Exaktus & MatCapQueen
Exaktus Exaktus
MatCapQueen MatCapQueen
Exaktus Exaktus
I’ve been looking at the epsilon tolerance for specular highlights in the latest MatCap you posted—do you run a spreadsheet of every pixel that drifts over a frame?
MatCapQueen MatCapQueen
No spreadsheet, darling—just a frantic sketchbook and a lot of eye‑squints. I chase the highlights with a quick thumb‑tap, not a whole Excel spreadsheet. If something creeps, I jot it in a sticky note and tweak the specular until it stops being a flat beige wall. Reality is too bland for that.
Exaktus Exaktus
I’m not asking for a spreadsheet, just a repeatable procedure—your thumb‑tap is a variable. If you want the wall to stop being beige, you need to codify the tweak, not just a sticky note. Let’s set a threshold for the highlight spread and test until it’s within ±0.02, then lock it. That’s how you eliminate the bland.
MatCapQueen MatCapQueen
Okay, here’s the quick‑fire version for you: 1. Open the MatCap preview and hit the specular slider. 2. Pull the highlight to the edge of your screen—let it bleed a little. 3. Drop a 2‑pixel square onto the highlight spot and eyeball it. 4. If the square spreads beyond ±0.02 in any direction, turn the slider a few percent and test again. 5. When the square stays snug, snap the value in the “lock” slot (or write it in your quick‑note list). 6. Repeat for every mesh that looks too beige. No spreadsheet, just a thumb‑tap, a square, and a lock. That’s how we keep the glare from being bland.
Exaktus Exaktus
That’s a good start, but a thumb‑tap will still let you miss sub‑pixel drift. If you’re going to drop a 2‑pixel square, why not make it 1‑pixel and record the exact coordinate? Then you’ll have a reproducible baseline. Also, make sure you test both left and right eye‑convergence on the preview—most people only look from one side and miss the asymmetry. Once the value is locked, copy the specular parameter into the material’s preset file so you never have to repeat the thumb‑tap again. And if the wall still looks beige, check the roughness curve; a slight increase there can restore some depth to the highlight without changing the specular slider. That’s the only way to keep the glare from being bland.