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Less shiny things... (Read 1108 times)
Jul 17th, 2010 at 12:13pm
Crash   Ex Member

 
Hello,

is it possible to reduce the amount of reflection I have on my aircraft? For instance I have Carenado's Cessna 185F in a bare metal dirty finish but it shines like a mirror. I know it has something to do Alpha Channel but how to do this? Has envmap something to do with it?

Thanks in advance,

Carlo Wink
 
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Reply #1 - Jul 17th, 2010 at 5:04pm

Opa   Offline
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Quote:
Hello,

is it possible to reduce the amount of reflection I have on my aircraft? For instance I have Carenado's Cessna 185F in a bare metal dirty finish but it shines like a mirror. I know it has something to do Alpha Channel but how to do this? Has envmap something to do with it?

Thanks in advance,

Carlo Wink


Have you tried contacting Carenado (there is a contact option on their website) and/or checking for updates for your particular aircraft there also?

Just a couple of ideas.
 
David "Opa" Marshall
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Reply #2 - Jul 17th, 2010 at 5:41pm
Crash   Ex Member

 
Thanks David. I'll give it a try.

Carlo Wink
 
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Reply #3 - Jul 18th, 2010 at 4:57am

Daube   Offline
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In the meanwhile, if you want to experiment, I believe that the intensity of the shining is directed by the clearness of the Alpha Channel of the texture.

So theorically, if you edit the texture with DXTBMP, and make its Alpha Channel darker, the texture should become less shiny.
 
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Reply #4 - Jul 21st, 2010 at 6:36am

garryrussell   Offline
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Have you downloaded on of the enhanced envmaps?

This make dull aircraft shint but if the aircraft was made correctly in the first place it is too shiny. Cool

If you have, then I suggest you put the original back.



 
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Reply #5 - Jul 21st, 2010 at 10:59am
Crash   Ex Member

 
I've been using the envmap of REPro. I'll put the original back in, let's see what it does.

Thanks for the advice,

Carlo Wink
 
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Reply #6 - Jul 28th, 2010 at 4:44am

garryrussell   Offline
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Any better??

 
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Reply #7 - Jul 28th, 2010 at 12:03pm
Crash   Ex Member

 
Yep. Much better. Although some add-on aircraft still are a bit to shiny to my likings. I'll get used to it, I think.

Thanks for the advice anyhow. And sorry for the late reaction. Forgot all about this post.

Carlo Wink
 
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Reply #8 - Jul 28th, 2010 at 5:07pm

garryrussell   Offline
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No prob Smiley

The too shiny ones may well have been made that way Huh

These enhanced maps should be outlawed as it means the goalposts are shifting. Cry

The work is set to these results and unfortunately because of some aircraft paints being dull because they were done badly there has been a tendency to 'improve' them but this throws everything made properly out the window. Angry

Glad your problem is somewhat relieved Smiley

ATB

Garry


 
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Reply #9 - Aug 10th, 2010 at 12:55pm

Fr. Bill   Offline
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Daube wrote on Jul 18th, 2010 at 4:57am:
In the meanwhile, if you want to experiment, I believe that the intensity of the shining is directed by the clearness of the Alpha Channel of the texture.

So theorically, if you edit the texture with DXTBMP, and make its Alpha Channel darker, the texture should become less shiny.


Actually, it's just the opposite...  Grin

Pure white Alpha channel = completely flat (no shine)
Pure black Alpha channel = mirror finish!
 
Bill
... Gauge Programming - 3d Modeling Eaglesoft Development Group Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600-4GB DDR2 Crucial PC6400-800 GB SATA-ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro 256MB DX10 NOTE: Unless explicitly stated in the post, everything written by my hand is MY opinion. I do NOT speak for any company, real or imagined...
...
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Reply #10 - Aug 10th, 2010 at 2:34pm

garryrussell   Offline
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Bill

Is FS.X is opposite to FS.9 in this respect?

Or is that just transparency Undecided

I have no way of checking this at the moment Cry
 
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Reply #11 - Aug 10th, 2010 at 3:33pm

Daube   Offline
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Fr. Bill wrote on Aug 10th, 2010 at 12:55pm:
Daube wrote on Jul 18th, 2010 at 4:57am:
In the meanwhile, if you want to experiment, I believe that the intensity of the shining is directed by the clearness of the Alpha Channel of the texture.

So theorically, if you edit the texture with DXTBMP, and make its Alpha Channel darker, the texture should become less shiny.


Actually, it's just the opposite...  Grin

Pure white Alpha channel = completely flat (no shine)
Pure black Alpha channel = mirror finish!


Ah sorry, I was thinking in FSX SP2 mode, which is opposite to FS9, FSX and FSX SP1 Smiley
 
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Reply #12 - Aug 12th, 2010 at 1:01pm

Fr. Bill   Offline
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garryrussell wrote on Aug 10th, 2010 at 2:34pm:
Bill

Is FS.X is opposite to FS.9 in this respect?

Or is that just transparency Undecided

I have no way of checking this at the moment Cry


Ah, that's the million dollar question! You see, the Alpha channel on the Diffuse Color can be used for either "reflections" (aka: shine) -or "transparency" depending on how the modeler set up the material and/or filename (in the case of FS9).

In FS9 only, a suffix of _T to a filename forces the Alpha channel to control transparency, otherwise it is used to control reflection...

In FSX, the suffix has no meaning at all. The presence or absence of a Specular Color texture and flags in the FSX Material are what controls the Alpha channel's behavior.
 
Bill
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...
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Reply #13 - Aug 12th, 2010 at 6:18pm

JoBee   Offline
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Fr. Bill wrote on Aug 12th, 2010 at 1:01pm:
In FS9 only, a suffix of _T to a filename forces the Alpha channel to control transparency, otherwise it is used to control reflection...

That's simply not true.

As an example, all the default FS9 aircraft have textures with the _t suffix and also have reflections.

This has to be dictated in the .mdl and filename has no control.

The only thing _t tells us, if I am not mistaken, is the plane was made with GMAX, as opposed to FSDS.

cheers,
Joe
 
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Reply #14 - Aug 22nd, 2010 at 12:50pm

Fr. Bill   Offline
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Actually that last is certainly not true, as the suffix _T is required in FSDS.

I suppose it is possible that my assertion concerning the use of the suffix flag as a switch is incorrect, after all I've only been about this professionally for twelve years now...

...I've still got a lot to learn!  Cheesy
 
Bill
... Gauge Programming - 3d Modeling Eaglesoft Development Group Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600-4GB DDR2 Crucial PC6400-800 GB SATA-ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro 256MB DX10 NOTE: Unless explicitly stated in the post, everything written by my hand is MY opinion. I do NOT speak for any company, real or imagined...
...
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