Free Gauge Textures and Models

Discussion in 'Car Modding' started by Kristoff Rand, Apr 23, 2012.

  1. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    I was in need of textures for my gauges and couldn't find any that would not need heavy photoshoping; so in order to get the dial needles just where I wanted them I built them in 3D and then made textures from the models. so if you need them feel free to use them. the dial faces are blank. and the models have the dial geometry in them so if you need to change the dial configuration you can just move the geometry and re-make the textures. right now the textures are large you'll want to shrink them to suit your needs. you can also just invert the simple black and white textures to get black face gauges..


    Oil Pressure
    View attachment 2095
    Oil Temp
    View attachment 2096
    Fuel Pressure
    View attachment 2094
    Volts
    View attachment 2097
    Water Temp
    View attachment 2098
     
  2. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 23, 2012
  3. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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  4. mianiak

    mianiak Registered

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    Nice work!

    Just for the record, in PS, you can make the gauge as a straight line, then use polar co-ordinates in distort menu :)

    From this
    [​IMG]

    To this
    [​IMG]
     
  5. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    you're kidding? I should have known I'd be doing it the hard way. I haven't even gotten to the part where I figure out how the needle knows how long the gauge is and where certain parts of the gauge read in rFactor.
     
  6. Johannes Rojola

    Johannes Rojola Registered

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    Luckily it is easier than what you would first think of it. At least when it comes to round analog gauges, digital gauge stuff is another thing...
     
  7. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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  8. D1Racer

    D1Racer Registered

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    Maybe with an alpha channel?
     
  9. mianiak

    mianiak Registered

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    Use a circle.
    You probably don't want to use alpha because it can cause issues with other alpha textures like the glass and headlight glow, which will then require tweaking to get it to work properly, in other words, it's too much hassle for something that is unnecessary.
    Or if you really want to do it on squares, then recess them into the dash so the gauge mesh is behind. But that will require cutting the gauge holes into the dash (do you know how to use boolean?).

    But if it was my choice, I'd use circles.
     
  10. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    thanks guys.

    I went with cutting them off. more polys than the alpha deal but no need to worry about them later.

    View attachment 2175
     
  11. websta

    websta Registered

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    I remember in RF1 having problems with more than one alpha texture but more specifically if one was positioned in front of another in line with the camera, there would be some confusion as to the draw order. I thought there was some way to set the draw order but cannot remember exactly.....?
     
  12. mianiak

    mianiak Registered

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    There is in rf2, there are a couple of ways to do it. There is the decal tag for the object, but that means that it has to be a separate object. Then there is another setting, but I'm not exactly sure where it is, I will have to look it up and get back on that one.

    But in all honesty, in this case of these gauges, If I 'really' needed to make them on a square plane and have transparent area's, I'd use chroma. Chroma has been really well refined for rf2, you can now have a soft edge on it and it will do the job on most things that you'd use alpha on in rf1.
     
  13. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    for some reason my needles won't show up. any clue?

    TachometerRange=(0, 10000, 235, 330)
    TachometerCenter=(0.5, 0.5)
    TachometerBackground=Tach_RPM.tga
    TachometerNeedlemap=BTP2013_NEEDLE.tga
     
  14. toebee

    toebee Registered

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    Is "render target" checked in the material rollout for the gauge textures?
     
  15. Rantam

    Rantam Registered

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    First of all thanks for sharing your work with the rest of us Kristoff :)

    Talking about creating them with 3D software or Photoshop: in my humble opinion is better to do it using 3D software. AND you should render them once they're placed in the cockpit (using the "render to texture" function usually available).

    The reason is simple: realistic lightning/shadows.

    If you render them integrated in the dashboard they will get the 'real amount of light' they should. This process is usually know as "baking a texture".

    If you render them without having the cockpit around they will look plain (as you can see in your screenshot). That is also what you'll get if you create them only using Ps. You may simulate the light the object receives with Photoshop, but it's almost impossible to get as good results as you'll get baking the texture.

    Please note that you may create the base of the gauge in PS (plain background with the dial). But you should bake that to a texture once you're mapped it on the object so you get it with proper light.

    About these corners, I usually prefer to cut them instead of using alpha channels, as the later may create graphical artifacts (at least in rF1).

    Just my two cents ;)
     
  16. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    Toebee

    Bingo... thank you sir.

    Rantam

    I do most of if not all of my modeling in sketchup, then I do uv mapping and texturing in Max. I'm new to all this baking and shading as you can see from my screenshots. but I'm keen to learn. thanks for the advice and I'll try to see if I can get some baking done in the kitchen.
     
  17. Rantam

    Rantam Registered

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    :D

    The process of baking a texture is in theory quite simple. Here goes a summary:

    - Map the object once modeled
    - Assign all the materials
    - Set scene, lights and rendering options
    - Select the objects you want to bake
    - Go to Rendering menu, and click "Render to texture" function
    - In the next screen click the "Add" button available in the output section, and select the CompleteMap element (this element may have a different name if you're using 3rd party renderers).
    - Set the rest of parameters at your will
    - Render to texture

    Now, the trick is setting the materials, lights and rendering parameters properly. Just play a bit with them until the result looks good enough :)

    Regards
     
  18. websta

    websta Registered

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    Do a search for 'render to texture ambient occlusion 3ds max'
    there are lots of articles, read a few, try a bit.
    Really to take full advantage of this technique, one needs to get to grips with the UVW unwrapper, so all that lovely lighting info has a nice place to sit in texture space.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 27, 2012
  19. websta

    websta Registered

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    I'll have a look. I have a mesh/grill I need to make.
    I cant see my clocks cos the reflections are broken in joesville it seems.
     
  20. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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