SimRacingPL Shader Pack - discussion

can you give some screenshot? slightly over-brighting is nothing wrong. However it depends what is the reason of this effect. Maybe there is too much Fresnel scale or maybe fresnel base or too much specular lighting (too soft). Give us an example plz.
 
At the moment I can't make any screenshot, I'll post them when I'm able to. But the "brightness" depends also from track to track.
 
Yes it does. basically you should change tracks also or find some compromise. Best choice is to replace all shaders in tracks with the same type as used for cars. Otherwise there will be always situations where cars don't match environment well.

If you really need to change settings for all cars there are a few ways. No one is fully automatic:
- change light settings in project options - but you have to load and export each car again. but it will not solve problem for all tracks.
- change specular texture - if you have a few it may be worth to try. But all reflections (env and specular) will be lowered which is correct. However it all depends on the reason of over-brighting.
- if you are using material database, change settings for livery material. Then you have to load and export all cars again.

but again, some amount of over-brighting is not bad. It appears also in real life (until your eye is able to accommodate). However it's good if it corresponds with environment. For example HERE you can see picture on which DBR9 looks over-brighten but it matches the rest of picture.
 
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Well, my shaders don't clamp lighting like ISI shaders did.

That means, if you have 180 ambient and 255 directional in .gdb file, my shaders will add it, while default ISI shaders would not.

Because of that clamping in default shaders, many track makers didn't pay attention to lighting and we have lots of tracks with way too bright ambient light that is just not visible until you start using my shaders.

Also, some overbright is intended in my shaders - especially the one with increased contrast. Cars may look too bright on some tracks, but placed on a track with my shaders everything will start to look just right.


Look at cars and buildings here - very bright, but looks good:

Zolder1.jpg


And then you turn camera around and look towards Sun - everything changes. Sky seems a little brighter but everything else much darker (since we're looking at the shadowed sides of objects)

Zolder2.jpg


Another example of bright buildings as we take screenshot with Sun behind our back:

Zolder4.jpg



Now imagine taking one of these cars and putting it in some dark track with default shaders - you wll instantly say that there is something wrong... with the car ;)

Perhaps that's what you're experiencing, so check if ambient lighting is not too strong in .gdb file.
 
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Is it possible to make a safety car with the following light sequence: left left right right? We'd like to create a safety car driven by a player who can turn on and off the lights. I tried to place two flares in the same position and play with the rotation values with no luck. So is it possible somehow?
 
Just place 4 flares with identical rotation speed and different initial angle (defined by blue arrow). Should do the trick.
 
It's also depends on where safety lights are located. If on roof, it may be simulated in way KS described.
But if you want to use head/tail lights, those are not rotating - those flashing (strobo).
You have to setup animation in common way (ie for the bulb) for some quick flashes. For our SC I set anim speed to 20 and use about 14 step animation for strobo. Of course for each bulb you have to set up different animation (to match your needs about offset strobo). After that assign flare to this object and this material using KS' material editor.
BTW: such flare, for some reason, is going to be desynced from bulb flashing if replay is played not from the begining of the replay. Don't know why... but when you start replay from beginig - bulb and flare blinks matches.
 
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I've seen pics of these shaders as far as 7 or 8 months ago, they look amazing.

How the heck do i use them?

Does this shader pack update all my cars and tracks? Or do I have to download a mod that uses the shader pack, if so, do I still have to download the pack or will it automatically come with the mod?

I'm confused and I want my rFactor to use these graphics like in the shader pack pictures posted on here and rfactorcentral
 
Shader pack itself is not a solution. You have to download mods/tracks prepared to make use of shader pack.
Of course there are shaders from ShaderPack which replaces all (or most) ISI shaders but still it require to rebuild materials by replacing shaders.

Unfortunately there is still not too much mods which uses Shader Pack. Maybe becuse it is additional work for modders. Maybe because ShaderPacks is not famed enough. We use a few dozen of tracks with SP implemented as well as our mods but we cannot share it outside our portal due to licence issues.
 
Has there ever been reported that, when you hardlink your Locations Folder to different rfactor installs the shaders don't work. Only in the main-install without the hardlink...

Is there a chance to get it to work with all installs without having a lot of duplicated tracks?
 
No, I didn't know of this issue.

Looking at Config.ini you see a locations path:

TracksDir=GAMEDATA\LOCATIONS\

And shader path is defined separately:

ShadersDir=GAMEDATA\SHARED\

So it should work.

But you should also pay attention to .rfm file of given mod. Some mods redefine path to shaders folder, which is a very bad idea (disables all other custom shaders of tracks and other mods for as long as this mod is selected).

Tracks may also use various shaders, so no mod should ever redefine default path to 'Shared' folder. But some mods do.
 
Oh good hint. Didn't know that a mod rfm also has that kind of influence to the track shader... That somehow is,...well stupid... but I don't blame the modder for having their own shader folder selected in the rfm. It just shouldn't influence the track-config at all.

Solution? Copy the srpl shaders in the selected mod shader-folder?
 
Yeah, if you have mods that alter shader path, then you should install SRPL Shader Pack in all these locations to stay on the safe side.

Another solution would be to copy this mod's shaders into standard location and change it's rFm file - but only if you use it offline.
 
Is it possible to to create a setting, that allows to set cube map level by car paint alpha chanel? I try to make parts of a car paint matt but i am not able to do this like standard rf shaders can do. Would be nice if someone can describe how to do it. Thanx
 
Yes, use "specular" mode of shader (combobox placed above texture fields)
Note, it will affect overall reflection (cube as well as specular) which is correct behaviour.
But also remember it affects only amount of reflection. Attributes of reflection remains unchanged (for example specular power or cubemap blur). Due to this the result is often only some "visual approximation" but acceptable in most cases.
 
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Thanx for the quick reply. will test it later.

Btw. i cannot find a working link to the latest modders tools and shaders pack of the shaders. I work with the 0.79 version atm. Can someone upload the tools or send it by mail: al_d@gmx.net

Thanx
 
Yeah, "T0 Alpha mode" is very important setting. It literally switches between 4 different shader groups.

That's because sometimes you want your alpha channel to control transparency directly, sometimes you want it to control transparency with fresnel included and sometimes you want it to control reflectivity.

Note that in standard rF shaders alpha channel of diffuse texture was responsile for cubemaps, while specular map texture was responsible for specular lighting.
In my shaders these roles are unified (because both actualy represent reflectivity) so you can control both cubemap and specular lighting by alpha channel of base texture or by additional specular maps (or by all of them at once).

Links have been updated. Files have been moved on our servers so I've changed links to indirect.
 
I set up UV Cordinates for a Normalmap, this way:



In the Editor the Normalmap looks good, but in the game I always end up with something like this:



Why? :confused:
 
K Szczech said:
In my shaders these roles are unified (because both actualy represent reflectivity) so you can control both cubemap and specular lighting by alpha channel of base texture or by additional specular maps (or by all of them at once).
Click to expand...
Is there any way to have a texture without cube map but with specular map? It looks very strange if i disable the cube with a dark alpha chanel texture and the specular map is also gone than. Specular map is very important for matt paint!
 
specular map is not for disabling cube but to control overall reflection. As in real life, if something is not reflective it doesn't reflect environment as well as sun.
At the end any reflection is just the light reflection.

for matte materials use blured cube (b08) and very soft specular (and don't forget that fresnel base still affects overall lighting of such object). if you need to cover glosy and matte objects by single material, you must stay with normal cube unfortunately. but for glossy ones you have to use sharp specular which doesn't match matte material.
In result it means that alpha may be used to slightly reflection changes but is not a solution to change materials whole properties.

best way is to create 2 materials: gloss (livery) and matte (plastics). ahhh plastics are ussualy not completely matte. so consider use of cubemaps from range b04-b06

if you can, put the screenshot.
 
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BTW here is example screenshot. difference between plastic with cubemap and without. No other parameters are changed. But it contains no specular map texture. its very early wip. I put it here to show that even matte material reflects specular as well as environment. Upper image has both reflections. Image at the botton has only specular. You may judge by yourself which one looks
more realisitc.

plasticexample.jpg
 
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For special materials this work well, but not if you have a WCCARBODY material. The standard RF Material setting "Alpha chanel in texture sets the value of cube map without touching the specular setting" would be a very nice alternative to have in the Shader set.

I have now a for me perfect looking set of WCCARBODY material if the paint is glossy. But if i set the alpha chanel black on some painted areias like stripes or partial matt paint, it looks not good because the specular setting is also gone. And matt paint without specular map looks very flatt.

Is it possible to include in a future update to the shaders such a material setting für alpha chanel regulatet matt paints?
 
Low-level approach presented by rf1 shaders learnt us wrong things. Most of us (including me in the past) didn't realise how reflection works and got set impossible in real world materials. Since rf1 had no support for fresnel, controlling reflectivity just by ammount of reflection was acceptable. But not in case of realistic approach given by KSzczech.
I think it's time to change approach if we want to get realistic results (including learning for future products like rf2). So again: if material reflects less environment, it must reflect also less of specular. There is no other way. Sometimes it will cost additional work or a few fps. I understand that there may be situation when some compromises must be taken. It is still possible but with some limitation.

Matte paint must be realized by extra material. Just because matte means using of different reflection properties (bluere cube, soft specular). If it must be part of skinning, use special "extra" materials.
Ammount of cubemap itself is controlled by fresnel options. But it doesn't make materials more matte (for example low fresnel values (less reflection) of sharp cube doesn't make material matte).
in short, use alpha to change reflectivity in case of: decals, stickers, dirt, ao. Not to achive completely different material.

To be honest I'm quite sure Krzysztof will not release shader you wish, because it would brake main goal of his shaders: provide realistic results. But I don't want to answer for himself. So please wait for his answer.
 
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For your own projects built from scratch - yes.

For conversions - no, unless you confirm you have permissions.
 
Hi guys, im trying to use grass generator but im stuck on page 53. "this is a simply vertex color map for the grass...". Where can i find this texture? I dont know how to photoshop one sample. Thanks.
 
Now when i press "generate grass" i get a loading bar: generating, than exporting. But the expórting bar doesnt go to 100%, when it is 70% i get back to desktop. The program doesnt close but nothing is exported. There is only a blank scn on exported folder.

I made a video showing my problem.
 
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Finally i'm starting to get the hand of the grass generator. But the problem i have now is that some grass are popping up when driving. There is a way to avoid this?
 
Hello, I'm having trouble creating the grass, when I give it to generate poster shoot me an error. Then I put the way I do to generate it.

1. gmt file open, I select and edit get grass generator, and I put this.
View attachment 4816
2. generate grass when clicked on I get this poster.
View attachment 4817
I wonder what I'm doing wrong. Thank you.
 
Hi guys!
I've been away for a few days, so some accumulated answers here :)

xoa said:
K Szczech, did you found a solution for the NormalMap problem on my car?
Click to expand...
Sorry, but not yet. I've been a bit busy recently.
I did look into it, but haven't found anything so far. I will let you know as soon as I have a solution.

Frankalexandre said:
im stuck on page 53. "this is a simply vertex color map for the grass...". Where can i find this texture?
Click to expand...
As you probably figured it out allready - you create it yourself :) It's just for coloring grass, so you may start with white image and then adjust it to fit average ground texture color + some variety to make grass less uniform.

Frankalexandre said:
Argh....i was using black color for the grass map. Solved!
Click to expand...
Yup :) Black is reserved - it's used by grass generator to skip some areas. It works faster this way.

Frankalexandre said:
But the problem i have now is that some grass are popping up when driving. There is a way to avoid this?
Click to expand...
This is caused by LodOut being generated for each grass GMT file.

Grass is made up of 40x40 meter areas. Every such area will have 5 GMT files generated, so 20% of grass in given area is placed in each GMT file. One of these GMT files will have low LodOut, next one slightly higher and so on.

This way, 20% of grass in given areas dissapears when you move further away, then another 20% and so on. Grass can generate hundreds of thousands of polygons, even more than one million. With this decreasing grass density there are usually 30-50k polygons rendered at a time. This helps minimizing framerate impact.


While you cannot do anything about it you can make this grass detail switching less apparent to driver by taking care of two things:

1. Make sure your grass have some decent density - if you don't notice individual polygons of grass while driving, you're unlikely to notice some more popping up

2. Take your time with grass color map - if you can adjust your grass color to match underlying ground texture, each detail change will be much less noticeable


Check out first screenshot from Nogaro in manual (page 56). Grass nearest to road is densier and has carefully adjusted color in "grass color map" texture.


agustin_24 said:
Hello, I'm having trouble creating the grass, when I give it to generate poster shoot me an error. Then I put the way I do to generate it.
Click to expand...
Make sure both .png files are in either <editor folder>/image (this is preferred) or in folder you have specified as "texture path" in your project options.

If that's not the case let me know.
 
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First I would like to ask permission to use shaders on my own projects.

Second,
I am having a hard time trying to find a nice look for my walls. They are white cement and safer walls on an oval track. They seem to get too dark when they are in the shade and too bright when the sun is hitting them directly. Any suggestions on some settings in the editor? I will post a pick of them in a few.
 
K Szczech, do you have some hints for good looking cockpit shaders? I can't get mine to realistic settings. The cockpit seems vey dark and when the car turns, the cockpit gets "brighter". I can't find goog settings for alcantara and carbon in cockpit. :[
 
mschreiner said:
First I would like to ask permission to use shaders on my own projects.
Click to expand...
As always - if they're your own 3D models, then yes.

As for your wall - it doesn't seem any darker than mine:

20120221_173425_Krzysztof_Szczech.jpg


The difference is in the rest of environment - everything needs to have a consistent look.

Default ISI shaders do not add ambient and directional light properly. My shaders do.
If you have high ambient and diffuse values in your .gdb files, you will get this kind of differences between default shaders and my shaders.

Simplest solution to this would be to go to project options and enable replacing of all default shaders with unrestricted ones. Additionally, you may want to rework your lighting settings in .gdb file. I usually go for directional light noticeably brighter than ambient light.


xoa said:
K Szczech, do you have some hints for good looking cockpit shaders? I can't get mine to realistic settings. The cockpit seems vey dark and when the car turns, the cockpit gets "brighter". I can't find goog settings for alcantara and carbon in cockpit. :[
Click to expand...
This is caused by lack of shadows in cockpit - you get a lot of lighting coming from behind you and making your dashboard bright.
There is no good way around that.

Also, if you're using dynamic tone mapping shaders on your cars, you will get additional brightness when Sun is behind your back. If track does not have shaders with dynamic tone mapping this will further increase disproportion between dashboard and track.
 
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