arma3_texture

[wooden lantern]

DXT1 versus DXT5 takes the same amount of effort to decode iirc

[noble garnet]

eh? that doesn't sound right

[wooden lantern]

The only time ur gonna notice a performance impact is if the p3d breaks and makes every single vertex into its own selection 💀

if only arma could read bc7 🥀

[noble garnet]

interesting, good to know, where was this from though?

[lucid halo]

Is there a way to set a single mask that would make any hidden selection texture that gets applied to have forced alpha? Like say I have a poster that is worn with maybe some holes through it. I would want any poster I add to have the same holes but without having to create a special image with alphas every time. Is that something that can be done?

[lethal condor]

If the P3D supports alpha, yes

[full quarry]

I dont think any rvmat has alpha mask though.

[olive gale]

does anyone know where is the nohq for the U_B_GEN_Soldier_F_01_co

it's the Gendarmerie outfit (the one without the sweater)

[full quarry]

you probably have to trace what p3d it is connected with

as that you can see in config

[olive gale]

"\A3\Characters_F_Exp\Gendarmerie\B_GEN_Soldier_F.p3d"

[full quarry]

if you got mikeros tools you can check what rvmat it uses with eliteness

or maybe check the data\ folder in the p3ds folder

[olive gale]

I found it out

it's U_I_C_Soldier_Para_3_F_1_nohq.paa

[outer cargo]

hello guys why does my helmet have this kind of blue line and how can I fix it? It doesn't seem to be an issue with rvmat.

[brittle rivet]

Could it be bleed-over from the blue stripe on the top of the helmet?

[outer cargo]

i have checked in OB, is not the reason

[outer cargo]

the reason should be similar to this

[lethal condor]

I cannot even consider a shader issue is happening. Are you sure the helmet is designed so? It seems like a blue helmet with camo cover, and cover is not covering the entire helmet

[outer cargo]

no, is not a blue helmet.

[stray relic]

Do you have a transparency in the texture?

[outer cargo]

you mean transparency in co texture?

[stray relic]

Yes. Or is there a _ca transparent texture present as well?

[outer cargo]

yes

they look like this, I can't see any problem on my end...

[stray relic]

Your textures should be named
yourHelmet1_ca.tga
yourHelmet2_co.tga
that is, with the correct suffix of _ca or _co on the tga BEFORE they are converted to .paa
If you have the transparent _ca texture in front of the _co, you will need to bring it to the top of the texture stack in Object Builder.

[outer cargo]

yeah i renamed it but still got the problem

how to make texture stack in object builder?

[full quarry]

what is texture stack?

[outer cargo]

i mean this

[full quarry]

its just an example how your texture files should be named

[outer cargo]

oh i see but problem are remain the same

[outer cargo]

thanks i'll try it out

[full quarry]

ah alpha

👍

[lyric grove]

hello, I'm trying to create new textures for vehicles, already converted the PAA to an PNG, how can I upload the textures as a mod? (creating a faction mod)

[young patio]

@full quarry & @wooden lantern
so ive got a question regarding textures on buildings how do we get a level of detail on buildings that is not an eyesore when up close?

Like ive got this ruined building here that im making but its got a real resolution issue when its up close from a far it looks good but that can be said for many things.

Im guessing its a UV island/Texture Resolution issue but i just have no idea what to tweak to get it looking "Better"

[full quarry]

multimaterials

[young patio]

what is multimaterials

[full quarry]

the material type buildings use

models from interwebs rarely are set up for that though

rarely = never really

[wooden lantern]

basically

what horriblegoat said

🙏 ur welcome lmao

[raven wren]

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Multimaterial

[silver adder]

you just need to use an export preset that uses RGBA not RGB, or make your own

[brittle citrus]

Hello guys is there a way to change the pivot point in quixel 2.1.1?

[limpid parcel]

I (Think) this is the right place to ask this but if not pls let me know. I'm trying to get help working with an RVMAT file, I am trying to edit an existing mod to change the color of something through an ace interact menu, theres functionality built into the mod for this already, and I think I've reverse engineered it enough to understand that it does the color change, not through a .PAA file but instead through an RVMAT file, which I have no idea how those work.

I've Managed to unbinarize an existing RVMAT to understand how the color change works, and to try to get it into a color that I want, but I can't understand how to re-binarize it, as none of the tools seem to be able to do that, unless im stupid. Can anyone help me troubleshoot this?

[lethal condor]

RVMAT doesn't need a "binarize" just to make it work. So I guess you are misunderstanding something. What actually is your goal here, other than "binarize RVMAT?"

[tranquil mason]

Rvmats are rapified, they probably mean that

[limpid parcel]

Use the RVMAT to change the color of the model, which apparently this mod does without error. I am completely new to this and only understand it to a degree of reverse engineering it. Their RVMAT files are binarized somehow, my understanding of an RVMAT is it just looks something like this

the mod's vmat files look like this

[tranquil mason]

You're missing half of it, there's no Stage classes there

[lethal condor]

Normal Basic doesn't have any stages no?

[tranquil mason]

Thought it did

[lethal condor]

Anyways, why it does matter to you? I don't understand your point

[limpid parcel]

End goal is to change the models color ingame, they have this functionality built in, they're essentially chemlights on the back of a helmet that change colors, They have red green and blue currently built into the mod, i'm trying to get functionality to make a yellow chemlight using the existing code already in the mod, they've somehow done that with RVMAT files instead of a texture map

[lethal condor]

To answer your Q, first pic is unbinned RVMAT, last is binned. But they do basically the same

[limpid parcel]

how would one re-bin an RVMAT?

I think the reason mine isnt working is because its un-binned, again I'm totally new to this and could be wrong.

[lethal condor]

Are you sure THAT is the cause? What are you doing and how's the process?

Also how it does look after you broke it?

[limpid parcel]

Im not certain that binarization is the route cause of this however its literally the only thing that's getting changed other than numbers in the <emmisive> code line

also, as for how it looks, do you mean the code or the model?

[lethal condor]

No, that's not the info I ask. How is the entite process you've attempted? Entire as in, how do you done pack into PBO?

Looks, as in, what and how it is broken (or why you are sure it is)

If you do PBO Manager to open PBO, change a file, pack the entire folder via PBO Manager, put it into Arma 3, that's the cause

[limpid parcel]

Here let me start from the beginning cause I think we're both confused, and I think i've explained it poorly.

There is a mod that changes chemlight colors on the back of a helmet, right now im trying to do a proof of concept by simply taking the existing RVMAT files, that dictate the textures on said chemlights, and just changing the green to yellow. Config stuff aside im just trying to un-binarize the RVMAT so that I can edit it, and in the process of getting the config stuff to work and the textures to read correctly,

the RVMAT just doesnt change the color at all, so chemlight was turning green, I tried to make it yellow, and now it doesnt change color at all. The only thing that changes in term of code and file placement, is the binarization of the RVMAT.

To answer your most recent question, here is how the PBO files look once their packed into the mod, the models load fine, and the other chemlight colors still work, however only the file I touch, (the un-binarized RVMAT) stops working

Sorry, struggled with snipping tool for a sec

This is all packed into a private mod and loaded directly onto the arma launcher using the local mod feature

[lethal condor]

So this?

[limpid parcel]

No?

I'm unpacking the folder with PBO manager, then digging through the mod to find the config, and the RVMAT's and yoinking it out of there

Here's what the inside of the folder looks like right now

thats what it looks like when unpacked

also where im getting the RVMAT from

[lethal condor]

I understood it. But how do you pack it. Which software packs it into the PBO here?

[limpid parcel]

PBO Manager

[lethal condor]

Then that was a yes

[limpid parcel]

Apologies, I must not understand the original question

is this an incorrect method of packing it?

[lethal condor]

Entirely

Summarized issues so far:

1. You unpacked it, but packed the ENTIRE folder, that's not how a modding in Arma 3 works
2. You used PBO Manager to pack, which can cause horrendeous issues

[limpid parcel]

Gotcha, so its not so much the RVMAT, rather how its being re-packaged?

[lethal condor]

Just an unbinned RVMAT can cause no such issue

99.99% of Mod PBO requires ONLY the files that you change, in this case, a RVMAT plus a config file

Which results, like, a few KB of PBO is enough to this job

[limpid parcel]

how can I rectify this then? What is the correct method for packing a mod?

Furthermore can unpacking with PBO manager cause issues?

[lethal condor]

Unpack is not an issue

If you are brand new and you don't know what is config.cpp, tell so, so we know where to start

[limpid parcel]

I know a cpp and the bin version of it, using arma 3 tools

[lethal condor]

And ultimate goal, are you trying to change a green chem to yellow?

[limpid parcel]

For now thats the proof of concept, ultimate goal would be extending functionality to make an additional hidden action to have a total of 4 chem colors

and as mentioned earlier, I am editing an existing mod, so the mod I have is fully functional and not written by myself, I only wish to make an extension to it

[lethal condor]

You are not supposed to overwrite the entire PBO, but add some config lines using your own PBO to apply changes

[limpid parcel]

understood, thanks for your help

and goodnight/goodmorning for your time of the world

[lethal condor]

If you still need to know what to do, I'm still here

[limpid parcel]

I appreciate it, Its 3 AM for me right now so I think im gonna just table it for now and get some rest, come back with a clear head. Then if I need help I'll post another message in here

[sleek temple]

Hi everyone, Im working on a custom DLL extension for procedural blending masks in Arma 3 (for unique snow patterns on surfaces using multi-materials). The DLL loads fine (RPT shows "CallExtension loaded"), and RVExtensionFillTextureSource works in simpler rvmat shaders like 'NormalMapDetailMacroASSpecularDIMap' (object turns with checkered pattern).
However, in a multi shader setup, the entire object becomes gray (no textures at all) when using the extension in Stage4 (mask) or Stage1 (just for test). It seems like the multi-material completely breaks.
class Stage4 { texture="#(argb,512,512,1)extension("SnowMaskExtension","test123")"; texGen="4"; };
Has anyone tried using extensions for procedural textures in multi-materials? Is there a limitation or specific syntax needed?)

[full quarry]

I dont think what you try to do is possible

have you managed to make a proof of concept without the extension?

as thats really where you need to start from

[sleek temple]

I did try a PoC without the extension using built-in procedural like PerlinNoise in Stage4, but its grayscale and it ends up looking like crap. So I went for extension to generate RGB mask (only R for snow, G/B=0).
Originally I made static .paa mask, but with static mask there's no variability for unique patterns...

I dream about it.. https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/DayZ:Projection_Layer

[severe rune]

I don't know why it would fail? Maybe something about shader format? smdi vs ca vs.. whatever

[full quarry]

would this be all custom objects so they surpport the rvmat type you try to apply on them?

[sleek temple]

...
// BLACK
class TexGen0     {uvSource="tex";    class uvTransform{aside[]={1,0,0};    up[]={0,1,0};    dir[]={0,0,1};    pos[]={0,0,0};};};
class TexGen5     {uvSource="tex";    class uvTransform{aside[]={1,0,0};    up[]={0,1,0};    dir[]={0,0,1};    pos[]={0,0,0};};};
class Stage0    {texture="shc\shc_objects\Props_Street\data\Pavements1_CO.paa";                                    texGen="0";};
class Stage5    {texture="shc\shc_objects\Props_Street\data\Pavements1_DTSMDI.paa";                                texGen="5";};
class Stage11    {texture="shc\shc_objects\Props_Street\data\Pavements1_NOHQ.paa";                                texGen="0";};
// RED
class TexGen1     {uvSource="tex";    class uvTransform{aside[]={1,0,0};    up[]={0,1,0};    dir[]={0,0,1};    pos[]={0,0,0};};};
class TexGen6     {uvSource="tex";    class uvTransform{aside[]={1,0,0};    up[]={0,1,0};    dir[]={0,0,1};    pos[]={0,0,0};};};
class Stage1    {texture="shc\shc_objects\surfaces\Snow_Dirty_3_co.paa";                                texGen="1";};
class Stage6    {texture="shc\shc_objects\surfaces\Snow_Dirty_3_DTSMDI.paa";                              texGen="6";};
class Stage12    {texture="shc\shc_objects\surfaces\Snow_Dirty_3_nohq.paa";                                texGen="1";};
...
// MASK, MC, AS/ADS
class TexGen4     {uvSource="tex";    class uvTransform{aside[]={1,0,0};    up[]={0,1,0};    dir[]={0,0,1};    pos[]={0,0,0};};};
//class Stage4    {texture="shc\shc_objects\noise\Perlin_Noise_Fractal_Bushy_RED_mask.paa";                    texGen="4";};
class Stage4    {texture="#(argb,512,512,1)extension("SnowMaskExtension","test123")";                            texGen="4";};
class Stage9    {texture="#(argb,8,8,3)color(0,0,0,0,MC)";                                    texGen="4";};
class Stage10    {texture="#(argb,8,8,3)color(1,1,1,1,ADS)";                                     texGen="4";};```

[sleek temple]

yes

[severe rune]

"The entire object becomes grey"
Even if only ONE texture is extension? All others break too?

[sleek temple]

yes

1. multi (pavement texture, black mask #(argb,8,8,3)color(0,0,0,1,Mask))
2. multi (pavement texture, snow texture, texture mask)
3. multi (pavement texture, snow texture, extension mask)
4. multi (extension texture, black mask #(argb,8,8,3)color(0,0,0,1,Mask))
5. no material just extension assigned in p3d as texture

[severe rune]

Can you pack me that thing together in pbo+dll.
plus preferably extension source, then I'll try to check where it fails.

Also any error messages in RPT while loading the object?

[fiery hatch]

Hello all, would someone be able to point in the direction to be able to make edits to uniforms? For example, I would like to take a t-shirt from the NATO short sleeve combat uniform and apply it to a different uniform. Thank you!

[sleek temple]

as far as I know, in arma 3, the uniform model is integral, that is, the top of the clothes + the bottom of the clothes is one model. Therefore, it is impossible to change the uniform in parts conditionally through the config. Manually editing p3d only

[fiery hatch]

How would one manually edit the p3d?

[severe rune]

You need the source files, which you don't have

[sleek temple]

sent you PM

[severe rune]

No need to notify me. I can see my DM's.
It might take a few days till I get to it

[unreal magnet]

It's usually set to coordinate 0,0,0, depending on where you model is.

[vocal copper]

glad i'm not the 52 messages person

[wooden lantern]

Someone needs to take a hint 😭

[tranquil mason]

@sudden stream cameo

Second in line

[sudden stream]

🙏

Server was crashing

[hybrid cedar]

I want to add custom insignia to arma, how should I edit the image before converting it into PAA to fit with ingame lighting so it wont get too dark or shiny, and blend well with shadow?

[full quarry]

I would compare color and lightness balance with vanilla patches.

That can get you close

[hybrid cedar]

problem is i dont have any references on vanilla patches as in raw(png or jpg) files before turned into paa

[full quarry]

Paa can be saved as filename.png/tga in texview2

[hybrid cedar]

will look into it

[full quarry]

basically just open paa -> file menu -> save as -> writen filename with wanted extension (the list does not have options but the filename field accepts png and tga)

[scenic perch]

Hello everyone! I'm writing to ask what I need and how I can edit the texture of a mod model. The model I want to add the texture to is the German tank from Nod WW1.

But I don't know how to do it, and the tutorials I've found on YouTube aren't very... helpful, I suppose.

[tranquil mason]

If they allow you to extract textures, the tl;dr is:

1. Open pbo
2. Extract the _co.paa texture(s)
3. Convert to png
4. Edit it any photo editor
5. Export, convert to paa with ImageToPAA in the A3 Tools
6. Create your own mod inheriting from theirs and path to your textures

[full quarry]

Reterxturing only works if the models are designed for it

as in they support retexturing

if they are then what Dart there said

[tall pilot]

Does anyone know why the seat textures behind the cockpit glass appear white?
When there is no glass, the seat textures display normally, but once viewed through the cockpit glass, they turn completely white.
I’ve already tested replacing the glass .paa texture and the .rvmat material, but it didn’t make any difference.https://www.imagebam.com/view/ME1A4BQ4

[raven wren]

Alpha sorting issue generally

[tall pilot]

So, how can this be fixed?

[raven wren]

In object builder you can try:

faces > move top
or
faces > sort alpha

[pale kraken]

Owning Substance painter

Not sure if to get the designer from Steam sale or just buy it straight from their website through the Live...

[raven wren]

Just as a thought for others searching in the future

To fix this in blender with the ObjectBuilder addon, make sure the alpha materials are at the bottom of the material list.

[distant rose]

new quixel update out today

[raven wren]

Not allowed to offer financial gain for implementation services

[cunning oriole]

my bad

didnt see anything about it in rules?

actually where did you even see that

@raven wren

[loud flume]

We're you advertising a service @cunning oriole

Rule 6

[cunning oriole]

no i was offering discord if someone would teach me something

[loud flume]

Idk what "offering discord" means

[raven wren]

May be rule 6 for the discord but it’s in the licence for the tools that people can’t use them commercially or for paid work to my knowledge

A <@&105621371547045888> would know better than I on the specifics

[full quarry]

whats the problem?

[cunning oriole]

can u offer discord nitro for someone to teach u something

[full quarry]

Id rather you just asked the questions here

people help here just for sake of helping

[copper helm]

What do I need to do to make tattoos retain the dark black color while also keeping the body detail like veins?

If I make the path to a custom rvmat(\Omega_Identity\data\Bacon\arm_Tattoo.rvmat) I lose the hand details and if I path to the default a3 (\A3\Characters_F\Heads\Data\hl_White_bald_muscular.rvmat) I lose the color of the tattoos

[full quarry]

dont change the nohq

and dont change the AS either

or the SMDI

tattoos affect none of those

[copper helm]

I have those 3 pulled from the a3 defaults and they are unchanged. But when I do so the tattoos look very faded. How would I keep them darker?

[stray relic]

Tell us what you have done so far and we can tell you what's missing.

[glacial shell]

hey guys

any good civ population script apart from COS available?

[little bear]

how can i create a 100% transparent paa file

[tranquil mason]

Make an empty image, rename to ..._ca.paa, convert

[little bear]

Whats the importance of the (underscore) ca? Also, how can I make an empty image? Im totally new to this

[full quarry]

you cant really use that to hide parts properly

[little bear]

Why not (Im totally new to this)? In a weapon’s config file I provided a file path to a non-existant texture and it created the result I wanted. It caused a missing texture error in-game. Was hoping to provide/use a 100% transparent texture to achieve the same result but without an error..?

[full quarry]

its not really the right way to hide things. since you are new can you explain a little what you are trying to achieve?

[little bear]

A weapon (AK) has two grip options - vertical grip or Angled grip. The grip is listed in hiddenselections and is baked into the model. I want to “create” a version of the model without a grip. Ie the character grips the handguard. If I provide a “dummy” texture path for both grip options and change the grip anim, it achieves what I want but produces a missing texture error.

[full quarry]

does the grip have shadow?

[little bear]

Guess so…?? No clue really

[full quarry]

well if it does the hiddenselection could not hide that for example

and if the model is made properly giving it an empty transparent texture would likely not work because the model expects a non transparent color texture

[little bear]

So weird that providing a nonexistant texture path works. Is there a more elegant solution?

[full quarry]

you can try an 0 transparency procedural texture. but it might not work

chances are 50/50 though

the weapon might have been done "wrong" in sense that it has transparency enabled in it

where it should not

as that is more expensive for performance

[little bear]

How do I create a transparent texture?

[tranquil mason]

In that case just use an empty string ""

[little bear]

Tried that for the selection and it didnt work. The texture has “” by default.

[tranquil mason]

Sounds like an off setup, but anyways you can use any 2d editing software (photoshop, gimp, etc) to create a new image, and then you can just delete the background if there is one.

It will vary for whatever software you use

[tranquil mason]

Very, the _ca suffix is what tells the PAA converter that the image has transparency

[little bear]

I tried doing that earlier. This is my first time ever created textures. I’m not sure if I did it right. Every time I tried the grip would either be dark black or un textured white.

[little bear]

Interesting. Do i use that naming syntax when I convert it from png to paa? Ie should the png be named “test_ca”

[tranquil mason]

Yes
There are other suffixes as well for different types of material maps

E.g. _Co for diffuse / color, nohq for normal, etc.

[little bear]

Tried using “” for BOTH grips and it worked! I think I used “” for only one of the grips before.

[fleet apex]

If any 2d texture lords are willing to do a couple textures for me from the Expeditionary Forces C-DLC, that’d be straight gangster.
Shoot me a dm for details.

[lethal condor]

#creators_recruiting

[frozen blade]

wrong channel

[river prairie]

I’m looking for a tool that’s good for texturing house models and able to make adshq maps. Would Substance Painter the best choice ?

[ashen violet]

I used blender and xNormal for adshq for the interior, exterior I use substance painter for AS and MC. I use blender to bake the color masks and actually apply textures/scale UVs for the multimat

[full quarry]

Blender has worked for me for that

[river prairie]

Thanks, I will give it a try

[river prairie]

can someone explain for what the v4 stands for in face properies in object builder?

Idk if the question should be in #arma3_model

[full quarry]

its fine here. Im just making a guess but its a fourth vertex of a quad face

[river prairie]

I realised when changing the textures and rvmats and the peice of face has an v4 set that the sections count goes up by 1

even tho I would use the same rvmat and texture it would still go up by 4

if its 4 pieces with v4

[stray relic]

v4 is indeed the 4th vertex on a quad. It's recommended to triangulate export from blender to p3d though, in which case there will only be v1 to v3.

[river prairie]

someone has an idea how to remove these white lines ? I removed all the transparency from the texture and it appears to only have this effect on some specific parts of the model, other parts with the same texture and rvmat seem to be fine

[raven wren]

In object builder you can try:

faces > move top
or
faces > sort alpha

Or if you’re exporting from blender, make sure the alpha texture is at the bottom of the texture list

For your mesh and glass textures

[dense peak]

Sorry for the late answer i fix it thank guys !

[river prairie]

goat, move top worked perfectly

[river prairie]

https://youtu.be/LyTbdZoDTyg?si=GC6VfHkl6Wtj0vfi

The retexturing worked out pretty well so far, gonna try to make an AS next

[timid glacier]

Maybe someone has found a way to change the textures or color of the default weapons in the game without installing mods, etc. Or maybe there’s information about when it will be possible to do this?

[full quarry]

can not be done

[timid glacier]

Maybe one of the updates will provide such a feature?

[full quarry]

no dont think so.

[kind wave]

so my model was perfectly fine yesterday and today until about an 10 mins ago, now it looks like this, i cant change or fix the mats, anyone have any ideas

plus the face count keeps increasing every time i clear and import the model

[brittle rivet]

You'll need one of the Enfusion channels for help
This is the Arma 3 channel, only Real Virtuality here
Maybe #enfusion_model or #enfusion_texture

[kind wave]

ah bugger chose the wrong one

[cunning oriole]

anyone have a good substance painter export preset for arma they’d share?

[full quarry]

I think we got one in the pins.

[tranquil mason]

This is what I use personally, also has emissive bits for the Stage8 stuff

I've seen someone using one that includes the StageTI texture, though I'm not sure what they used for it

[full quarry]

its for the thermal heat mapping

mainly used for vehicles and weapons

[tranquil mason]

Yeah I know, I mean what channels are used for the texture

[full quarry]

aa right

[ashen granite]

quixel is life

[cinder perch]

I've tried to search more about this issue, but I can't seem to find any conclusive answers and/or solutions, but is the issue that causes the blocky appearance of this model a modelling-issue or engine/lighting issue?

The model is shaded smooth in both Blender and in Object Builder. The only "sharp edges" are around the cuffs and collar.

Have also tested on other terrains in other lighting conditions, and I still see the same issue.

Wasn't sure if this was also a texturing issue or modelling issue, so I've asked here, but can shift this to #arma3_model if needed.

[full quarry]

does it have normalmap applied?

through rvmat

[cinder perch]

It does, yes.

[full quarry]

then most likely its caused by the normalmap

but also could be badly baked ambient occlusion

[cinder perch]

I might recheck that, doubt it being the normal as I would expect that to be visible in the blender workspace as well, and it isn’t…

[full quarry]

different shader might handle it differently

[cinder perch]

Gives me something to experiment with in any case.

Will report back with findings to assist future troubleshooters.

[full quarry]

for example if object did have say sharp edges all over for and were baked from a HP model the resulting normalmap would not work right if the sharp edges were set smooth

[cinder perch]

Normals and Ambient made no impact, still seeing the same artifact. I even removed the link to the rvmat and I still see the same surface defect.

[stray relic]

Is the model p3d triangulated?
Check there are no back faces.
Try disabling shadows in game.

[cinder perch]

Unsure how to check the triangulation or back-faces; that something specific to Object Builder or can that be checked in Blender?

[full quarry]

in your source model

in blender

[cinder perch]

-# going to move to the model chat, since this is evolving to model discussion.

[stray relic]

Best to triangulate in blender and export triangulated, otherwise Object Builder will do it's own thing with normals. Some of those artifacts look a bit like quads.

[cunning oriole]

what software r u baking it in?

[cinder perch]

I can’t speak for the original maps that came with the model, but I used substance to make adjustments to the intensity of both the ambient map and normal map. In saying that, I also did straight paa conversions using the original maps as control tests, and it made no difference. I’ve ruled out texture issues being responsible for the appearance.

[full quarry]

you may need to invert the green channel of the normalmap

[fluid steppe]

How to make chrome texture? I'm currently making Max's stolen interceptor from fury road

[full quarry]

chrome/shiny parts need separate rvmat tailored for the shiny look

[snow crest]

Does anyone know how to make the custom Arma 3 unit patches show up on custom uniforms

I cant figure it out

[faint zodiac]

i don't think anyone ever asked that befor 🙂

sorry m8 i don't know

[brittle rivet]

It's a specific hiddenSelection or named selection iirc
I think the information I saw was for vehicles, but characters/uniforms are likely the same
Haven't tried it, so not completely certain

[tranquil mason]

What raven said, you need an insignia selection on your uniform

[snow crest]

Awesome thank you guys

[sand plover]

Had a question regarding re-texturing TOS and rights if anyone is able to answer.

1. Is retexturing for a private community unit allowed from other peoples mods? E.g. adding a patch to a helmet?

2. If yes, is promoting this as something the unit does for it's players allowed?

I was looking into doing this but was unsure on the ethics on it, so some clarification would be much appreciated before I do it and get on the naughty list haha.

I'm well aware going beyond that scope of actually straight up using someone else's work and uploading it to the workshop is frowned upon heavily, I just wanted some clarification on private non-redistributed usage.

Appreciate it 🙂

[full quarry]

ReTexturing is typically allowed but check mods license for clarification.

ReTexturing only needs the new texture file and a config file that contains a class for the ReTextured thing and uses the new texture through the configs hiddenaSelections parameters.

So you don't repack the original mod or any of it's contents

[sand lotus]

Hello All, I am making a road but the texture is extremely dark, it should look like the photo on the right side. (see photo) any idea what setting needs to be changed to brighten it? https://postimg.cc/ftr3rprR

[stray relic]

Appearance of textures is related to the _co diffuse and the material (rvmat) values and associated maps (potentially _nohq, _smdi, _as for super shader).
Poor shadows can also break things, which can be checked by disabling shadows in game options.

[sand lotus]

Thank you Apollo, I was able to get it working! It was the rvmat. I appreciate your help, have a great day!

[signal herald]

hey guys do u know what could be casuing this i vee been trying to make this helmet for my unit but the rvmat makes it look like shit and i cant find why

[cunning oriole]

dos it look like that in game or only the model viewer

[signal herald]

both in game and model viewer

[cunning oriole]

can you send the code for your rvmat?

[signal herald]

yep

i can send the textures too if u want

[cunning oriole]

try stripping it down to only this information and just replace my nohq, as and smdi with your own.

emmisive[] = {0,0,0,0};
specular[] = {0.2,0.2,0.2,1};
specularPower = 20;

PixelShaderID = "Super";
VertexShaderID = "Super";

class Stage1 { texture = "KRWearables\data\Textures_AssaulterFullRig\AssaulterFullRig_nohq.paa"; };
class Stage2 { texture = "#(argb,8,8,3)color(0.5,0.5,0.5,1,DT)"; };
class Stage3 { texture = "#(argb,8,8,3)color(0,0,0,0,MC)"; };
class Stage4 { texture = "KRWearables\data\Textures_AssaulterFullRig\AssaulterFullRig_as.paa"; };
class Stage5 { texture = "KRWearables\data\Textures_AssaulterFullRig\AssaulterFullRig_smdi.paa"; };
class Stage6 { texture = "#(ai,64,64,1)fresnel(0.4,0.2)"; };

then in object builder assign the co file manually on the texture slot and keep the material as the rvmat i sent above

[signal herald]

ok

[cunning oriole]

lemme know if it works

[signal herald]

so i just put this on the rvmat and replace the file paths or only replace something from mine with yours?

[cunning oriole]

just delete all the code in your rvmat and paste mine, then replace the file paths that lead to my paas with file paths that lead to yours

[signal herald]

ok

yeah it didnt work

[cunning oriole]

what result did u get?

[cunning oriole]

but did you try in game?

[signal herald]

isnt it the same thing?

[cunning oriole]

I’ve had things that don’t work in the model viewer that work in game

[signal herald]

ok i ll check

[stray relic]

Lighting is a bit different in buldozer, so for fine tweaking artists often change their buldozer config to be more accurate to game lighting (which also changes, map to map).
However, assuming that your _co is ok, this looks more like a problem with the rvmat, and probably either the _as or the _smdi.

In your original rvmat, try replacing as an experiment:

{
   texture = "#(argb,8,8,3)color(1,1,1,1,AS)";```
and 
```class Stage5
{
  texture = "#(argb,8,8,3)color(1,0,1,0,SMDI)";```

and also disable shadows in your game options.

[signal herald]

ok

in game or Buldozer?

[stray relic]

either, just trying to make sure you don't have shadows clipping outside the object making it dark

[signal herald]

ok

ok so without shadows its atleast a bit better

[stray relic]

Are you using a Shadow LOD in the p3d?

[signal herald]

yes

my goal is for the helmet to look close to this

[stray relic]

Copy that shadow mesh and temporarily paste it over the top of your first res LOD (0 or 1) - if you see red shading that is the shadow sticking out of the res LOD, that is a problem.

[signal herald]

ok

[stray relic]

It generally needs to be fully contained under the surface of the res LOD

[signal herald]

so basically under the resolution

[stray relic]

Just noticed an error in your rvmat too, stages 5 and 6 are wrong

[signal herald]

so i think that is wrong, right?

the white is the shadow LOD, im viewing it in Blender too

[stray relic]

Use this rvmat, exactly as it is found
https://hastebin.com/share/uvoxaqicog.kotlin

[signal herald]

this one seems to be much better overall

[stray relic]

Ok, now add back in, one at a time, your _as and your _smdi texture maps.

[signal herald]

i did that

[stray relic]

Not before you tested it without them though surely?

[signal herald]

oh ok

oh ye i think i found the problem

so my _smdi got completely fkd

i mean the texture itself

how can i make a new one?

[stray relic]

How did you make the nohq and the as maps?

[signal herald]

the nohq and _as were ready, the smdi was made by a friend

but i know i how to make a _nohq

[stray relic]

"were ready"? You gave the impression you made the helmet model in blender?

[signal herald]

u mean if i have the permission to use the model?

and the textures

[stray relic]

i vee been trying to make this helmet for my unit
So with this statement you made, we assume you are the model creator, can change the model in blender, and therefore are probably also the one making the textures.
If it's not your model after all, you'll need to confirm that you have permission from the IP holder to modify it if you're changing the p3d.
If you're just trying to do a simple retex, you shouldn't be repacking the p3d itself, but just using hiddenSelections.
Either way, if you aren't using something like Substance Painter to retex, making new _smdi map will be hard.

[signal herald]

srry ma bad, i didnt clarify, by saying "make" i meant port

and yes i have permission

[stray relic]

If you have permission, simply ask the author to send you the original texture or substance painter files.

[signal herald]

but the mod will be accesible through Google drive since it uses some mods that are banned as dependecies

[stray relic]

You'll have to forgive some suspicion here, as "port" generally means "stolen", which we do not allow or offer help with.
Now you're talking about banned dependencies, I think I'll withdraw my assistance, sorry.

[signal herald]

its ok, btw thnx for your help with this i managed to fix even without the _smdi, have a great a day

the mod itself only includes 3 things which are all bought

[lament lark]

I am new to texturing and want to edit so that some uniforms and vehicles have the correct textures, is there a tutorial available anywhere so I can learn what files I need to grab or convert so that I can retexture things in substance 3d editor?

[full quarry]

you cant do retexturing in substance painter

3d models are not available for use

[lament lark]

How are all these tutorials on youtube utilising substance editor to retexture uniforms?

[full quarry]

example of such tutorial?

this is not retexturing as far as I can tell but texturing the actual model in his mod

but sure sometimes mods can share models for this

but typically they dont

[lament lark]

I apologise if I am an idiot, I am very new to this.

If I have a uniform and say, want to change it so instead of the 55th, it says the 89th and I want to make the uniform look battered. This is only done by taking the pbo for the uniform, converting to png, putting in photo editor like photoshop, making the adjustment and then converting back to pbo and inserting into the modpack?

If I am using surface editor, I am altering the actual model the texture will go over? That is if I have permission or am the owner of the actual 3d model.

[full quarry]

proper retexturing works if a model is set up to use hiddenselections

your new mod would then contain only the new texture and a config that points hiddenselections of unit/item/vehicle to your new texture

[lament lark]

Are hiddenselections placeholders for things like "backpack", "uniform",etc and the textures just get linked to those placeholders when you select a texture?

[full quarry]

a model has textures assigned

hiddenselection is part of model (a selection that can be all surface covered by X texture or part of surface covered by X texture) that can have a texture swapped by config

vanilla models are mostly set up for this

mod assets depends on what author has wanted to make

[lament lark]

Alright, that makes more sense. So I don't need substance editor, photoshop will work for me since I only want to change the colors on uniforms to mark veterancy and such?

[full quarry]

yes

substance painter is more relevant to making new models

[lament lark]

To verify that process for a uniform, I find the mod with the uniforms, go to the the PBO manager file that contains the .paa's of the uniforms, put those into texview, convert to png and drag into photoshop, edit what I want, Go to imagetoPAA on the arma 3 tools and then convert to PAA, drag into the PBO manager and I should be good?

[brittle rivet]

Pretty much
Texview2 can convert back to paa, just load a png file, then save as .paa
You should make the config for it as a separate mod though
Some guides for it here, and some other notes: #arma3_texture message
iirc, uniforms can be retextured by script, if you don't want to make a mod for it

[lament lark]

We had someone in the unit previously make an aux mod but they have sense become too busy to attend ops, the uniforms I want to change textures are already in the aux mod, would it be fine for me to just replace those or do you suggest making a new aux mod?

[brittle rivet]

In that case, you could probably just add to or modify your current aux mod
Ask the guy who made the aux mod, he might have source files you can work from (sometimes easier to use),
and should have the steam workshop entry (if you have it on steam)

[heady salmon]

In a texture library for an object, which file would be responsible for making the object "chrome" or metal?

is it rvmat?

[lethal condor]

Yes (plus SMDI). You may want to check some pinned posts

[torn mango]

Would anyone happen to have a collection of masks for the fabric sections for uniforms?
I'm looking to quickly offset and rotate panels of camo and having masks would help. I feel like this is something someone may have already shared?

[full quarry]

there are some templates around but not for everything

[torn mango]

Specifically I'm currently looking for the U_I_Combatuniform

The template collections have been very helpful. Especially the large collections of Petes.

[lament lark]

Is this a file path issue causing my texture to not be loaded?

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1159328517360730172/1476347947183636480/togif.gif

[full quarry]

Usually yes

[old lynx]

I want to make a camo for a vehicle, is there a guide for that?

[full quarry]

you can look up BI forums for older posts about "retexturing" or look up chat history here about it

I recall a mention of video about it too but off the top of my head cant remember details about that

[limber oxide]

I found a .pbo lighting file I like, is anyone able to help me get it into the game

[full quarry]

what is pbo lighting file?

[limber oxide]

I have a .pbo file, I’m trying to get it into a mod

[full quarry]

ok so you cant just take someone elses pbo

[limber oxide]

?

[full quarry]

where did you find the pbo?

[limber oxide]

It was sent to me, all im trying to do is make it into a mod, all the other mods are .pbo files made into a mod

[full quarry]

we dont really work with sketchy files like that

[limber oxide]

How is it sketchy?

Aren’t all arms mods just .pbo files at the end of the day

Like when you export a mission it is in a .pbo

[full quarry]

yes but someone sends you a pbo is weird

thats not how mods are made

[limber oxide]

If there is anything that isn’t sketchy

[full quarry]

you are not supposed to repack someone elses pbos into your mod

[limber oxide]

I knew u would say that

It’s not theirs

[full quarry]

its someones you dont tell me

its not yours

and if you make a mod pack you got other stuff in there too

[limber oxide]

What are you talking about

[full quarry]

the sketchy stuff

[limber oxide]

Is there any mods out there already published that resemble what I’m liking for

[tranquil mason]

You didn’t say what you're looking for
You said you have a "lighting pbo" without saying what you even mean by that.

And what does it have to do with textures?

[strange onyx]

So I am currently trying to make different textures for the same asset. I have the hidden selections textures mcthingy in the config file setup I think correct, but it is not overriding the texture that is set when exporting the .p3d. Images for additional clarity

If I have that "texture source" thing in the material properties blank, the objects show up in arma with no texture

Changing the textures in this way has worked for retexturing of other assets (just changing the hidden selections textures to a different file)

[full quarry]

all models should have base texture and material set up so information from them gets baked on the model on binarization

it is a weird myth that models should not be textured for hiddenselections to work

only thing why textures would not appear is the pathing goes wrong

and does not match what gets packed into pbo

[strange onyx]

By the way I think it works, it shouldn't matter. Defining a texture in the config should override whatever I set on the model, which it appears to do in retextures of existing assets

But in this case the texture is not changing. The config has different textures, which are a green, blue and orange version, but in game they are all the green version

[full quarry]

Typically this may be due to wrong use of pboPrefix or maybe no Pdrive is used so folder structure is something else. Or P drive folder structure has something extra that breaks it

or missing hiddenSelection vertex groups

on model

or in model.cfg sections to activate the hiddenselections

in your case Camo and Light

[strange onyx]

It could be that last one because I don't have a model.cfg. I assumed that was for rigging stuff

[full quarry]

it is required for hiddenselections to work as well

[strange onyx]

Ahkay that'd do it

[full quarry]

you can find the requirements in the pinned messages at #arma3_model if I remember right

[strange onyx]

I'm guessing that vertex groups in the p3d have to be specifically told to be hidden selections

[full quarry]

the name connects it

in config, model.cfg and model itself

[strange onyx]

That was indeed the issue
Thank you once again

[strange onyx]

This has however highlighted a new issue, as seen below. The emissive part of the assets do not appear to have any alpha, and the transparent background of the texture is rendered as black, making it clearly visible when the structure is illuminated. The rvmat basics guide mcthingy on the internet doesn't appear to show any method of making something transparent to the viewer, only transparent to shadows (which this is)

The emissive material is this

Copied from the a3 lights

I am going to try adding "RenderFlags[] = {"NoReceiveShadow","AddBlend"};", which I can see in the scopes

It did not

I should've actually read the rvmat thingy

This still did not help

[full quarry]

does the model have the _CA transparent texture assigned?

thats one necessary thing for a surface to be flagged as transparent on binarization

[strange onyx]

Can you assign more than one texture? Since it does have a texture which has alpha in it, but it is not "the _CA transparent texture"

There is a
class StageTI
{
texture = "a3\data_f\default_vehicle_ti_ca.paa";
};
In the rvmat for glass and stuff

[full quarry]

thats the thermal stage

not related to transparency

the default textures are assinged on the model texture slot

and 1 face can have 1 texture/material

but a model can have multiple

in blender you would make multiple blender material slots, assign those on the mesh where appropriate and give each materal a Arma texture/material path

[strange onyx]

The emissive part is an entirely separate geometry, mostly for convenience, but it does have a specific emissive texture on it which includes alpha gradients

[full quarry]

only exception is multimaterial, with that you would not assign a texture. only the rvmat

[strange onyx]

I can do this, however where/what is this "the _CA transparent texture"

a3/data_f has a lot of textures that end in _CA, none of which mention transparency

[full quarry]

transparency is on the alpha channel of the texture

_CA suffix means the conversion to .paa saves the alpha channel properly

[strange onyx]

Ah okay so the _CA is the alpha of the texture file

[full quarry]

its a texture with a alpha channel

[strange onyx]

So like you'd have object_diff you have object_CA to represent "object_alpha"

[full quarry]

_CO is meant for solid non transparent textures

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma:_Texture_Naming_Rules

[strange onyx]

The _CA texture would be the one that goes here

[full quarry]

_CO typically does not have alpha channel saved. its not recommended to have that at all as it can cause issues

[full quarry]

if you want to see it in blender yes

but for arma it would be assigned on the arma texture slot

[strange onyx]

So does the _CA use the alpha of the image or does it use a black-white gradient scale to represent alpha

[full quarry]

assuming you use blender toolbox and export to p3d

[strange onyx]

I am

[strange onyx]

I know some engines prefer to have black-white gradient to represent alpha
Including gimp interestingly

[full quarry]

all Arma textures use the textures own alpha channel for transparency

[strange onyx]

Okay

[full quarry]

not seprate texture

[strange onyx]

I am going to quickly test something

That being renaming one of the emissive textures to have _CA at the end

That, did not work

[strange onyx]

Okay I have found the issue. The _CA texture must be assigned in the model

Thank you for your help again

And yes I know that material assignment isn't correct

[light cobalt]

Would anyone be able to link me to or supply me assets I can use for faction flags for countries/orgs/militaries around the world?

Trying to make a base mod for factions similar to CBA

[strange onyx]

So an interesting thing has happened (I haven't done new textures and materials and stuff for this particular building yet but I would like some knowledge)
For some reason it has gone slightly transparent. The base texture has no alpha (completely opaque) and has _CO at the end

[strange onyx]

This uses the same material as the other buildings but they are not partially transparent

[full quarry]

the _Co likely still has alpha channel which gets saved

[full quarry]

these are not multimaterial right?

[strange onyx]

Nope

Same material, different but very similar textures (both have a base colour layer with no transparency, with other stuff layered on top)
Left one is very slightly transparent, right one is not

[full quarry]

while texture is not transparent it may still carry alphachannel

and be marked as "transparent"

even if the texture is fully opaque

[strange onyx]

Hmm

[full quarry]

or the textures empty space might be transparent

[strange onyx]

Actually I will check if it is a model issue or a texture issue by using the right one's texture on the left one

[full quarry]

so check texture an remove alpha channel, save again and convert to paa again

[strange onyx]

So about that...

I could just save the texture in RGB rather than RGBA

But that "base colour" layer is identical between the 2 buildings

It is indeed a model issue, not a texture issue

Probably because of the default texture assignment in the model export, which I haven't changed

[tranquil mason]

Is the default texture in model CA?

[strange onyx]

No it doesn't have a properly named texture, it has a texture ending in _diff that doesn't exist anymore

I have fixed that and it is still slightly transparent

I will save the .paa in RGB rather than RGBA and see if that works

Still slightly transparent, texture is RGB not RGBA and has _CO (and unless my knowledge of colour spaces is wrong, it can't have an alpha channel), default texture assignment in the .p3d has been corrected, material is the same as the fully opaque one

[cunning oriole]

what is this monolith from? looks cool

[tranquil mason]

Looks like a warhammer thing

[strange onyx]

It’s a 40k thing, based on (but not ports of) the structures in Dawn of War 1

[strange onyx]

Okay I have found more information
The objects are not transparent to regular visuals, they are transparent to shadows. When shadows are disabled they are fully opaque

[full quarry]

the problem is the engine counts the object as transparent. Thisi is usually due to it being assigned a transparency containing main texture

[strange onyx]

I don't see how it could be that, especially because the other objects aren't doing this, but when I use their texture this object is still doing it

[strange onyx]

(As seen here)

I'm going to re-export the p3ds so that the only thing that is different between the working and not working model is the shape. Same default texture assignment in the model export, same hidden selections texture assignment, same material

Without shadows, with shadows
Which is interesting because neither of these have a shadowvolume lod and thus shouldn't be casting shadows

Hmmmmm

Though again there is no difference in the geometry lods aside from their shapes

The only difference is that the fire geometry for the smaller working building has a mass assigned and the larger not working building does not

[full quarry]

yes this is expected result from the engine flagging the object as transparent

[full quarry]

this has nothing to do with it

you are going in way wrong direction

[strange onyx]

It is describing what is happening but it doesn't really make sense

And the fire geometry mass thingy is the only difference between them other than the shape

[full quarry]

your p3d assigned texture contains alpha channel, get rid of that

[strange onyx]

The p3d assigned texture is the same between those 2 objects

As in they are the same file

[strange onyx]

This also was not it, and it wouldn't make sense if it was

Here is both of them in blender

I'll set them to use the same material slot in blender so they can't actually be any different and see what happens

[strange onyx]

Tried this, and it worked, the shadows are a bit scuffed

[strange onyx]

It would seem that enabling the "forcenotalpha" setting in the geometry lod and actually adding a shadow volume lod has fixed it. No idea what is causing it and why there isn't a problem with the other objects, but hey ho

[full quarry]

this is not needed normally

how many materials does this thing have?

[strange onyx]

1

The emission is on a separate, parented object and doesn't appear to have the issue

In that particular image both of the objects have the same material slot in blender

The other thing is that they didn't have a shadow volume lod, which is needed for them to cast shadows. But it was casting shadows
(They now do have shadow volume lods)

With the forcenotalpha thing and a shadow lod, they are now behaving correctly

[full quarry]

all exported objects in blender counts as one object in p3d so together that object has 2 materials? 1 for solid parts, 1 for the glowing transparent parts?

forcenotAlpha is a bandaid solution that causes other kinds of artifacts with transparency

its not the root cause of the issue

[strange onyx]

Yes

Technically 3 because there is a fire geometry material as well

[full quarry]

if you pack a p3d without the glowing parts does that also show the shadow artifacts through?

[strange onyx]

I will test that

Although both the big one and the little ones (that don't have this issue) use the same method for the emissive

[strange onyx]

Nope. Without the emissive the shadows aren't appearing

I did also disable the forcenotalpha

Well I have found an issue. There is some incorrect geometry in the emissive model. It is not the issue nor would it be visible

[full quarry]

ok good. Can you show the mesh of the solid parts and the mesh of the transparent parts in wireframe mode?

[strange onyx]

I can send you all the mod files if you want but sure

(Also solid ones with wireframes and face orientation)

There's about 1mm of separation between the emissive faces and the solid faces, so that their textures don't clip together

[full quarry]

👍 That does not seem like its more transparent surface than on the main mesh. Typically issues arise if you have more transparency than no transparency on the model

[strange onyx]

Is using the forcenotalpha thing going to cause that much of an issue though? None of this model is meant to be see-through and transparency is only used for the emissive parts so they have a fading effect

It will be an issue since I have plans for things that are translucent, but so far it has only occurred on 2 out of the 5 models I have made

Notably though the 3 that don't have this issue are in a different blender save to the 2 that are having this issue

[full quarry]

It can cause issues with other transparent things

[deep cosmos]

quick question, why when i allways do something that i import the textures on arma 3 generates like that type of green noise, cuz as long as i can see it doesn't supossed to have that

i exported the textures from subtance with 8 bits plus interpolation, cuz if i export it to 16 bits i can't convert it to paa

[full quarry]

its compression artifacts

[deep cosmos]

it's like a optimization process or what's the purpose behind of that?

[full quarry]

yes

[deep cosmos]

i see, is there any way to make it less noticeable?

[full quarry]

you can try reduce amount of colors on your texture manually before exporting

like those shades and stuff should be coming from normalmap and ambient occlusion map instead of color

[deep cosmos]

gotcha, i will try that, thank you

[full quarry]

I think greys/blacks are especially difficult with the compression

[lucid halo]

I can't change the name of the export textures from Substance Painter when using the Arma_3_CO and it just defaults it to JD_StextureSet. I'm guessing I'm missing something somewhere or does it always force the name?

[sudden harbor]

Ok does anybody know how to add texture slots to vehicles? Basically like a permanent vehicle retexture

[lethal condor]

"Add slot"? You don't. Overwrite is possible

[sudden harbor]

Problem is idk how to exactly explain it so it’s a bit confusing

[lethal condor]

What are you actually trying. And what you've done so far

[tranquil mason]

Do you mean the texture options in the garage?

[tranquil mason]

You can change it in the export preset options

I think the placeholder for the object/uv name is ${textureset}, but I haven't looked in a while

[sudden harbor]

So far I've added stuff to the toyota land cruiser texture all I gotta do is find out how to put it into the game as a permanent retexture in one of the slot options

[lethal condor]

What is "permanent retexture?" What is "the slot options?"

[sudden harbor]

You know the "edit vehicle appearance" thing?

[lethal condor]

Do you mean that thing is the thing you mean for both terms I asked?

[sudden harbor]

Basically?

[tranquil mason]

So yeah the garage right?
Where you can change the texture and hide/show stuff (e.g. police lights, camo nets, backpacks, etc)?

[sudden harbor]

Basically

Yes

[tranquil mason]

The tldr is you'll want to edit the vehicle's TextureSources class, and add new entries for your stuff

Oh and maybe the textureList as well, but I don't remember if that's required for them to show in the list or if it's only used for randomizing textures when the vehicle is spawned

[sudden harbor]

Is there by chance a video explaining how to do this?

[lethal condor]

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3:_Vehicle_Customisation

[sudden harbor]

Thanks this helps 👍

[dire adder]

i'm having some misalignment issue with a headgear i made after putting it thru object builder in blender is fine

the entire model is only making use

the texture is 2048 x 2048 and it was converted correctly to .paa (i double checked thru TexView 2 and it seems fine)

i kinda doubt its the .rvmat

anyone have any suggestion to trouble shoot and see what it issue is?

[meager tinsel]

Guys, can anyone please tell me how to make an SMDI texture in Photoshop? AI says I need to copy the roughness, AO, and metal maps into Photoshop channels, but I can't get it to work.

[full quarry]

you got multiple uvsets named differently an when export combines the objects the uvs get messed up

[full quarry]

youll have to understand what each channel of SMDI texture represent and add appropriate data to them

[meager tinsel]

this is bad?

[full quarry]

well it results in what you see

so I would guess yes

[meager tinsel]

So what AI said is a lie?

[full quarry]

AI repeats stuff it finds on the internet

it does not "know" anything

[meager tinsel]

Okay, but how do you create SMDI then? What needs to be combined?

[full quarry]

There is a wiki page that describes how it works. I don't have a link at hand but it should not be too hard to find.

[brittle rivet]

There's also a post pinned here with some more information: #arma3_texture message

[meager tinsel]

thanks

[meager tinsel]

Did I do something wrong? https://youtu.be/6qyqI5tphXY

[silver gull]

found an open source substance designer alternative, looks quite competent
https://www.materialmaker.org/

[twilit solstice]

dose anyone have any type of videos or anything of the sort for creating replacement textures and putting them into there own mod and using it? ive been trying for about 2 weeks and cant get anything to work
its mainly the coding part of the files that im having issues with

[sonic dagger]

Hello guys ! I'm trying to retexture the M-900 helicopter, and I remember the psd template file being in the Samples files, but I can't for the life of me get my hands on it. Do any of you by chance have a copy ?

NVM I found it in my archives !

[fresh hill]

Quixel users, what are your supershader settings for specularPower and fresnel?

[severe rune]

Seeing this makes me wish I were into making textures 😢
This looks so cool and I immediately want to use it, but I have no use for it

[wooden lantern]

u can always start

[severe rune]

I did, several times over the last decade. And all the last attempts ran out of time to continue besides the first couple days

[odd juniper]

I think I have an rvmat thats forcing everything to black. Whats the argb numbers for black?

[fresh hill]

0,0,0,1 or 0,0,0,0. Dependng on whether the alpha channel is used for that stage.

[distant rose]

@odd juniper this might be useful for you - http://www.hexcolortool.com/

[strange thicket]

I'm partial to http://lostvar.com/flashtrash/SPUNsColorPicker.html

[odd juniper]

looks like stage 2 and 3 is forcing this thing to be black

lets see what happens when i remove it

[fresh hill]

stage2 is the _DT map. have it at 1,1,1,1 for testing

stage3 is the macro map. To disable it, just change the alpha value to 0.

[odd juniper]

macro map does what?

[fresh hill]

It's a generic overlay that works similar to the multiply layer option in PS. I've really only ever used it for multi materials, not in super-shader.

MC textures overlay on top of normal map and smdi last time I checked. To have it "under" you can use the _DT texture.

http://i.imgur.com/8OzUP2k.jpg
The stencil/spray paint was done with _DT texture. I found that using the MC blocked out the normal map in this case at least.

[odd juniper]

i took both of them off and its just the smdi showing through

#stumpedx

im forcing the new textures onto the model but its just shows black no matter what

[deep cosmos]

hi guys, im getting problems again with my t shirt, what's going on now?

[full quarry]

those sleeve parts are part of the HL selection that gets skin texture assigned

[deep cosmos]

so i need to remove the HL selection?

from the t shirt mesh

[full quarry]

yes

[deep cosmos]

alr, thank you again 🤙🏻

[odd juniper]

i just changed the base skin for the clothing and it changes to the color but will not allow me to use an alternative hiddenselectiontexture

so its not the rvmat

[versed axle]

Question, if Arma fails to locate an rvmat file for a texture, what file does it defaults instead?
I have a mod I am allowed to fix, and it keeps throwing errors about missing rvmat. I was thinking I could just grab whatever arma defaults to, copy it, rename it and throw it in

[full quarry]

is it missing from the mods files?

it missing would mean something is not properly textured

which does not sound like a goal for fixing something

[versed axle]

server is throwing an error saying its missing rvmat.
Its a faces mod from like 2018. I asked the author if I can mess with it, and he didnt care apparently.
I havent seen any broken textures from that mod. And I am pretty sure I have seen that arma seems to default missing rvmats to something.

[versed axle]

By fixing I guess I mean more like making sure it is not throwing errors anymore. On front end, it seems to be working fine. Its the backend that seems to be in conflict.

I mean it dont matter, I will write an rvmat for it. I was just curious in general what arma does if it is missing rvmats

[full quarry]

can you paste the error here?

[versed axle]

I will once I am home. Checking server interface on the phone is a bit painful

[full quarry]

as it could be as simple as wrong made config

[cunning oriole]

does anyone know why the goggles appear in game just plain black, while in substance painter I get the goggles effect? Using CA texture file and the standard arma 3 super export from the pinned example in the channel

[full quarry]

your rvmat/textures specularity is not set up right or the exporter does not pull it out right

[cunning oriole]

the rvmat would make a lot of sense, i’ll check it out tomorrow and let u know :p

[cunning oriole]

NVM, I got it! Needed the stage 7 backdrop

[unreal magnet]

I tweak them in the rvmat until they look good ingame

if I'm not able to get a decent result I change things in quixel

[distant dawn]

@lethal condor it was one of your mods that had a function to auto-generate UI pictures right?

[mint hare]

equipment miniatures for arsenal/inventory? IIRC debug build of base game has something like that and HEMTT (or what's the name of that build system) has something for that 🤔
https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/BIS_fnc_exportEditorPreviews for base implementation 🤔

[tranquil mason]

HEMTT does yeah, though not for inventory items
Only helmets/uniforms/vests/backpacks/facewear/nvgs and object editorPreviews

Personally I just take a quick render in blender and then resize it in photoshop

[distant dawn]

That is what i was looking for ty

[lethal condor]

For my solution, not quite sure I've ever shared the Mod in this channel, BTW. Correct I made one, but only shared for very small people

[sudden valley]

Hello folks, im planning to release my first arma 3 mod called ArmA Wildlands which will include non-combat civilian factions to the 2035 world

The factions will be the

United States Forest Service
(Firefighting, Search and Rescue, Civilian Park Rangers)

Bureau of Land Management
(Firefighting, Law Enforcement)

State Foresty and Firefighting
(Firefighting, Air units)

This mod is to either pair with SCmod burn module or the Reaction Forces module and some other mods to remove vegetation to create fire lines

Here's the tricky part, i know nothing about modding or retexturing

Im looking forward for someone to explain me how to:
• Retexture 2035 assets
• Retexture Reaction Forces soft depedency
• Create faction with these retextured vehicles and uniforms

Im open to suggestions also thanks lads

[odd juniper]

im just trying to make multiple colors for a piece of clothing

not work too well

it only uses one .paa and i cant seem to config another version in anywhere

[lilac siren]

Greetings everyone, i have a tiny problem with my vehicle's tracks sliding textures. Apparently the track texture slides the opposite way that it should have been sliding to. Can i solve this via code or i must change the UVs/Remodel the tracks in Blender ?

In simple terms, Instead of the tracks going forward when the tank accelerates, they are going backwards, and the opposite happens when reversing. I just need to change their sliding direction.

[full quarry]

need change uv

[lilac siren]

Thanks

[molten cedar]

Hey guys I took a Free Game Ready 3-D Model of a WW2 Vehicle. I wanted to use it as a simple prop for artwork in eden editor with no need for functionality and I've gotten through all of the steps to the point where my mod and model are available to place in game, however, the model is invisible in game. Is this likely an issue I caused in Object Builder or the Config. I'm a beginner in modding so I just need to be pointed in the direction of where to look for the issue.

[tranquil mason]

"Free game ready vehicle" sounds incredibly sketchy and probably a rip

[molten cedar]

Its literally the description of the vehicle

If I knew how to rip assets I wouldnt be asking for help

[tranquil mason]

I wasn't saying you ripped it

[full quarry]

He isn't wrong though. People share ripped models on the internet and don't always tell the model is ripped.

Grabbing random model like that is not really very safe and we do have 0 tolerance for use if ripped assets. No matter what the intention is.

If you want, you can dm me the link to it and I can probably tell if it can be used.

[molten cedar]

Dude I don’t have the time nor the skill and experience required to build a model from scratch so I wanted to use a free model to try my hand at modding before I buy models. I’m not gonna waste money buying models if I don’t know how to get them into the game. I’m already 10 hours plus into getting this into the game. I understand your precautions but I’ll just figure it out myself

[full quarry]

well modding takes time to learn. you not having time is not an excuse to break our rules

you dont need random free models to learn either

you can get the arma 3 samples

and learn with them if you like

and I will also note that buying models is not a guarantee that the model si legit

people sell stolen models too

[molten cedar]

Thanks for being nothing but unhelpful. you fulfill the stereotype for mods in this server for sure. Some people have lives outside of the computer and don’t get to spend 8 hours a day creating 3-d models to sell. So to be this critical of an asset I didn’t even show you, when I just asked for a simple one word answer is awesome. Is it the config or the object builder that’s the issue is all I asked. The model is irrelevant. This is exactly why I spent 10 hours of time figuring this out on my own. I would never claim ownership of the model I didn’t create I simply downloaded it from a trusted website for artists to sell models and am attempting to port it into Arma 3 for artwork. I have no further need for your assistance or response.

[full quarry]

We dont allow artwork made with ripped things either to be posted which is important for you to know what kind of models you use.

you said first you wanted to learn with it, that was not entirely truthful. Were it the truth my advice to use safe models from the samples is very sound.

also youll want to revisit #rules regarding degratory remarks.

[ashen granite]

Did you guys buy Quixel ?

[lethal condor]

Search for mod.cpp

[wheat furnace]

i dont have that anywhere

(im not exactly convinced that those 4 variables are accurate... i found them on an old reddit post from 10 years ago)

[lethal condor]

No! That is not what I mean

[wheat furnace]

Am i an idiot?

[lethal condor]

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Mod.cpp/bin_File_Format

[wheat furnace]

thanks!

[wheat furnace]

do i need a mod.paa too?

[lethal condor]

To do what?

[wheat furnace]

for the image?

the logo

icon*

[lethal condor]

Apparently you need a PAA to show the PAA if that's the question

[wheat furnace]

wait, so how do other mods show an icon

[silver adder]

I bought it a long time ago, when it was just ddo,

[sour sphinx]

What's better? Quixel or substance designer/painter ? I have both, but yet to install either of them

[dusky lark]

its more like a personal preference 😛 i like quixel since you can create good textures fast and easy 😛

[bronze stone]

Same with Substance :D
Just like you said: Pers. pref

[sour sphinx]

thanks guys

[ancient smelt]

If you've done a bunch of texturing in Photoshop you'll prefer Quixel over Substance simply because you aren't learning everything anew.

The Substance tools are far more advanced from what I've seen though.

e.g. in Substance I can use a Super Shader viewport that emulates A3's shading pretty much perfectly, and actually sit there doing brush strokes with it.

[uneven lantern]

I am thinking of making some textures for the vehicle - is there an optimal method/guide for this instead of opening photoshop and reworking on the existing texture file from the base game to what i think should go for? (Like how is this texture file being made and how to identify which part is the hull, top, etc)

[full quarry]

if there are template files made for the model then you can use those

otherwise not really anything else but manual work to figure things out

[low helm]

@ancient smelt wanna give me a link to that juicy A3 shader?

[ancient smelt]

@low helm I'll be releasing it soon, currently finishing up a guide on it.

[low helm]

@ancient smelt praise the lord!

[ancient smelt]

There's also a Substance Designer filter someone else in here made to go from PBR to Super Shader (approximately, the underlying techniques are a bit different).

[summer oriole]

U gotta find the paa file. Save it as png. Edit in something like photoshop / gimp. Save. Convert to paa. Name properly and place in files properly. Its easy once u know the process.

[brittle rivet]

If there isn't a template file, (and sometimes if there is) the SMDI (specular, metalness, diffuse), NOHQ (normal map), and AO (ambient occlusion) texture maps can help with finding edges and getting the texture right
Setting the texture to one of the rainbow UV tester grids can help to determine what on the texture matches what on the model

[quasi siren]

Good afternoon gentlemen, do anybody here has a template for this?

[full quarry]

might be bette also name what piece of gear it is for and what mod it comes from if you ask such a thing

[molten spindle]

I was actually considering going down this path for my project, but my jet has no wipers 😄

Im trying to figure out if I can use the refraction shader somehow to introduce droplets

but it has this awful scrolling animation and a chromatic abberation effect for some reason

and it's not certain we can disable it

I was hoping one of the texture channels will be the direction values and the intensity but found no such thing

[full quarry]

that was idea from long ago 😅 I dunno if it could work

I suppose uv mapping could also be rotated by plane tilt

[molten spindle]

Well, I got stuck on rendering wet glass 😄 just made a bug report in #arma3_feedback_tracker

The refract shader has so much potential to make a believable rain effect that actually justifies adding wipers

But it's broken

When it comes to the raindrops, streaks and wiping them off, I gotchu, I'm making a shader which is rendered in the browser with this new cool renderer

[molten spindle]

super shader is not that bad, although proper refraction would be nice

[inner ingot]

Thats sweet

[full quarry]

That does look pretty cool

[molten spindle]

I wonder which other textures in the shader could help make a believable rain effect, I'm gonna play around with it later

Maybe higher specular where the drops are or something lol

[molten spindle]

It would be even better with that refract shader if it worked

[severe rune]

Edit your message in #arma3_feedback_tracker to ask that question in there.
So I'll see it when I get to that, I'll take a look at the shader then

[molten spindle]

Thanks, adjusted

I was thinking that perhaps one of the rvmat stage textures controls the UV animation and effect, like r and g channels to multiply the intensity of the aberration, and b/a channels to control the scale of the animation or something

Few hours of testing proved me wrong

[molten spindle]

Either way, I didn't know which message to edit so I edited all of them lol

[severe rune]

As long as I'll see it

[dawn jay]

Anyone ever have an issue where the inventory icon shows up in the arsenal, but not in the inventory itself? I've kept to the vanilla dimensions of 512x256 for the RPG42, but I can never see it in both areas

[dusky saffron]

in WeaponSlotsInfo set iconScale = 1;

@dawn jay

[dawn jay]

Thanks Ratfink

[tranquil mason]

Missing leading slash will also do that, with an error pop up
(If you hadn't fixed it yet)

[dawn jay]

no, I've always had a leading slash

Isn't it required for all filepaths?

[dusky saffron]

not for models

[dawn jay]

huh

interesting

ah dang, that didn't work

[tranquil mason]

Can you show the config?

[dawn jay]

class AX_launch_RPG32_cbr_F: launch_RPG32_F
    {
        author="$STR_A3_GRFU_Axle";
        displayName="$STR_A3_GRFU_launch_RPG32_cbr_F0";
picture="\ax_alternateiran\weapons_f_iran\launchers\rpg32\data\ui\icon_launch_RPG32_cbr_CA.paa";
        hiddenSelectionsTextures[]=
        {
"\ax_alternateiran\weapons_f_iran\launchers\rpg32\data\rpg_32_body_cbr_co.paa",
"\A3\Weapons_F\Launchers\RPG32\data\RPG_32_optics_CO.paa"
        };
        class WeaponSlotsInfo: WeaponSlotsInfo
        {
            class PointerSlot
            {
                iconPosition[]={0,0};
                iconScale=1;
iconPicture="\A3\Weapons_F\Data\clear_empty.paa";
                iconPinPoint="Left";
            };
        };
    };

[tranquil mason]

Nah, and some things actually Error if it starts (Notably paths in p3ds and rvmats)

[dawn jay]

I'll drop this here too

[tranquil mason]

On my phone so I can't check it, but is the resolution a power of 2 for the width/height?

E.g. 512x256

[dawn jay]

yes

[tranquil mason]

Then should be fine
Is there anything in rpt at all?

Also check if it shows up when removing all weapon items (scopes, magazines, etc)

[dawn jay]

ah yeah actually, found this 19:27:03 Warning Message: Picture \ax_alternateiran\weapons_f_iran\launchers\rpg32\data\ui\icon_launch_rpg32_x_ca.paa not found

which is not what I put in my config

checking advanced dev tools shows the path is correct

no clue where to start here frankly. Should I move over to #arma3_config ?

[tranquil mason]

Yeah that's the old system
Set the iconScale to 0.2

Should fix it

You may need to define dummy classes for the other slots and set it there too, not sure

[dawn jay]

what..... How does that fix that issue? That seems totally unrelated at first glance from the filepath error

It's working now

[tranquil mason]

Sooo tldr
There's two inventory icon systems (kinda three but not relevant here)

If iconScale is >=1(?) it uses the old system where you have to make multiple icons to represent each state of the gun.

E.g. the gun on its own, the gun with a mag loaded, the gun with a scope on, the gun with a scope and a muzzle, etc. Etc. (Hence the _x being added to your path).

<1 tells Arma to use the new system, where the attachment icons are layered on top of the base picture according to the slot's iconPosition value

I have a little section on it, but I've been meaning to edit it to be >0 and <=1 Might as well do it now
https://github.com/DartRuffian/Obsidian-ArmaModding/blob/main/Common Issues/Weapons.md#weapon-pictures

[dawn jay]

I see... Thanks a bunch

[solar adder]

Im looking into learning how to retexture stuff is there a specific way to do it

[tardy jay]

Hey guys, I'm hoping this is the appropriate channel for this question I have. I'm struggling to retexture a tank from a mod that adds a Rheinmetal-KF51 tank. I know how to open the pbo, swap out the .paa and repack the mod. Issue is, when I do, the tank breaks, it won't appear. I've changed the textures of other mods in the past (all for my personal use, I'm not publishing alterations of other people's work) but for some reason, when I repack this mod specifically, it breaks. It even broke when all I did was extract the pbo, left it completely unchanged, and simply repacked it. So something about how I am packing and pasting the pbo in the mod folder is flawed. Anybody smarter than me know what I'm doing wrong?

[full quarry]

This is not the correct way to make retextures

Repacking mods is not appropriate and not the correct procedure.

[tardy jay]

um idk its been working for me, perhaps I didn't explain this correctly. I've been just copying what I've seen from youtube videos. And again, not doing any of this for anything more than personal use

[full quarry]

YouTube video makers don't often verify what they make videos of.

Personal or not. It's not the right way to do it.

And it's not something to be solved.

The first pinned message from polpox describe the steps to do hiddenaSelections based retexturing

Which is the right way to do it.

[tardy jay]

Oh cool, yeah it'd be nice not to rely on the weird janky stuff I've found on random corners of the internet to make things anymore

[full quarry]

hiddenaSelections is the key thing to figure out.

[dire adder]

So im having a issue i have just uploaded my mod and published it but on all my local testing everything is fine but now after uploading it all the models have no textures (all white)

[inner ingot]

P:\a3\structures_f_exp\industrial\port\data\warehosue_accessories_01_nohq.paa
warehosue...

[inner ingot]

What did you pack your mod with? What models did you make? For example if you used blender / arma toolbox, did you fill out the materials paths?

[dire adder]

i did the majority in blender but "applied" the texture's thru object builder

[inner ingot]

Probably a path typo or something? I rec just doing it all in blender and never touching OB

[tranquil mason]

What does your path look like?

[tranquil mason]

I mean in your config / p3d

[tranquil mason]

Well your p3d paths start with p:\

That's why

[dire adder]

so it all needs to be like this?

[tranquil mason]

Looks right

[dire adder]

thanks

[median anvil]

Does anyone know how to change the texture of the Coffin by code?

I can only change the coffin itself and not the flag

in this case the Coffin_02_Flag_F class

[tranquil mason]

Is it an actual flag (i.e. with physics)?

Could try https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/setFlagTexture

[frozen blade]

yeah would be good to have a viewport for substance (or quixel for that matter)

that emulates supershader and A3 lighting conditions

[faint totem]

Can someone point to a tutorial on how to get texture files from a model in Blender? I have made advanced skin mods in the past, understand naming, and the functions, just not sure where to start from a new object.

[full quarry]

like baking textures? or how do you mean get the files from blender?

[faint totem]

I don't know most of the terminology for textures. The different types of images that make the layers.

I guess I need the steps from UV unwrapping to paa for a simple model.

[full quarry]

I think youll need to look up texture baking for blender then

or texture painting

depending on how you intend to produce the texture

[faint totem]

I will look into both of them. Knowing what to look for will make it a bit easier!

[full quarry]

getting the texture out would be as simple as saving it in the uv or texture editor.

but thats after you have either baked it or drawn it

[faint totem]

I have already tinkered with it, and found a little info. Finishing up a prototype model right now, and will tackle that in about an hour. I have a tablet and can color the UV. Would baking it take the material edits on the model itself?

I made a few materials for my layers and changed color, metallic and all that. Is it possible to export that? This is a small proof of concept mod, so arcade simplicity is fine.

[full quarry]

study texture baking

[cyan mantle]

umm would somebody have any idea why my hidden selection damage textures only show up when i leave the editor and load the vehicle in virtual arsenal then go back into the editor.

[past wren]

Does anyone know how to make my shape invisible in a thermal imager? I tried to find information, but it either touches on my topic nearby, or it's about completely different things)

[vague iron]

+1 for that 😃

[meager tinsel]

Hey everyone, does anyone know how to increase the draw distance of individual sparks using the config.cpp file?

[meager tinsel]

I even set SmokeGenMinDist to 3 km, but not works.

[lethal condor]

Gen (generation) likely is not set show condition. I'd firstly check Video settings' particle and object to highest to see if it works

[meager tinsel]

it costs more than 1 km, it's most likely a matter of configuration

[lethal condor]

Very likely not. It is just how the game renders the particles

[meager tinsel]

Got it, thanks for the information.

[rustic trail]

Would any kind gentleman happen to have the proper Blender GI bake settings for buildings?, before I completely lose my mind trying to work it out?

[rustic trail]

I have absolutely no idea what I’ve done, but somehow it worked, great sucess 👍

[jaunty swallow]

Hi everyone !

I have a quick question about the rvmat and the fresnelglass.

In the RPT, we have the following message on a loop:
20:39:47 Warning Message: Can not create source for procedural texture - probably badly formed texture name: "#(ai,64,1)fresnelglass(1.61,1.4)"
20:39:47 ➥ Context: #(ai,64,64,1)fresnelglass(1.61,1.4)

I found the rvmat that was the problem, even though by modifying fresnelglass(1.61,1.4) with fresnelglass(), and updating the pbo, the same message keeps looping back into the rpt.

Does anyone know what the problem is?

[full quarry]

why do you have fresnelglass?

[jaunty swallow]

Idk 😂
I found a rvmat and i tried to use it for a glass texture.
I saw Fresnell Glass, I thought it was for windows

[full quarry]

you might have made the rvmat wrong. typically people use supershader though. find one of the vanilla glass rvmats

[jaunty swallow]

Okay I'll look into it, thx

[full quarry]

or find one example that uses it and copy it completely

Rvmat needs to be structured correctly to work

[mint hare]

huh. Argument for fresnelGlass isn't documented at wiki 🤔 maaagic

[sacred gulch]

Does anybody know how to change the GM-Insignia in ALive orbat creator?

[severe rune]

fresenel has "n" and "k" parameters.
FresnelGlass has optional parameter "RefactionIndex", 1.7 is default.
So it only has one parameter, not two

[full quarry]

there may be few to fix in the vanilla data then? or does it just ignore the second one if its added?

[severe rune]

I don't see any checks, so would ignore

[meager tinsel]

Guys, how can I create the same texture?

[full quarry]

MS paint?

[meager tinsel]

Blastcore

[full quarry]

no I mean you can paint textures in painting/image editing programs

[meager tinsel]

yes, i use photoshop, chatgpt

[full quarry]

I would not really consider chatgpt a program you create something with

you dont do the process

but in any case if you have problem with painting that kind of texture youll have to be more specific what it is

[meager tinsel]

Yes, there is a problem, I don’t know how to make the same scan for smoke as in the example. Is this done in Photoshop? Or other programs.

[meager tinsel]

If you specify everything correctly, it can help, because if you want to improve your game, but you don’t have the skills that you need to achieve for years, then you can go this way

[full quarry]

well it can be done in different ways I suppose. Some use 3D programs like Blender or Houdini to create particle effects and render those on to texture sheets like this

eh..

[meager tinsel]

okay, but how? i not founded guides for arma flipbooks

[full quarry]

there is no Arma specific guide for that

you would have to look up something like particle effect making tutorials or baking particle effects or something like that

[meager tinsel]

okay, thanks

[full quarry]

or if you draw it then tutorials on how to use your drawing program tools etc

and close gpt for this. It wont be of help

[eternal nest]

would anyone be able to help fix a uv map? exported an arma 3 model into blender and its broken

[full quarry]

ripping arma 3 models is strictkly forbidden

we have 0 tolerance for that

this is your only warning on the matter

[eternal nest]

oh i didnt know that’s classified as ripping ill be getting rid of it then

my bad

[full quarry]

if you cant get to something with official tools, then typically that is ripping.

[eternal nest]

got you

noted

[dull tusk]

has somebody got a good hex-code for a tan color?

[dense peak]

you should look in the game files, watch for a Tan version of a weapon and select your colour here.

Arma 3\addons\weapon****.pbo

[dull tusk]

yeah i have something open but there only are rgb-codes in texview and blender rgb goes from 0 to 1 and not from 0 to 255 which makes it kinda hard

[dense peak]

:/ there is no tool to convert that ?

or just divide the value by 255, you'll get a value between 0 et 1

[dull tusk]

thanks I will try this 😄 (math is not what I like lol)

[nocturne lake]

There are .psd files for the Marksmen weapons so you can use the direct colour values from the source

NATO "Sand" colour is [160,146,124]

The tan/brown used on the Kir and Cyrus is [105,91,75]

You can also google the RAL or Federal Standard colours for real life weapon paints like NFM EC-Paint, Cerakote etc. Sorry I quoted the LAB-space colours first time around rather than the RGB-space ones. Have edited accordingly

[wanton rose]

I've got this normal map issue that's been driving me crazy and I'm wondering if anyone's run into it before
Looks fine in substance painter, but then I get artifacts in Arma

I am using a directx tangent space

[full quarry]

probably difference in model sharp/soft edges

or maybe triangulation

[wanton rose]

The model has been pre-tried so that shouldn't be an issue
Sharp edges maybe? I haven't set any manually though

[faint totem]

I am attempting to get a _co to load in game. I have a valid .paa, .rvmat, have declared all hidden selections with Camo1, in my model.cfg, and my model has Camo1 assigned. The model has the blank rvmat material assigned. The only other texture layer I have is a nohq at the moment. What am I missing?

[full quarry]

is the _Co assigned on the model itself?

and where do you have the _nohq assigned?

[faint totem]

Do I assign it in the material texture path? I thought that was only for simple skins. I am checking something now. I think I had my stages set up incorrectly.

Stages are good, I think it must be the model issue.

[full quarry]

all models should have default texture set via the texture path

in the p3d

(except things that use multimaterial)

[faint totem]

Ok, I will try that now.

[faint totem]

I made a new material and assigned the path to all resolution layers. Still no change in game.

I am using multi material I believe. I have seven different ones assigned to the model.

[full quarry]

multimaterial is RVMAT type

[faint totem]

I have a single _co and _nohq, so that only needed those stages, or will render fail without every layer?

[full quarry]

I think you need to take a step back a bit to understand the basics of how Arma textures and materials work

you cant try to invent your own rvmat for starters

each shader type requires set of stages in the rvmat

and _CO textures on typical situation are assigned on the models texture slot, not material slot

[faint totem]

Is there an example in Samples? I have been reading the wiki, but that is clearly not working so far 😅

[full quarry]

for rmvat examples you can refer to the unpacked Arma3 data on your P drive. P:\a3\data_f\ contains "default" rvmats that show the basic structure and netural procedural textures that can be used if you dont have a file to use on some stage

[faint totem]

Thanks! That will help a bunch. I will also change the _CO texture slot.

[full quarry]

the texture assigning on model is important because transparency information gets baked on the model from the textures alpha transparency if there is any

[solar acorn]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3719334777

[full quarry]

#1056183794979328120 could be the place to make a post about that

[faint totem]

I finally have my texture layers working on a model (they need work, but they load in game). Everything seems good except for shadows. What are the most common mistakes in the _as layer that would cause heavy black shadows that do not follow the in game lighting correctly? The layer came out mostly black from Blender, pretty sure that might be the problem. I made the RGB channels correctly, but the base image is incorrect.

[raven wren]

I mostly get that effect when the pathing in the rvmat is wrong

But sounds like your issue is more based on the texture itself

[faint totem]

The rvmat is working, having trouble getting a decent export from Blender. It is a lighting issue, or setting issue with the model, if I had to guess.

[ashen violet]

Do you have more than 1 UVset?

[faint totem]

Currently just my detail Resolution. Leaving the other layers blank until I get this one down. Everything still loads without the Cargo layer.

[ashen violet]

Did you bake your AO using the res LOD mesh ?

[faint totem]

Yes, this is my first go at full texturing, so I am sure I missed a step or two.

[ashen violet]

Does that model have more than 1 UV set ?

[faint totem]

Not currently. It shows some bits of white and that, so it is reading some of the lighting.

[ashen violet]

What are your bake settings in blender ?

[faint totem]

I used the AO drop-down. Tried changing rays. Texture set to clear each time. What other settings should I use?

[full quarry]

what does your AO bake look like?

[faint totem]

Nearly all black. Only a few areas were in lighter render.

[full quarry]

then youll have to fix your AO Bake

my guess is you have all the stuff overlapping in the scene casting shadow on the bake

[faint totem]

I read that might be a problem. Do I disassemble to get the correct lighting, or is there a setting in Blender to read only exposed faces?

[full quarry]

you can try tuning off rendering in the outliner or turn off the parts you are not rendering with

[silk saddle]

okay i have a question first time encountering that type of issue in my life so:
on closer distance texture looks fine but by distance increase it turns slowly white, thought graphic settings/rvmat could cause that ( checked that its not) i have read that shadowlod could cause that (well i didnt make shadowlod for it yet so... )

only happens to 1 object

[ashen violet]

Could be your shadow lod but it could also be that if you have res lods one of them may not have a texture applied to it.

[ashen violet]

Looking at that more, and I actually read you have no shadow, that looks like Z fighting

[silk saddle]

i just have 1.0 and view pilot

[ashen violet]

Could be Z fighting in the model itself or mipmap issues with your texture

[burnt fjord]

maybe not enough bleed on the edges

[silk saddle]

fixed

here is the explanation: the pvs31 model i ve bought from somebody had its nvg mount in the UV but i already had a nvg mount model set (differnet one) so when i was making texture for 31's i just havent textured it completly and for some reason A3 was reading them

a3 modding in the peak

like game decided to read textures of model parts that were not even in the game

[lethal condor]

You sure it is not just about having unwanted UV?

[silk saddle]

nope

it literally fixed it

[lethal condor]

I mean UV set

[silk saddle]

i mean thats what i did

and it fixed it idk if you mean it by that

[lethal condor]

I am throwing a counterpoint to this point

[silk saddle]

🤷‍♂️

[lethal condor]

Like you can have multiple UV sets into one model/LOD and the game loads the one you didn't want to load. It's possible situation

[silk saddle]

so here u have UV of 31's and nvg mount (lg24) in 1 UV (they were not overlaping) and on the 2nd UV i have showed u have just 31's

the question is why arma 3 was reading something that wasnt even in the game

[lethal condor]

Not sure what do you exactly mean by "wasn't even in the game" but if you mean you have one UV map that isn't overrapping in one LOD, you may haven't assigned two materials correctly?

[silk saddle]

i mean excatly what i ve said

[silk saddle]

2 differnet models

in 1 UV

the thing that is white

wasnt even even in the game

so why arma was reading it

[lethal condor]

Maybe either the file is actually there and it reads it, or you're not seeing a white part from other texture

[silk saddle]

that nvg mount is not even in the game

[lethal condor]

Ah so I see the point. You have one visual LOD and that's the only LOD right

If that's what you mean it's because you see the edges of UV islands in further distance because the game smears and lower the resolution of the texture not to consume VRAMs for small detail (aka mipmap)

[silk saddle]

ye figured that out it was the issue

but i swear it was kinda tricky

[tame warren]

What do people use to make faces?

[rustic trail]

There was an app called Intract that automatically turned a photo of your face into a 2D texture, but it became lost media.

[hallow jay]

Ehhh is it fine to have 5px/cm TD on a tracked vehicle?

[atomic jolt]

I'm having some trouble retexturing the base game offroad 02 jeep. Does anyone have any idea why it's showing up ingame with the original texture instead of the one i defined?

[azure bridge]

remove the leading \ on the paths

[tranquil mason]

Wasn't the issue, it was texture randomization on the vehicle

Leading slashes are fine there

[azure bridge]

Ahh very good

[bleak cobalt]

so i got a question. my group is running an ace combat op, and i was wondering if it were possible to somehow take a plane skin from an ace combat mod and bring it into arma? specifically onto F-14A from Firewills F-14 Tomcat mod or is this a dumb idea?

[full quarry]

no

not possible

[bleak cobalt]

Sad times

[kindred tinsel]

z-ordering on decals. does such a thing exist? I was reading Mr. Goat's experiments with drawimportance but I believe that's more about what gets seen at a distance, not what gets drawn on top of what. I thought Z-bias in Face Properties might do something - but it doesn't seem to change anything. Interestingly I have noticed if you set z-bias to anything other than "None", the next time you load the p3d it's always set to "High" regardless of what you thought it was. Is it just luck of the draw? Is there no consistent way I can ensure a road marking decal is always drawn on top of an asphalt decal for example?

[full quarry]

yeah zbias is buggy and there does not seem to be any good way to control decal layering

[fresh hill]

Just be aware how the lighting of the environment influences the outcome. You can see how textures already behave massively different when comparing pictures taken of your object on Altis and in Virtual Arsenal.

[nocturne lake]

Yup, previewing textures in the VR map is bonkers

I normally do final ingame checks on midday Stratis with ~65% overcast. Lighting seems pretty diffuse with those settings.

[crude wyvern]

and when tanoa hit the shelves everything is going to be out of whack, yeaaah!

[fresh hill]

Oh yes... that's gonna be fun.

[ashen granite]

Brace yourselves

[unreal magnet]

@nocturne lake Yup, me too here.

[dull tusk]

can someone tell me how to create smdi textures? or better said what is the best way?

[ancient smelt]

You know how your RVMAT has specular= and specularPower= ?

The G channel of your _smdi is multiplied by the specular= to get the per-pixel specular, and the B is multiplied with the specularPower= to get the per pixel specular power.

The old'e way of doing it was taking another texture (like the _co) and playing with it in Photoshop. That's a bit of a hack though.

The better way to do it is multichannel painting with Substance, 3D Coat or Twixel. Then you can paint with materials that affect multiple channels.

[fresh hill]

Yup, green channel is specular, blue is gloss.

Also, to make the entire thing more fascinatingly complex: With the supershader you gain the fresnel stage as well, which in turn again influences your behaviour of the green and blue channels.

[ancient smelt]

Yeah, depending on the angle of incidence the fresnel does things like this to the specular/gloss: https://www.dropbox.com/s/d68wo1qytqj3fp9/substancefrenel.png?dl=0

[fresh hill]

Some copy-pasta from some time ago somewhere else regarding supershader and PBR:

Arma3 does not support PBR directly.

Your best possible solution is to deal with the supershader in rvmat.
Your albedo texture becomes your diffuse _co texture. I recommend overlaying some of your AO and cavity maps.
Gloss map becomes the blue channel in the _smdi texture.
Specular map becomes the green channel in the _smdi texture.
0 in blue value is high gloss, while 255 in green is high specularity. It's a bit weird...as usual...
The red channel in the _smdi is unused.
Your AO texture becomes the _AS map.
Your normal map texture becomes the _nohq map.

In the rvmat you will have to play around with the specularPower values, as well as the value-pair in the fresnel stage. This is a big realm of trial-error, really. But be aware that ALL three values influence each other.

So I recommend sticking to a fixed specularPower of something between 50 and 200, and then adjusting the fresnel values as needed. The SMDI texture essentially is a per-pixel-specular-power bitmap, where the specularPower parameter in the rvmat's header is a global scale.

[ancient smelt]

Fresnel abuse: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vpj22arvv6n0czp/fresneltuning.png?dl=0

Although clear-coat paint jobs come pretty close to that effect.

[fresh hill]

Also, another important thing: You do not have traditional specular color map, your specular color is essentially the mean color of your _env texture.

In many use cases this is fine, but I tried making gold recently, and the only way to achieve it properly (if there even is such a thing with super shader) was to have a golden _env map to work with the fresnel.

[ancient smelt]

...as well as the specular colour in the RVMAT?

[fresh hill]

You mean specular[]={0.08,0.08,0.08,0.000000};

[ancient smelt]

Yeah, pretty sure I've done gold just by tinting that value.

[fresh hill]

Thats what I did as well, but its actually a misconception. With this value you change the color of the highlights.

And they are white, even on gold.

I had them yellowish, and my gold just looked weird.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncxghhE1PQw/UR_h2EOAY1I/AAAAAAAAI4U/stvc1A-6rXw/s1600/lingot%2B1.png

Here it's really good to see: The bright-white highlight on the left of narrow end. Thats what your specularColor influences. The long-broad side with the reflection / mirroring of nearby gold is what the _env texture does. And given a tweaked specularPower value it becomes broad enough to give it a golden feel.