Does anyone from the dev team know why the lighting/rendering system seems to give models a soft curved look along edges?
I got some models which would look much better with hard defined edges but the lighting/rendering system makes them look quite different to how they should, is it something to do with special textures or the game engine?
<!--quoteo(post=1864866:date=Jul 30 2011, 06:17 AM:name=Magneto)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Magneto @ Jul 30 2011, 06:17 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1864866"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Does anyone from the dev team know why the lighting/rendering system seems to give models a soft curved look along edges?
I got some models which would look much better with hard defined edges but the lighting/rendering system makes them look quite different to how they should, is it something to do with special textures or the game engine?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1864876:date=Jul 30 2011, 01:03 PM:name=Zuriki)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zuriki @ Jul 30 2011, 01:03 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1864876"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Can you give an example?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I just found out it can actually be worse then i thought, giving soft edges is bad enough when you want a certain look but after making a quick test model it seems the lighting/rendering is messed up under certain conditions, so the devs might want to fix this?
Model Viewer <img src="http://i.imgur.com/7VV9T.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
In Game Lighting <img src="http://i.imgur.com/5ZyRj.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
In Game Lighting + Flashlight <img src="http://i.imgur.com/G7KlH.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
You can really see what i mean about the soft appearance on parts of the 3D text in the last one but obviously the messed up shadowing is a much bigger problem.
Are you talking about how the text looks rounded (ie, shiney in the middle)? I think if you solve the first issue you'll solve the second. Other than that I don't see what you mean.
Yeah the rounded effect, on smaller detail it's even worse, things look all smooth with no real edges to them, i guess the effect can look ok in some ways but with certain models it takes away from the detail and makes them look a bit odd.
I haven't read the whole Thread, but I have a question.
Is it possible to convert a sketchup model with the texture that is put on it in sketchup? There are a bunch of materials and I if it would work that the material autmaticly exports with the model without touching it up in an extra program it would be mega awesome. Texturing a model in sketchup and saving it is way more easier than doing an extra for this.
If not, is that much work to do for the Dev's to integrate into the engine? There are many many sad models waiting to be compiled with their already aligned textures. I think they and their creator would explode of happyness. :)
I'm not sure, but from what I can gather, it's worth the extra effort to convert them in 3DS Max with the ColladaMax.dle provided, simple to reduce headaches.
<!--quoteo(post=1866367:date=Aug 4 2011, 10:16 AM:name=Zuriki)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zuriki @ Aug 4 2011, 10:16 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1866367"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'm not sure, but from what I can gather, it's worth the extra effort to convert them in 3DS Max with the ColladaMax.dle provided, simple to reduce headaches.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I see. Is it difficult for one that never worked with a "real modeling" program? So converting it also saves the texturs 1:1 that are already aligned in sketchup? Combining mapping and own models seem to be a pretty hard thing for casuals.
The UV maps (texture positioning) will still be saved. I recommend you export .3ds files from SketchUp then use 3DS Max with the ColladaMax plugin to save to .dae files. I recommend doing this way to maintain maximum compatibility between SketchUp and 3ds.
<!--quoteo(post=1866424:date=Aug 4 2011, 12:42 PM:name=Zuriki)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zuriki @ Aug 4 2011, 12:42 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1866424"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The UV maps (texture positioning) will still be saved. I recommend you export .3ds files from SketchUp then use 3DS Max with the ColladaMax plugin to save to .dae files. I recommend doing this way to maintain maximum compatibility between SketchUp and 3ds.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ok, thank you. Maybe the Dev's got more in store for this in the future.
Perhaps it is the model then, all i did was create a block with some 3D text in sketchup, i've had other models with mixed results as well though, the main issue i had before was with the way lighting gives a smooth curved effect to all the models but perhaps that has something to do with the texture layers?
A message from the Dev's would be greatly appreciated so the modding passion of the community can be enhanced. A better exporting and importing for Sketchup and Spark would improve the workflow tremendously, especially for people that can't model or texture at all or don't want to invest too much time in it. Sketchup is the perfect middle ground for this cause in my opinion.
I would really like to hear some opinions from the community and maybe even plans for it by the Devs.
The best solution really, is to not use Google Sketchup - it simply is not designed for creating optimised meshes for games or rendering. In short, it kind of sucks at it. The problem is less with Spark's importers not working properly, and more to do with Sketchup's exporters sucking hardcore. Take my word for it, I have first hand experience with how badly exported Sketchup data usually is.
I don't know if it was google sketch but a big problem i had was models appearing all rounded by the games lighting, so until i know more or there's a fix i can't use the stargate model i was playing around with.
Comments
I got some models which would look much better with hard defined edges but the lighting/rendering system makes them look quite different to how they should, is it something to do with special textures or the game engine?
I got some models which would look much better with hard defined edges but the lighting/rendering system makes them look quite different to how they should, is it something to do with special textures or the game engine?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Do you mean like this screenshot I posted before?
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=112634&view=findpost&p=1857090" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...t&p=1857090</a>
No matter how big radius I tried to give those point lights, I still got those weird shadow edges...
I just found out it can actually be worse then i thought, giving soft edges is bad enough when you want a certain look but after making a quick test model it seems the lighting/rendering is messed up under certain conditions, so the devs might want to fix this?
Model Viewer
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/7VV9T.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
In Game Lighting
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/5ZyRj.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
In Game Lighting + Flashlight
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/G7KlH.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
You can really see what i mean about the soft appearance on parts of the 3D text in the last one but obviously the messed up shadowing is a much bigger problem.
Is it possible to convert a sketchup model with the texture that is put on it in sketchup? There are a bunch of materials and I if it would work that the material autmaticly exports with the model without touching it up in an extra program it would be mega awesome. Texturing a model in sketchup and saving it is way more easier than doing an extra for this.
If not, is that much work to do for the Dev's to integrate into the engine?
There are many many sad models waiting to be compiled with their already aligned textures. I think they and their creator would explode of happyness. :)
I see. Is it difficult for one that never worked with a "real modeling" program? So converting it also saves the texturs 1:1 that are already aligned in sketchup?
Combining mapping and own models seem to be a pretty hard thing for casuals.
Ok, thank you. Maybe the Dev's got more in store for this in the future.
I send a message off so hopefully it's at least been logged and will be looked into at some point.
I tried uploading but it's not working.
A message from the Dev's would be greatly appreciated so the modding passion of the community can be enhanced. A better exporting and importing for Sketchup and Spark would improve the workflow tremendously, especially for people that can't model or texture at all or don't want to invest too much time in it. Sketchup is the perfect middle ground for this cause in my opinion.
I would really like to hear some opinions from the community and maybe even plans for it by the Devs.