DROPPED Soul Gems Differ - Full and Empty (by Utopolyst)

[TechAngel85]

Haha! Thanks!

[z929669]

Has anyone taken a look at the new gem holder in game?

[TechAngel85]

Has anyone taken a look at the new gem holder in game?

I have. They look good!

 

Old  >>  Old  >>  New!

 

Side note: It would seem that Imgur is no longer reprocessing images into the JPEG format, but rather keeping the original format. I might have to rethink my strategy for images seeing there is no setting to revert back to the old JPEG conversion method...

[Aiyen]

I always downscale to 1280x720 and convert to jpg before I upload to imgur... seems to be working with these forums!

[TechAngel85]

I always downscale to 1280x720 and convert to jpg before I upload to imgur... seems to be working with these forums!

Sounds like a good idea, but not for mod testing. I'll probably just have the testers capture in JPG. I have photoshop which will work excellent for conversion of my PNGs (imo, PNG captures the most factual image without any color/quality loss or changes), but I can't expect for all MTs to be able to do the same.

[z929669]

I always downscale to 1280x720 and convert to jpg before I upload to imgur... seems to be working with these forums!

Sounds like a good idea, but not for mod testing. I'll probably just have the testers capture in JPG. I have photoshop which will work excellent for conversion of my PNGs (imo, PNG captures the most factual image without any color/quality loss or changes), but I can't expect for all MTs to be able to do the same.

And the size diff is huge. There is a tiny fraction of a noticeable diff between the two formats, color-wize, but not enough for the human eye to notice easily. JPEG does just fine in capturing the contrasts we need here ... we are not doing digital image analysis :P

[TechAngel85]

 

I always downscale to 1280x720 and convert to jpg before I upload to imgur... seems to be working with these forums!

Sounds like a good idea, but not for mod testing. I'll probably just have the testers capture in JPG. I have photoshop which will work excellent for conversion of my PNGs (imo, PNG captures the most factual image without any color/quality loss or changes), but I can't expect for all MTs to be able to do the same.

And the size diff is huge. There is a tiny fraction of a noticeable diff between the two formats, color-wize, but not enough for the human eye to notice easily. JPEG does just fine in capturing the contrasts we need here ... we are not doing digital image analysis :P

I happen to be one that will notice the color differences, but that's just my perfectionist showing. For most our purposes, I can relax that perfectionism a bit.

[Aiyen]

Well having recently been learning the finer details of screenshot taking in skyrim... since I had some issues over and ENB with some of my shots.

There is quite a bit variation between which program you use to take the screenshot, and what your ingame brightness slider is set at.

 

As for formats... jpg at 100% quality or png is for all practical applications here going to be the same colorwise. Yes if you are a specialist and you have a monitor with some godly color coverage then you can notice differences, but only then.

I would also use png if it was for anything other then just showing screenshots...since it is a better format for downstream applications.

 

My complete process is to take the screenshot ingame at 1440p

Downsample to 720p with Sinc algoritm, and then save as jpg at 100%.

This way almost no color information is lost.

 

The only issue there might be is the above... which is just really annoying.

[z929669]

Sounds like a good process, but it takes time to do all the conversions and manage the resulting files ... at least when doing a lot of screens.

 

My view is that if the original resolution is good (I assume that a screen at 1920x1200 res is about 1080p) and all compare shots are taken using identical conditions, then a simple Fraps JPG format is fine (almost all of my compares use this approach ... or PNG same way). This leaves only file move and renaming to be done if necessary. Using another app for conversion is a PITA, and I avoid it unless there is a good reason to do so.

[TechAngel85]

I do the same as Z. I use FRAPS (got the paid version) to capture all my screenshots and video. If there are better programs for each, I'm all ears but FRAPS seems to be doing a good job for both. It's as quick and simply as hitting one key and that's it. The only issue I have with JPG isn't so much loss in color quality (though that does happen) but image quality. I can tell a quality difference even on my 1600x900 laptop monitor using JPG over PNG; albeit, it's a minor difference...JPGs are slightly grainier.

 

Like I said, I'm just a perfectionist and that's something that I have to overcome in every aspect of my life...not just here.

[phazer11]

If you want to use BMP (straight from the game) or straight lossless PNG (from FRAPS) then I'd recommend using Minus it's where I host all of my compares (don't look at the images on the main page it's addicting!), I'm like you Tech which reminds me, Happy Birthday!

[TechAngel85]

Thanks, Phazer.

 

Our main concern with the images is the load time. Large images take a while to load and put a strain on the forums. Even if you host the gallery offsite like on Minus or Dropbox, the galleries can still take forever to load which means fewer people will actually look at them. If the galleries are post here on the forums they get the most exposure. I think JPG is a fair compromise.

[WilliamImm]

As a note about Soul Gems Differ, I'll probably end up releasing an update to the mod that adds Requiem-compable versions. (maybe also with Enchanting Awakened if it modifies the soul gems directly - can't remember) I know the mod currently comes with 50 different versions for each supported language, but I can use localized strings to bring those differing versions to use string files and reduce the varitions to a more manageable size. And with a full NMM-compatible installer.

 

Although I could do a C# installer like the previous guy did, NMM supports conditions in a similiar way to Wrye Bash - I've used them before, and I'm sure they can support something very much like this.

[z929669]

As a note about Soul Gems Differ, I'll probably end up releasing an update to the mod that adds Requiem-compable versions. (maybe also with Enchanting Awakened if it modifies the soul gems directly - can't remember) I know the mod currently comes with 50 different versions for each supported language, but I can use localized strings to bring those differing versions to use string files and reduce the varitions to a more manageable size. And with a full NMM-compatible installer.

 

Although I could do a C# installer like the previous guy did, NMM supports conditions in a similiar way to Wrye Bash - I've used them before, and I'm sure they can support something very much like this.

A NMM installer would be great. I have added more options to the original, so if you create an installer, be sure to use the most updated main file (1.5.4) and follow the wizard for all correct options.

 

I can add you as a contributor if you want ... Done.

[Aelius28]

The STEP Wiki's instructions on this mod are vague... do I download the .7z file on the Wiki as well as one of the files on the Nexus? If so, do I download the main file (the BAIN Wizard one) or the FOMOD optional file? Or both? Or do I just download the FOMOD optional without even downloading the .7z on the Wiki?