DynDOLOD 3.00 Alpha 198

[sheson]

1 hour ago, z929669 said:

How exactly can I compare specific vertices in the LOD model to corresponding vertices in the BTO? There's so many in the BTO, and its shapes merge many different tree models. I have verified a random sample of vertices are identical between full model and LOD model, but the BTO is another matter.

The tree in center screen has LOD model with identical vertex data to full model, CLAMP_S_CLAMP_T, and all branch UV between 0-1. It's using proper diffuse and normal.

You edit an existing export file like C:\Modding\Tools\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\Export\LODGen_SSE_Export_Tamriel.txt to only contain a single line for the tree you want.
First column is form ID. Column 3, 4, 5 position, Column 6, 7 ,8 rotation. 9 is scale. Set all 3 rotation to 0.0. Then Execute LODGen in expert mode for Specific Chunk 4. See https://dyndolod.info/Help/Expert-Mode.
Now you can open all models and BTO in NifSkope. The normal vector for a vertex of that one tree in the BTO should have very similar values to the same vertex in the LOD/full model.

If you were to provide a useful screenshot of a full model with more informative console as requested or a base record form ID for a tree to verify, then I could look up the used full model and LOD model and their CRC32 in the DynDOLOD_SSE_Object_Report.txt to check things based on the mods provided.

[z929669]

Just now, sheson said:

You edit an existing export file like C:\Modding\Tools\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\Export\LODGen_SSE_Export_Tamriel.txt to only contain a single line for the tree you want.
First column is form ID. Column 3, 4, 5 position, Column 6, 7 ,8 rotation. 9 is scale. Set all 3 rotation to 0.0. Then Execute LODGen in expert mode for Specific Chunk 4. See https://dyndolod.info/Help/Expert-Mode. Now the normal vector for a vertex of that one tree should have very similar values to the one in the LOD/full model.

If you were to provide a useful screenshot of a full model with more informative console as requested or a base record form ID for a tree to verify, then I could look up the used full model and LOD model and their CRC32 in the DynDOLOD_SSE_Object_Report.txt to check things based on the mods provided.

Thanks.

I updated my post probably while you were preparing your response. See the first two images (let me know if you don't see them for some reason:

 

[sheson]

55 minutes ago, z929669 said:

Thanks.

I updated my post probably while you were preparing your response. See the first two images (let me know if you don't see them for some reason:

The normal vectors in the provided full and LOD model and then the generated BTO all appear to be equal. So that all works as it should.
When looking at the full model in game, disable shadows and AO or go further away with tfc and use fov to zoom in again until those effects are not applied anymore.

If you could upload the used diffuse/normal map texture and the SRG_treepineforest02_5DD19DB7_trunk.nif I could do some in-game tests tomorrow.

[z929669]

52 minutes ago, sheson said:

The normal vectors in the provided full and LOD model and then the generated BTO all appear to be equal. So that all works as it should.
When looking at the full model in game, disable shadows and AO or go further away with tfc and use fov to zoom in again until those effects are not applied anymore.

If you could upload the used diffuse/normal map texture and the SRG_treepineforest02_5DD19DB7_trunk.nif I could do some in-game tests tomorrow.

I'm doing all of my testing without ENB/CS for now, and I always have vanilla AO disabled. I will try disabling shadows and using the fov trick when I revisit.

The diffuse and normal I used in that run were overwritten as I continue working on optimizing the textures for the full model. The renditions I have now are constructed in the same manner from the source as those requested, so they will behave similarly but for the tint of the dead branches. Thanks again! Requested assets

[z929669]

Just FYI: I am testing mesh changes to the full model and copying the branch meshes into the LOD model. I've found a result that looks quite good if you want to see for yourself when you do your tests. Specifically, I added Specular shader flag and switched to a normal with specular alpha. I also changed Glossiness to 80 (from 500), and added my specular map as a glow map (rather than doubling up on the diffuse in the glow slot). The BTO seems to more-or-less use this info as you can see in the following.

Use the keyboard arrow keys to flip between the two images once they have both loaded, and the change should become obvious. Treepineforest02 is in the foreground at center-left, while its LOD model is in the background at right. The first image is from the test run we've been discussing, and the second is after I made the mesh changes (regenerationg LOD from scratch each time... NO shape name keywords set).

Here's the relevant assets for the changes that seem to work well with both full and LOD. You already have the diffuse and normal (with alpha) I used for this test (they are in the "Requested assets" link above). Here's the new & updated assets that correspond to the new run.

[mostwanted11]

7 hours ago, sheson said:

The log is from the release version. Download TexGenx64.exe from https://dyndolod.info/Downloads/Test-Versions and replace the one in D:\DynDOLOD\TexGenx64.exe. Delete all old logs. 

oh my bad, yeah its fixed good job

[PenguinSempy]

hello, does anyone know if there is a way to increase the brightness of lods for everything that is not trees or grass. Basically, I'm trying to only make the mountain, buildings and landscape textures brighter.

here are some images of how my world looks lol

https://ibb.co/JRgp35Hk
https://ibb.co/99gqv2QT
https://ibb.co/Xr2mrNTN

my grass and tree lods are perfects, but everything else is 50 percent darker than it's supposed to be.

[sheson]

4 hours ago, PenguinSempy said:

hello, does anyone know if there is a way to increase the brightness of lods for everything that is not trees or grass. Basically, I'm trying to only make the mountain, buildings and landscape textures brighter.

here are some images of how my world looks lol

https://ibb.co/JRgp35Hk
https://ibb.co/99gqv2QT
https://ibb.co/Xr2mrNTN

my grass and tree lods are perfects, but everything else is 50 percent darker than it's supposed to be.

Read the first post and/or https://dyndolod.info/Official-DynDOLOD-Support-Forum#Post-Logs which TexGen and DynDOLOD log and debug log to upload when making posts.
Also upload ..\Logs\DynDOLOD_SSE_Object_Report.txt
Make a useful screenshot of a full model that has LOD representation with wrong LOD textures with more informative console as explained in https://dyndolod.info/Official-DynDOLOD-Support-Forum#In-Game-Screenshots

When everything is done and works correctly, then (most) of the object LOD should use LOD textures that were updated from the full textures by TexGen. They should simply match.

Based on a hunch, see https://dyndolod.info/Mods/Community-Shaders#PBR:
TexGen and DynDOLOD will both automatically create linear texture versions of the LOD textures for object and tree LOD in case the full model uses PBR textures. The gamma for the conversion can be adjusted by changing sRGBGamma=1.3 in ..\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\[TexGen|DynDOLOD]_[GAME MODE].INI. Use lower values to darken the LOD textures derived form the PBR textures. Gamma values around 1.3 have been found to work well.

[sheson]

On 2/2/2026 at 1:12 AM, z929669 said:

Just FYI: I am testing mesh changes to the full model and copying the branch meshes into the LOD model. I've found a result that looks quite good if you want to see for yourself when you do your tests. Specifically, I added Specular shader flag and switched to a normal with specular alpha. I also changed Glossiness to 80 (from 500), and added my specular map as a glow map (rather than doubling up on the diffuse in the glow slot). The BTO seems to more-or-less use this info as you can see in the following.

Use the keyboard arrow keys to flip between the two images once they have both loaded, and the change should become obvious. Treepineforest02 is in the foreground at center-left, while its LOD model is in the background at right. The first image is from the test run we've been discussing, and the second is after I made the mesh changes (regenerationg LOD from scratch each time... NO shape name keywords set).

Here's the relevant assets for the changes that seem to work well with both full and LOD. You already have the diffuse and normal (with alpha) I used for this test (they are in the "Requested assets" link above). Here's the new & updated assets that correspond to the new run.

LOD does not support specular (which typically fades on the full model by distance). So the specular channel is removed from the normal map atlas texture by default. I believe the changes you see are due to the glowmap texture in the third slot, which works in conjunction with the softlighting flag.

Here is what I see with the "original" 5DD19DB7 assets:

Left image just full model with no LOD. Right image: full model, full model used for LOD with full textures, 3D tree LOD model with object LOD atlas texture, Billboard4

This is from a distance without shadows applied. Time is close to noon, sun from top.
Here are (hopefully all) the files relevant to this test. https://mega.nz/file/FMYQEDoL#aBwtWDui4eRebrXEsIImdjlB5QUTxXIIP8hY5II9U6E

The normal vectors of the triangles on top mostly point to the sides, so they appear darker then the lower triangles in the middle/bottom which have more normal vectors pointing more upwards. All in all, the LOD matches the full model. If you want the top to not be so dark compared to the rest, I suggest to first work on the normal vectors of the full model to be more consistent.

[PenguinSempy]

Thanks you Sheson you are the GOAT!!! If you are getting black textures on mountains and far lods especially when using a mod like Vanaheimr - Landscapes - AIO - Complex Material - PBR or any other pbr texture replacer then here is the fix.

find dyndolod tool directory - in my case it was "the wabbajack modlist base directory"/tools/DynDOLOD

now find these two ini files in dyndolod folder and change the sRGBGamma=1.3 to sRGBGamma=1.8

 - DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\DynDOLOD_SSE.ini

 - DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\TexGen_SSE.ini

Rerun pgpatcher xlodgen texgen and dyndolod in that order and your done!

Bassically pbr textures need to have their brightness adjusted so if sRGBGamma=1.8 is too dark or bright for you raise or lower accordingly.

Thanks again Sheson I wasted 10 hours on this and couldn't find the solution anywhere until you made me realize it was because of the pbr textures. For some reason I wasn't getting this problem on the older version of dyndolod before the update to alpha 3 so I was completely lost.

these are the fixed lods:

https://ibb.co/1tqn65sN
https://ibb.co/Xr6MhPKj

this is how it looked before:

https://ibb.co/JRgp35Hk
https://ibb.co/99gqv2QT

Edited Tuesday at 11:06 AM by PenguinSempy

[sheson]

44 minutes ago, PenguinSempy said:

Thanks you Sheson you are the GOAT!!! If you are getting black textures on mountains and far lods especially when using a mod like Vanaheimr - Landscapes - AIO - Complex Material - PBR or any other pbr texture replacer then here is the fix.

find dyndolod tool directory - in my case it was "the wabbajack modlist base directory"/tools/DynDOLOD

now find these two ini files in dyndolod folder and change the sRGBGamma=1.3 to sRGBGamma=1.8

 - DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\DynDOLOD_SSE.ini

 - DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\TexGen_SSE.ini

Rerun pgpatcher xlodgen texgen and dyndolod in that order and your done!

Bassically pbr textures need to have their brightness adjusted so if sRGBGamma=1.8 is too dark or bright for you raise or lower accordingly.

Thanks again Sheson I wasted 10 hours on this and couldn't find the solution anywhere until you made me realize it was because of the pbr textures. For some reason I wasn't getting this problem on the older version of dyndolod before the update to alpha 3 so I was completely lost.

these are the fixed lods:

https://ibb.co/1tqn65sN
https://ibb.co/Xr6MhPKj

this is how it looked before:

https://ibb.co/JRgp35Hk
https://ibb.co/99gqv2QT

The "fix" is already explained at https://dyndolod.info/Mods/Community-Shaders.
If all you do is change the gamme setting in the TexGen and DynDOLOD INI, all you need to rerun is just TexGen and DynDOLOD.

The default value of 1.3 has been reported by the CS community to match best leaving all other settings, also the LOD brightness sliders in CS UI at default.

https://dyndolod.info/Generation-Instructions
In case PGPatcher (aka ParallaxGen) is used, run it before TexGen and DynDOLOD, as they will use the information from its ParallaxGen_Diff.json file in the data folder to properly match certain LOD models. PGPatcher output should overwrite the full models included in DynDOLOD Resources. Leave the default setting of PGPatcher to ignore meshes in ..\LOD\.. folder. See Community-Shaders - PBR for more.

[z929669]

On 2/3/2026 at 3:04 AM, sheson said:

LOD does not support specular (which typically fades on the full model by distance). So the specular channel is removed from the normal map atlas texture by default. I believe the changes you see are due to the glowmap texture in the third slot, which works in conjunction with the softlighting flag.

Here is what I see with the "original" 5DD19DB7 assets:

Left image just full model with no LOD. Right image: full model, full model used for LOD with full textures, 3D tree LOD model with object LOD atlas texture, Billboard4

This is from a distance without shadows applied. Time is close to noon, sun from top.
Here are (hopefully all) the files relevant to this test. https://mega.nz/file/FMYQEDoL#aBwtWDui4eRebrXEsIImdjlB5QUTxXIIP8hY5II9U6E

The normal vectors of the triangles on top mostly point to the sides, so they appear darker then the lower triangles in the middle/bottom which have more normal vectors pointing more upwards. All in all, the LOD matches the full model. If you want the top to not be so dark compared to the rest, I suggest to first work on the normal vectors of the full model to be more consistent.

That's an impressive composition.

Coming back full circle to confirm that correcting the normal vectors of the full model resolves the lighting inconsistency in LOD just as you've suspected. I modified all the crown normal vectors to approx. 20-30 degrees from the horizontal and pointing radially from the trunk. This tones down the harsh lighting and shadows of the lower branches while making the top branches more reactive to light in both full model and LOD. 

I also modified all branch NiAlphaProperty to 128, optimized UVs, clamped all crown meshes, removed anything that could cause glow or fake lighting, and set Glossiness to 80 (from 500). The treepineforest02 LOD model is remade from the full model. Full trees have more believable lighting, IMO and LOD matches optimally in game at all ToD and weathers, so I will finalize the textures and set about updating EVT pine meshes likewise unless you have any further suggestions/cautions.

Here's the revised meshes and logs from my test run for this one pine. I generated for all Tamriel so I could compare the revised treepineforest02 to some of the other unmodified pine variants in game for both full and LOD. My testing scene follows.

Left is the original srg_treepineforest02 mesh, and right is the updated rendition (no other trees changed). Pines are using the textures I shared previously.