MX Simulator

JLV please could you add support for control over the 'gloss' amount when importing content for mxs, ideally in texture map form to create more complex materials but even an add on to the current export script to include the slider value would be a dramatic improvement

still using the old version of blender for exporting though the new one is the same - i think gloss is replaced by roughness in 2.8+

Currently when exporting any material with the mirror/metallic checkbox ticked you can add a visible reflection, but with no control over the hardness of this reflection you are very limited in the amount of materials you replicate convicingly. i don't understand shaders too well & i'm not sure if the current shader will support doing it the 'proper' way but adding a blur to the environment reflection based on the 'gloss' slider value would be the most simple version i can think of

this picture shows it well, currently we're limited to the materials with green outline when mirror is unchecked, and the ones outlined in blue when mirror is checked - the only way i have found to mimic roughness is to overlay noise on the normal map but if you do so on a small uv space the reflection is severely distorted



it's explained in depth here, i didn't get too far in but the concept of roughness is the main thing https://learnopengl.com/PBR/Theory

I mean another way to do it is bump reflections up a shit ton lol

Any visual update is much needed

https://threejs.org/docs/#api/en/materi ... ngMaterial this shows what mxs materials are currently like, diffuse/specular colour are obvious, shininess is our specular alpha channel and you can have reflections too but dragging the reflectivity (mirror for blender 2.79) slider only changes the opacity of the environment map and not the hardness of it

http://www.simonreeves.com/projects/db5 ... shader.php this shows what we're requesting, the ability to control where the environment reflection is hard/soft (the ability to do it with a grayscale map would be a huge bonus) possibly a link made between the already existing spec alpha channel control and a blur on the environment reflection would work? if it would require a lot of work to find the right scaling for everything to look good like that, would you consider making the link between specular alpha and environment reflection hardness, and then releasing a way for the community to test their own values as a beta so you don't have to dedicate time doing things we as a community are capable of ourselves?

if the ability to blur the reflection is too taxing, would it be possible to link the 'mirror' slider to the specular alpha? this would at least provide creators a way to add environment reflections to some parts but not others without being forced to add extra geometry

JLV really out here doing the most to avoid this post

Even if he responded and said it isn't possible (which would suck) would be better than just silence

Instead of dragging up old topics maybe read what I already wrote on the subject.

jlv wrote: ↑Wed Sep 30, 2020 12:18 am Instead of dragging up old topics maybe read what I already wrote on the subject.

Honestly i believe you're misunderstanding what is being asked for because currently the alpha channel of the spec only gives us control over the specular hardness - the only control we have for the environment reflection is opacity, and this is only through a slider in blender when exporting jms. In order to create realistic materials we need a way to add variation to clarity of the environment reflection, for example a roughness/gloss map. As it stands the current environment reflections are more of a 'clearcoat' that we are only able to change the thickness of

This is not only due to the lack of clarity/hardness/roughness/gloss control but also the inability to tint the environment reflection. this is essential for realistic metals because metals have no diffuse and show colour through their reflection (specular/environment) and only non metals will always have a grayscale reflection. A suggestion would be to allow the specular RGB values to tint the environment reflection in the same way it currently does with the spec, with both additions we can follow a standardised workflow when texturing making it much easier to get consistent results in game

Smerwin43 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 28, 2022 4:10 am

jlv wrote: ↑Wed Sep 30, 2020 12:18 am Instead of dragging up old topics maybe read what I already wrote on the subject.

Honestly i believe you're misunderstanding what is being asked for because currently the alpha channel of the spec only gives us control over the specular hardness - the only control we have for the environment reflection is opacity, and this is only through a slider in blender when exporting jms. In order to create realistic materials we need a way to add variation to clarity of the environment reflection, for example a roughness/gloss map. As it stands the current environment reflections are more of a 'clearcoat' that we are only able to change the thickness of

This is not only due to the lack of clarity/hardness/roughness/gloss control but also the inability to tint the environment reflection. this is essential for realistic metals because metals have no diffuse and show colour through their reflection (specular/environment) and only non metals will always have a grayscale reflection. A suggestion would be to allow the specular RGB values to tint the environment reflection in the same way it currently does with the spec, with both additions we can follow a standardised workflow when texturing making it much easier to get consistent results in game

This would be so sick. Being able to export textures to sim from substance painter and the textures would look as good as they look in substance, would make the bikes look more realistic/visually apealing

Smerwin43 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 28, 2022 4:10 am

jlv wrote: ↑Wed Sep 30, 2020 12:18 am Instead of dragging up old topics maybe read what I already wrote on the subject.

Honestly i believe you're misunderstanding what is being asked for because currently the alpha channel of the spec only gives us control over the specular hardness - the only control we have for the environment reflection is opacity, and this is only through a slider in blender when exporting jms. In order to create realistic materials we need a way to add variation to clarity of the environment reflection, for example a roughness/gloss map. As it stands the current environment reflections are more of a 'clearcoat' that we are only able to change the thickness of

This is not only due to the lack of clarity/hardness/roughness/gloss control but also the inability to tint the environment reflection. this is essential for realistic metals because metals have no diffuse and show colour through their reflection (specular/environment) and only non metals will always have a grayscale reflection. A suggestion would be to allow the specular RGB values to tint the environment reflection in the same way it currently does with the spec, with both additions we can follow a standardised workflow when texturing making it much easier to get consistent results in game

+1

Smerwin43 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 28, 2022 4:10 am

jlv wrote: ↑Wed Sep 30, 2020 12:18 am Instead of dragging up old topics maybe read what I already wrote on the subject.

Honestly i believe you're misunderstanding what is being asked for because currently the alpha channel of the spec only gives us control over the specular hardness - the only control we have for the environment reflection is opacity, and this is only through a slider in blender when exporting jms. In order to create realistic materials we need a way to add variation to clarity of the environment reflection, for example a roughness/gloss map. As it stands the current environment reflections are more of a 'clearcoat' that we are only able to change the thickness of

This is not only due to the lack of clarity/hardness/roughness/gloss control but also the inability to tint the environment reflection. this is essential for realistic metals because metals have no diffuse and show colour through their reflection (specular/environment) and only non metals will always have a grayscale reflection. A suggestion would be to allow the specular RGB values to tint the environment reflection in the same way it currently does with the spec, with both additions we can follow a standardised workflow when texturing making it much easier to get consistent results in game

My plan (as stated in the linked post above) is to ditch the separate environment layer and make the specular reflect an environment map instead of a point light.