Remove Shadows in Source Images
Originally written by ascottk & Renzatic on http://forums.thedarkmod.com/topic/4184
ascottk's Method
I used the GIMP for all of my texturing. Here's a quick & dirty tutorial for getting rid of shadows:
- Copy the diffuse layer
- invert the colors on the copy
- overlay the copy on the original (experiment using overlay, multiply, grain merge, etc.)
- adjust the layer opacity on the copied layer so it nearly cancels out the original
- add a mask to the copy & get rid of anything that's totally cancelling out the details (the mask is white=opaque, black=transparent. use the airbrush with black or dark grey)
- merge the two layers
- adjust the gamma levels on the final image
Here's the best tutorial for tileable textures. I use this technique all of the time (the first texture on this thread looks like a mirror image of itself. It's obvious when you do the offset).
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Tileable_Textures/
Renzatic's Method
I have a somewhat simpler but more time consuming approach.
Convert your image from RGB to Lab Color Go to the channels tab and select the Lightness channel Dodge, burn, and curve your way to awesomeness.
If you do it right, you'll end up with a perfect image completely lacking in shadow information without any potential artifacts arising.
