OOTP Baseball:Customizing OOTP/Creating Custom Skyboxes

1. Locating Skybox imagery online (easiest?)

A. It's quick and easy and involves no 'real work'.

Finding images suitable for skyboxing is easy.

Google for '360 panorama' and you'll find more

than a few sites with a copious supply of HDRI

files. That's one basic term used for a 360°

panoramic image that you can use for a skybox.

Some of these sites even allow the images for non-

commercial use. That's how I started out.

First warning: DON'T get one of those cross

shaped images. They work great if you're willing

to master 3d programs...but they won't work at

all with these methods.

What I've learned, because that's where I got my

first images, is that many of the 'free' images are

not the highest resolution. They're OK for

practicing with, but I strongly urge you to not

settle for less than 10,000x5,000 pixel images.

Accept nothing less than 8,000x4,000 for finish

work. By the way, it is ESSENTIAL that your

image maintain the 2:1 ratio.

Sample HDRI file

Most HDRI files look something like this.

Don't worry about the visual distortion, it's necessary.

Another thing I've learned is that none of these

people had stadium backdrops in their mind when

photographing (duh?). As a result, you'll run into

one of the biggest issues I did—scale. Now, if you

don't care that the birch sapling in the picture is

suddenly taller than Dodger Stadium's back wall,

or that the Yugo looks like it could seat Godzilla

with ample headroom, no problem.

The other issue with the substance of the images

is of course, you're at the provider's mercy for the

nature of the photo. You can't yet go out and

search for 'suburban Milwaukee business area'

and get an acceptable result.

NOT...GONNA...HAPPEN.

B. There are copyright issues...tread lightly and

be wise. Some of these folk are perfectly OK with

non-commercial use of their work. Some aren't.

You want free? Be cautious. The last thing any of

us want is a cease-and-desist letter...or worse a

civil suit.

C. Make SURE they're in JPG format!!! Go forth

and download... ... ... Got your images

downloaded? Ready to create your skybox? Oh,

you thought you weren't going to have to get

your fingers dirty? Guess again. Here's your

shopping list...mostly platform dependent:

3. Total cost of software: $0

All platforms: grab a copy of Source Skybox

Converter at http://www.victorkarp.com It's

free, and works very well in blender 2.79

Windows users: There's a great, free program

called CubeTheSphere. It's light on

documentation, but pretty simple to use. If

you're more technically minded, grab a copy

of blender 2.79b—it's free. DON'T use any

version beyond that for this purpose...not

because it's bad software, but because it

won't work with the tools I utilize. You'll

also need an program to convert jpg images

to webp images. Windows users...suggeest

one in the comments please.

Mac Users: If you run a Windows emulator (I use

Virtual Box and Windows 10 for

those few nettlesome things you can't find on

a Mac, you can follow the Windows

instructions. The easier way in my

opinion...download blender 2,79b (see the

caveat in the Windows section) and a

program called Webponize. Both are free.

Linux users: I'm sorry, I don't know enough about

Linux to offer intelligent advice. If the

blender method doesn't work for you, you're

on your own.

4. Creating your own from scratch (BEST WAY)

A. You don't need an expensive 3d camera. I'm

sure they're quite nice, but if you're like me, and

don't have a pile of cash laying about to throw

down on a decent 3d camera, there's a better way.

You see, most of those 3d cameras at the lower/

middle range will only net you an 8,000x4,000

image...the bare minimum acceptable as far as I'm

concerned. My iPhone can wallop

that...11,264x5632. I'm betting Android users with

higher end phones can at least match that.

You need an iPhone...or Android phone, and

probably have one anyway. Yes, by the way, I'm an

Apple guy...deal with it.

I'd strongly recommend a solid tripod. You can

take these pictures by hand, but you need to be

extremely steady to avoid images with a broken

horizon. Zoom the pic above to see what I mean.

I use the Geekoto (https://www.amazon.com/gp/

product/B07DC48V5H/

ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?

ie=UTF8&psc=1. It's $79.99 and a very versatile

and sturdy product. You'll find lots of non-sky

box times to use this as well.

I'd also recommend a nice phone mount to go with

that. Mine is found here at the Amazon

Showroom Store, I mean Best Buy: https://

www.bestbuy.com/site/joby-griptight-mount-

pro-holder-for-smartphone/5120800.p?

skuId=5120800. The Joby is great and runs

about $30.

Neither of these is essential, but makes life much

more comfortable and will eliminate many

problems.

B. Software needed is cheaper than you'd believe.

Go to your App Store and download a copy of

Google Street View (henceforth GSV). DON'T accept

the option to be a local guide, because you give

Google ownership of your images at that point.

They make enough money as it is. It's...FREE!!!

GSV allows you to take your own 360° panoramic

images on your phone. Each one requires a series

of 40-some photos that get stitched together by

the software. It sounds daunting. It isn't.

Transfer the pictures from your phone to your

computer. GSV names all the files as 'output'

plus a number .jpg, at least on the iPhone.

Good photography practices are a help as well.

Level your horizons, rule of thirds, blah-blah-blah.

As I've discovered, scaling stadiums to your image

is not viable, so it's best to scale your image to

the model. Try to choose large, open areas.

Absolutely avoid fences or wires if you can.

Regular, repeating patterns in the images tend to

screw up the stitching process and you get all

sorts of odd distortions in your imagery. Guard

rails are another problem causer, as are telephone/

electric lines. Often, the lines don't harm the rest

of your image...but fences and guardrails are a

disaster zone. Water is problematic as well.

Broken guard rail effect

Guard rails and fences often end up like this.

Try to avoid having recognizable faces or license

plates in your images—people don't like being

'made famous'. GSV can blur them for you.

Water will cause glitches in your horizons,

especially if the waves are moving at a good clip.

Darkness is certain to result in a grainier

picture...that's not Google's fault, just a

limitation of phone photography. Maybe some

clever photoshop guru can give us day to night

tips?

5. Making the actual skybox in Windows

A. Process

1. With cube the sphere

a. Open your image.

b. The menus are pretty self explanatory.

2. With blender

Read the Mac description below. So far as I

know, blender works the same in both

platforms.

6. Making the actual skybox in Mac

A. Process

1. Open Source Skybox Converter. You

should see this:

2. Use the Open button in the orange box to

import your HDRI image. You should see

this when your image is opened.

3. Use the Z button in the green box to

adjust the rotation of your image. The

leftmost panel ends up approximately

from CF towards 1b, the rightmost from

CF to 3b. The primary seam in your

skybox, and the place to pay most

attention to therefor, is the seam over CF.

If it looks OK there, you can hide your

mistakes behind the stadium...nobody's

going to look there.

4. Adjust the origin of your lighting (the

sun?) in the box pointed at here.

5. Use the red box to control the strength of

your lighting. Sometimes, brightening a

picture, or dimming it, can dramatically

improve your look. Be careful not to over or

under expose your picture.

6. Set your dimensions in the leftmost box.

X and Y MUST be the same, or very bad things

happen to your image in the end.

7. Choose your image format. JPG is the best

choice, and set your image quality to 100%.

You can also choose your destination folder

in this region.

8. See that button labelled 'Animation' in

the next box to the right? Click it. You'll see

6 images flash (depending on the speed of

your computer) rapidly across the screen. The

dirty work? It's done.

9. Open your output folder, and you should

see 6 images labelled skybox0000.jpg to

skybox0005.jpg. Rename the images as

follows:

a. skybox0000.jpg becomes xn.jpg

b. skybox0001.jpg becomes zp.jpg

c. skybox0002.jpg becomes xp.jpg

d. skybox0003.jpg becomes zn.jpg

e. skybox0004.jpg becomes yp.jpg

f. skybox0005.jpg becomes yn.jpg

10. Use Webponize or the program of your

choice to convert the jpg's into webp image

files. You can delete or archive the 6 created

jpg's at this point.

11.

7. Using the box in OOTP

A. Other's models

1. Drop the sky_box_day and

sky_box_night folders into your stadium

model's folder.

2. Go back to OOTP and reload your model.

If all is well, your skybox will be present.

Verify day and night.

3. If your 3d model has a background

image, as many do, you'll need to load the

model into your favorite 3d program and

eliminate said background if you don't like

the combination of skybox and background. Alternatively, you can erase the image from inside the .png file and save it as an empty shell.

Congratulations...you're done!