Creating environmentcube maps.

Post » Mon Nov 19, 2012 1:41 pm

So I'm trying to put a number of wayshrines (from the Auriel's Bow quest) around Skyrim. I've figured out how to hook them up, but I want the doors to reflect what is on the other side, like they do in the Falmer Valley wayshrines. It looks like all I need to do is to add a cube map as part of the texture set that is attached to the door, but I have no idea how to go about creating a cube map at any point within the Skyrim worldspaces.

Is there any simple tutorial on how to go about this, given that I can take a bunch of screenshots at the require location? Or is there a better method?
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Avril Churchill
 
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Post » Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:33 pm

Is there any simple tutorial on how to go about this, given that I can take a bunch of screenshots at the require location? Or is there a better method?

Here's a tutorial on where the sides go, at least...
http://wiki.tesnexus.com/index.php/Photoshop_cube_maps_in_Fallout_3

It works the same way in TESV.

I do not think there's a way to automatically generate one, so... you should take the screenshots with a completely square resolution (like 1000x1000) and a FOV of 90. Also maybe set your view in the console with "SetAngle Z" to 0, 90, 180, and 270 each time to make sure it's correct, and then turn off the menus. It won't be perfectly seamless because normally in a panoramic image the edges would be curved, but in 4 separate 90 FOV images, the edges between them will have an angle. But it should be close enough that people probably won't notice in the game.
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Annick Charron
 
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Post » Mon Nov 19, 2012 6:48 pm

I think I got it figured out at last. For anyone who wants to try this...

1. Take a ton of screen shots to get a 360 degree view.
2. Use AutoStitch to generate a 360 degree panorama from the individual screen shots.
3. There's an interesting Blender utility to generate the six sides of a cube map from a panorama. Google AeroTwist and look up "Create your own Environment Maps".
4. Download and use the AMD CubeMapGen (or ModifiedCubeMapGen, which is the open source project to extend the AMD code) utility to put the six sides into a cube map and save to a .dds file.
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SamanthaLove
 
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