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+---- Thread: NiAlphaProperty causing glare (/Thread-NiAlphaProperty-causing-glare)
NiAlphaProperty causing glare - Razorwing - 04-05-2007
I ran into a bizarre problem with opacity that I don't know how to solve.
![[Image: th_parchment_opacity_with_dynamic_ligh.jpg]](http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a177/SilgradTower/parchment_opacity_with_dynamic_ligh.jpg)
![[Image: th_parchment_opacity_with_bright_light.jpg]](http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a177/SilgradTower/parchment_opacity_with_bright_light.jpg)
The left shot shows the parchment in dynamic light - so far so well - but when I turn on bright light it glares me in the face. You'd think it was the specular map, but I tested and the effect happens whether the _n has an alpha channel or not.
Thankfully for me the first piece of the puzzle revealed itself before long:
![[Image: th_parchment_no_opacity_without_bright.jpg]](http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a177/SilgradTower/parchment_no_opacity_without_bright.jpg)
![[Image: th_parchment_no_opacity_with_bright_li.jpg]](http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a177/SilgradTower/parchment_no_opacity_with_bright_li.jpg)
The problem goes away if I remove the NiAlphaProperty node, but naturally that would render it useless.
I did add a mostly black specular channel to the _n map but it didn't affect the glare. I tried every setting on the NiAlphaChannel I could think of, but to no avail. Does anyone recognize this problem and know of a solution? In case it can be of any use I attached the nif.
RE: NiAlphaProperty causing glare - RideWithTheWind - 04-05-2007
I don't know how to set alpha channel correctly in nifskope, so when I need alpha, I just copy and paste the alpha branch of another nif that uses alpha, and I paste it on my new nif. I don't know if it helps cause maybe the problem is on the texture itself.
- IAMTHEEMPEROR - 04-06-2007
Is the normal map alpha set up properly? There is also a glossiness option in NIFScope which can be turned down a bit.
- Ghogiel - 04-06-2007
try 2 things.
turn the specular level to black in the nimaterialproperty.
and proabably what is actually the real issue. Remove the nispecularproperty. I cannot see a reason why you would put one of those in a paper tristrip
- Razorwing - 04-07-2007
RideWithTheWind / IAMTHEEMPEROR: I appreciate the thought
Ghogiel: Thanks for your suggestion. I tried both, but it didn't work. In a normal case it would, but this is an odd one since the problem doesn't exist until I add a NiAlphaProperty node to it. The reason I added a NiSpecularProperty was because I wanted to see if I could control the glare through the specular map, but it didn't change.
I uploaded a copy of the textures -here- in case you or anyone else wants to check them out. They should go to textures\ST.
- IAMTHEEMPEROR - 04-07-2007
Alright, I had a look at it and ran a few tests with a mesh.
Image 1
![[Image: AlphaTest1.jpg]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/IAMTHEEMPEROR/AlphaTest1.jpg)
I made a new normal map with alpha and applied it to a floor mesh. It had a big glare. Then after looking at the mesh I realized the gloss slider was pretty high, which led to.....
Image 2
![[Image: AlphaTest2.jpg]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/IAMTHEEMPEROR/AlphaTest2.jpg)
I turned the gloss slider far down, but that actually made the problem worse. So then I tried.....
Image 3
I turned the gloss slider all the way up, and it was barely better than Image 2 but still far from good, so then on to.....
Image 4
![[Image: AlphaTest4.jpg]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/IAMTHEEMPEROR/AlphaTest4.jpg)
I made another normal map with a few different settings, it was a bit better, but still too glossy. Then.....
Image 5
![[Image: AlphaTest5.jpg]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q118/IAMTHEEMPEROR/AlphaTest5.jpg)
I realized I never tested it with the original texture, so I put it on the mesh, turned the gloss slider down to about 1/6, 1/8 of the way down, and I think it came out perfect, where the paper isn't shiny at all and the ink is a wee bit shiny.
I knew it was all in the gloss.
- Razorwing - 04-07-2007
Thanks IATE, I'll try that!
- Ghogiel - 04-07-2007
cool. Interesting too.
I think gloss in the material properties works the same as gloss in a max material. But what is the connection between the alpha property and gloss. hmmm
another case for the nifskope xfiles