Delighting Tool

[SomDowns]

Just started learning Affinity Photo last week. I've been using PS for years as a 3D / CG artist. A lot of my work involves making realistic textures and materials for CG models. There isa delighting tool in the Unity game engine that removes the highlight/shadow information from an image. I thought that since AP has some interesting lighting tools, a delighting tool can be useful as well (albeit maybe only for a niche group).

[kirk23]

How Unity tool do it?  based on what principles?  Perhaps it could be possible to recreate with regular image editing tools.   Usually it's pretty simple math

[SomDowns]

Here is a link: https://labs.unity.com/article/experimental-feature-de-lighting-tool

 

It seems that it would be an averaging of color or luminous data, and equaling out the contast or gamma so there is an even diffuse map. In the absence of good diffuse information (very dark areas or blown out specular areas), I suppose automatic in-paining or cloning tools would need to be used.

 

Of course, such a tool would be useful only to artist who need to create textures that will be lit in a 3D application. And there would need to be a way to create maps for normals and specular information. 

[kirk23]

Thanks for the link.   Does Unity tool able to remove shadows from the sun?

 Looks like it's basically ambient AO like  lighting  is being removed  in their video.

 

ps.There was an interesting soft https://www.fxguide.com/featured/tandent-lightbrush-engineering-an-image/  . It works right as they advertised even without any geometry info.    I still wonder what's the magic behind this.

 

 

 

[nezumi]

I just want to confirm that I am one of those who would find that delighting option EXTREMELY useful. Sure, main use would be delighting textures but it would surely bring new possibilities to lighting in Affinity Photo itself.