Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:41 pm Post subject:
Help with voxels
Subject description: having color issues or is it just the normals?
Hi, I've recently started voxeling as I'm without a computer capable of heavy 3D programs to my dismay. I was never a fan of voxels and their pixel-based details, so I'm a little new at it after all these years. Can I get some help as to why the coloring is so bad on this test voxel? (stole the turret off of Creator's Providence tank just to reference, since it was publicly released, thanks Creator.)
Also Known As: martx Joined: 28 Oct 2016 Location: PH
Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:59 pm Post subject:
First of all, it's about detail and aesthetics, if you want metal platings on the side that aren't thick, paint them on the body, if you want to make a Hatch, make it one layer higher than the layer that is part of the body...
Voxelling is like painting a blank canvas with your imagination but with volumized pixels. And since we're working with the W2D Engine, we do it microscopically around the size of at least 20 or more for the canvas size. And one voxel is equal to a 1x1x1 pixel on the canvas... I'll stop here
Ugh, it's too hard to explain
The VPL affect how the Voxel's color looks like in the game, the Normals just affect the Light Reflection/Direction of a voxel in-game
And I only have a Lunchbox-type Computer that cannot run any 3D Utilities, and I don't plan on learning 3D, so I got used to the lagginess... _________________ all my posts before 2020 were made by a 13 year-old, forgive these if you see any, thank you QUICK_EDIT
It's more of designs than techniques. The remap strips on the sides are too narrow, and contrast badly with the main color, and you should avoid overusing small remap decorations. The purpose of having remap is to identify, not to add details. Larger areas of remap are used by experienced modders for this purpose.
And due to the WW stupidity made manifest that is called VPL, voxels on the top are always rendered way too dark in game, ruining every detail you put there. You should use brighter colors on the parts atop, and put your details that you wish to emphasize on the side.
Btw, why do you put the turret ring on the engine vents??? _________________ Aka DirtyChicken QUICK_EDIT
Also Known As: evanb90 Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Location: o kawaii koto
Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:27 pm Post subject:
With this voxel, setting aside stylistic/artistic decisions, it looks like your normals are off.
Most evident with the front/backsides of the side sponsons. Renormalizing the voxel partially fixes it, but you'd need to manually paint the normals to get rid of the stair-step effect.
What setting for AutoNormals do you use?
(sidenote, not a huge fan of double-scaling...314k voxel count on that tank, dragged my editor to a halt trying to normalize it) _________________ YR modder/artist, DOOM mapper, aka evanb90
Project Lead Developer, New-Star Strike (2014-)
Former Project Lead DeveloperStar Strike (2005-2012), Z-Mod (2006-2007), RA1.5 (2008-2013), The Cold War (2006-2007) QUICK_EDIT
@Trans_C - You're right about the remap, I suppose filling in between the pairs of remap should look better. I'm sure the darker colors on top are definitely causing a problem; The vents are just me going overboard on painting them.
@Creator - All the new voxels seem brighter on the outside which is confusing, so thanks for the input.
@EVA-251 - I've tried all the options on all the AutoNormals and ended up just using the recommended RA2 autonormals. I'm guessing the best thing to do is paint them by hand. Sorry about the huge size.
Thanks everyone for the input, it's very helpful. _________________ "Don't beg for things; Do it yourself or you'll never get anything." QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 22 Nov 2010 Location: Iszkaszentgyorgy, Hungary
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:17 am Post subject:
I have a really shitty voxel shrinker tool (doesn't handle voxels directly, but their TXT conversions with Mixer and result must also be converted back to it) which can revert the upscale though, notsure how would that help. What's your intentional ingame scale?
EDIT: Oh, normals are wrong, because the voxel is flipped on the Z axis (front is back and vice versa) corrected with HVA. >_>
Went ahead and fixed it along with reverting the voxel to pre-upscaled version. Also renormalized with Cubed 15 Smooth 5 Contrast 2.7 range - as you can see on the attachment.
_________________ "If you didn't get angry and mad and frustrated, that means you don't care about the end result, and are doing something wrong." - Greg Kroah-Hartman
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Also Known As: evanb90 Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Location: o kawaii koto
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:41 am Post subject:
@4Star
By that, do you mean Tangent Plane Auto Normals, which the program recommends?
If so, I would encourage you to not use it. It makes voxels look ugly more often than not, in my experiences.
I personally like using Cubed Auto Normals, with the default settings. Handles round shapes well, gives a smooth appearance to a voxel, and then I go in and hand-paint stuff that is angled/flat. _________________ YR modder/artist, DOOM mapper, aka evanb90
Project Lead Developer, New-Star Strike (2014-)
Former Project Lead DeveloperStar Strike (2005-2012), Z-Mod (2006-2007), RA1.5 (2008-2013), The Cold War (2006-2007) QUICK_EDIT
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