And guess, it does not work. UPDATE. I have spent hours trying to work this out and NOTHING is working. All sorts of shiny surfaces, and sometimes with bright shiny bars going down the whole body? Other times the whole body is shiny, and the pants are flat, or reversed, I just can not get both as matt together. I tried a new 'bottoms' and this time create a new file as a mesh, then saved the spec files. Loaded the dds spec files via Nvidia Read Properties, set to original default, nothing else ticked, but I have tried all the Nvidia loading options. The 512x1024 spec shows a green background with 8 red horizontal bars half way across??? The mask 512x1024 black background with 8 white horizontal bars half way across??? I have tried everything I can possibly think and nothing is working. I think the Nvidia DDS plugin for PSP is bugged. I have to forget these horrible specular DDS files, and create new textures without them.
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