Need help on house color height maps please

[Tehkrad]

Hi,

I am trying to make a house color on a model (because the material editor within 3ds max 9 requires it so, along with diffuse, specular and normals) (yes I have defined certain areas of the image is the blue color the game uses, by using color pic from the examples provided by EA documentation MOD SDK pics)

so far I am having no luck, even after looking at the documentation within MOD SDK ~ Art_Textures.htm or whatever it is called. I need more information on this so I can start making better textures for my future models.

- maybe there are different requirements from the shaders objectsgdi.fx ? or objectsnod.fx ? please let me know : >

- Also I have already done UVW Unwrapping to make the textures within programs like GIMP or PHOTOSHOP - just that after doing this stuff my house color test in 3ds Max makes my model look like the whole thing is a house color. (player color )

- I would add .TGA files but I cant : x or maybe dds.. no experience on dds though lol

Any help would be much appreciated lol ^_^

[Lauren]

Yes the blue color only applies for objectsnod and objectsalien. For objectsgdi you need an extra grayscale image for hc.

[Tehkrad]

how am I supposed to add a grayscale?

o_O blue with a 50% grey? sorry I feel stupid lol.

I need more info. plz

[Madin]

The greyscale is going to be its own texture, with an alpha channel.

To get a greyscale of your diffuse texture, copy the diffuse texture, and then desaturate the copied file. You now have a greyscale of your diffuse image.
Add an alpha channel, and then select areas using a selection tool such has the lasso tool, and once you have the areas that you want to have house colour, fill those areas with white in the alpha channel.

Once you are done, you should have a greyscale image, with an alpha channel thats mostly black, with areas of white where house colour will pass through onto the greyscale image.

[Tehkrad]

thanks that helped - saved the file as 32 bit and it works!

(also thanks to people on my skype : O )

anyways is there any specific settings I should be using when making specular maps? say if i just use the hue /saturation (from image > adjustments) in photoshop or other settings? idk if im making them too bright o_o red

also normal map settings - filters? o_O from using the nvidia plugin (current version)
I would like to know what settings work, more information on filters like tha 3x3 and .... ehhh 3x4? er 4x4 and such ._.

[Madin]

No one can tell you what you 'should' do, the choices you make should be personal to match your artistic sensibilities.

Technical information? well that is provided by the documentation that comes with the SDK, it includes a screen grab of the settings that EA used for normal maps. Information on the normal map settings comes with the Nvdia plugin documentation.

No one can tell you if your specular is too bright in the red channel, it is a matter of opinion. Getting your model in game and in various levels will ultimately be the deciding factor for you.

When it comes to normal maps, looking at your model close up in Max can give you a false impression. Remember that most of the time the model will be viewed from much higher, so adjust your normal maps accordingly.

I use the 4x4 for reference.