Skins The noob question otd: How to matte paint for Dummies?

robopirate · Jul 23, 2019

Dear Sirs,

Today, being kissed by the muse, I decided to start my first skin for AC. The BMW GT2 was the chosen one, because SRS. I'm used to working with Photoshop, so after finding an official template after a (very) thorough search of the Interwebs, things went really well and I was much quicker than I thought I would be.

After a couple of hours work, the only thing that interfered with my unbridled euphoria was that I just couldn't seem to figure out how to turn the skin into a complete matte paint. I searched google for hours and tried several suggestions I found (like editing the livery map, editing them alphas, trying different dds-versions, etc.) and still I just can't get it to work properly.

It annoys me big time to have to start this thread and I can assure you that it was my last resort, because as a matter of fact this serves as another reminder that it is in fact pretty courageous to put "Photoshop CC Skill level: Over 9000" on my résumé.

So before I go off the deep end thanks to this issue and/or the police arrives to take me away for writing too long of a thread, I hereby ask thee swarm intelligence for help:

Could somebody please give me a (link to a or a) step-by-step guide on how to make my - otherwise - finished skin matte?

Thank you very much!

Ghoults · Jul 23, 2019

The car reflection is defined in the specularity map. For bmw gt2 that files is called livery_map.dds. Take your car skin, make it really dark and see how it changes the reflections in game.By painting different areas darker you make the matt-er.

Stereo · Jul 23, 2019

Specifically the green channel in livery_map.dds controls reflection and specular sharpness and blue controls reflection strength, depending on the way it's matte you'll want minimal green (trying in the range 1-10 to adjust it) and possibly lowered blue.

Ryno917 · Jul 24, 2019

For a more detailed explanation on how it all works, have a look at this post

Hoksu · Jul 24, 2019

Here is post that explains reflection maps pretty well: https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/repsol-movistar-seat-leon-tcr.149398/#post-2760988

Kunos matte reflection maps look like this:

A couple of points about reflection maps. The name changes from car to car so always use CM showroom to check. Adjust the AO, many Kunos gloss reflection maps are way too gloss because the AO turns the map white. Also if you want, you can have decals on the reflection map so they have different reflection level from the the rest of the car, just copy the layers and change them to a suitable color.

For example, on the left is the default Porsche 911 GT1 reflection map. The AO is way too strong making it too glossy. On the right is a reflection map I made, notice the AO is mild and the decals are darker to make them somewhat less glossy

robopirate · Jul 24, 2019

Thank you very much! I’ll give it another try!

Franzus · May 23, 2022

Trying to follow the above hints and info...
One question:
Unlike for the above mentioned bmw gt2 there is no livery_map.dds for the car model I have repainted. How can I add such a "specularity map" if it does not already exist? What should be the filename for this .dds ?
To be specific, I successfully repainted the ks_porsche_911_carrera_rsr , but I would like some of the decals to be non-reflective.....

Hoksu · May 23, 2022

Franzus said:
Trying to follow the above hints and info...
One question:
Unlike for the above mentioned bmw gt2 there is no livery_map.dds for the car model I have repainted. How can I add such a "specularity map" if it does not already exist? What should be the filename for this .dds ?
To be specific, I successfully repainted the ks_porsche_911_carrera_rsr , but I would like some of the decals to be non-reflective.....

Open the car in CM Showroom, select main body. TxMaps is the name of the reflection map