Post by mauvemorn on Apr 29, 2023 12:25:24 GMT -5
The specular resource controls the shine of the item.
It is made of two images: the first one defines the type of shine, the second one controls how this item's specular interacts with those of other CAS items.
I will be using Photoshop in this tutorial, but you can follow along in Photopea ( free online Photoshop analogue with the same interface ).
HOW TO CREATE A SPECULAR MAP IN .PNG
- Specular maps are not rendered in Sims 4 Studio and appears in-game only on Medium or higher graphics settings. So check the game settings, go in Create-a-Sim and find a maxis item with the type of shine you want to imitate;
- Find this item in Sims 4 Studio catalog, clone it, export the specular map in .png, name it Specular;
- Open the first file, Specular.png, in Photoshop/Photopea;
- This image is always semi-transparent, so start by converting transparency to the layer mask with Layer - Layer mask - From transparency;
- Alt-click on the Layer mask thumbnail. Very shiny items tend to have their desaturated and darkened diffuse map here ( Example A ), whereas most others have a solid gray color ( Example B ). The process differs a bit, so I will separate certain steps into Example A and Example B;
- Sample the gray:
Example A: sample the lightest shade of gray you see with the Eyedropper tool ( I key );
Example B: sample the only gray;
Example B: sample the only gray;
- RMB-click on the Layer mask and choose Disable layer mask;
- Click on Layer thumbnail, sample the color of the garment. Ignore the background, it will be completely removed by the Layer mask;
- Click on Create a new fill or adjustment layer, choose Solid color. The whole image will be flooded with the foreground color, which is fine at the moment;
- You no longer need the original layer and can delete it, leaving only the Fill layer in the scene;
- Open your diffuse texture. Since it is bigger than the specular, you need to resize it before copying the image that will control the transparency of the Fill layer. Make sure to not save it before closing at the end!
- Shrink it in half with Image - Image size;
- Copy the right layer:
Example A: select everything with Ctrl A, Ctrl C to copy;
Example B: Layer - Layer mask - From transparency. Alt-click on the Layer mask, hover the cursor over the image, press Ctrl A to select everything, Ctrl C to copy;
- Back to Specular.png. Alt-click on the Layer mask of the Fill layer:
Example B: Ctrl V to paste the copied image, RMB-click on the image and choose Fill. Choose Foreground color and change Blending mode to Multiply;
- No need to rasterize the layer or apply the mask, just save the image. Do not close it yet;
- Open Specular.mask.png. This one is always opaque;
- Paste the Layer mask copied from the diffuse:
Example A: back to your diffuse file, Layer - Layer mask - From transparency. Alt-click on the Layer mask, hover the cursor over the image, press Ctrl A to select everything, Ctrl C to copy. Switch to Specular.mask.png, press Ctrl V;
Example B: since it is already copied, just press Ctrl V;
- Import Specular.png in your package, Specular.mask.png is imported automatically. Check in-game;
- If you are not satisfied with the result, edit only Specular.png. Brighter colors = more intense shine. Slightly adjust the brightness of Layer and Layer mask individually. Save, re-import, check in-game. If the result is still unsatisfactory, check this thread and this post by Littledica99 and either use his emulator to find the right colors or adjust channels individually.
