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Feedback Show texture channel preview in grayscale

Discussion in 'General Graphics' started by BOXOPHOBIC, Apr 14, 2021.

  1. BOXOPHOBIC

    BOXOPHOBIC

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2015
    Posts:
    481
    Hi. Could we please have the texture preview in grayscale for the channels?
    There is absolutely no point in showing the color of the channel, just for my brain to try to decode it!

    upload_2021-4-14_15-55-31.png

    Thanks :)
     
    BOXOPHOBIC, Apr 14, 2021
    #1
    Ruchir and Lars-Steenhoff like this.

  2. jonaskhalil

    jonaskhalil

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2019
    Posts:
    30
    Hey, just to be clear, what you're asking is for any "colored" texture, if you select either of the three channels, to preview this as a grayscale texture rather than a reddish or greenish or blueish texture?

    I can't promise anything like that, at this point, but I'm definitely curious to know if this is an issue that lives with many devs? I believe this is a convention that's followed in other software as well ... In GIMP, only showing a single channel also seems to show this channel colored (then again, in GIMP you also have the option of selecting two arbitrary channels where there's no real alternative for "just showing those colors"). I think Photoshop does it the way you suggest, so showing a single channel as grayscale. And it looks like Blender's Image Editor also displays single-channel modes as grayscale.

    For me personally, I don't mind having it colored like this; it can even be a visual cue to know what color channel you're looking at without having to look at the buttons at the top (e.g., if I were to use the mask maps described here, after a short time I'll be used to immediately recognizing a reddish texture as "the metallic component"). But that's just me, and I don't think I'm the best reference for this :)
     
    jonaskhalil, Apr 21, 2021
    #2

  3. Lars-Steenhoff

    Lars-Steenhoff

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2007
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    3,450
    I think when needing to compare channels its usefull to have it in grayscale, and indeed for identifying the channels the colors make more sense.

    The question is what is more important when looking at the channels?
    I think for most users grayscale would have a benefit, and identification is less important when you already clicked on the channel you know what you are doing
     
    Lars-Steenhoff, Apr 21, 2021
    #3
    Ruchir likes this.

  4. BOXOPHOBIC

    BOXOPHOBIC

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2015
    Posts:
    481
    Hi there! Thanks for the reply. Not a super big issue for me, just probably because I use photoshop, I'm used to see them in grayscale.

    I indeed use the preview for masks. A metallic is straightforward black and white so it is simple to debug even colored, but if you look at other channels, the info is not that clear. Same mask in grayscale (alpha) and blue. I can't really tell if they are exactly the same.

    upload_2021-4-21_11-57-41.png

    upload_2021-4-21_12-15-56.png

    I also have some texture packers in my tools and whenever packing, I need to open a 3rd party tool to see if those channels are indeed the same. This is a slightly modified texture (cut the white to 50%). I can barely tell which of the 2 blues are the same as the gray one.
    upload_2021-4-21_12-2-14.png

    I have you see my point :) Not an issue, just not as useful as it could be in my opinion.

    Kind regards and keep up the amazing work!
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2021
    BOXOPHOBIC, Apr 21, 2021
    #4
    Kiefie and Lars-Steenhoff like this.

  5. Kiefie

    Kiefie

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    May 20, 2021
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    The full contrast colours melt my eyes. It's the same when you import 16bit grayscale images. It's needlessly bright red.

    If visually seeing the channel colour is so important, why not make it just off-white enough to see what colour it is but not burn holes in our retinas?

     
    Kiefie, May 23, 2021
    #5
    Lars-Steenhoff likes this.

  6. jonaskhalil

    jonaskhalil

    Unity Technologies

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    Hey guys! Yes, those all sound like reasonable arguments :) As far as I can tell, historically this wasn't an explicit decision that "we want this displayed as colors, and we definitely don't want it showing as grayscale", it sounds like it was just a decision that definitely could be revisited.

    About the use of colors, I was just grasping at straws there. I'm sure there are situations where you actually want to be able to investigate the real color values per component, but within Unity I can imagine that people often are indeed more interested in the intensity of a channel (often, when using as masks) rather than the color.

    Also, about "making it just off-white enough", I like the idea (indeed, no need for full-on R/G/B, just a touch is enough for identification), but it's again not perfect for comparing (our human visual system interprets intensities in different colors slightly differently; we're more sensitive near green than near other colors). It would certainly be an improvement over what's offered now, but if we were changing it, I'd probably go with full grayscale (all channels treated equally).
     
    jonaskhalil, May 28, 2021
    #6
    Ruchir, Kiefy, Oxeren and 1 other person like this.

  7. jonaskhalil

    jonaskhalil

    Unity Technologies

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    Apr 6, 2019
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    Just a heads-up, though ... If we're previewing with grayscale (so, energy duplicated in all three channels), there actually may be a higher risk of burning holes in our retinas compared to rendering a single color (energy filtered so only one color value remains) :)
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2021
    jonaskhalil, May 28, 2021
    #7

  8. BOXOPHOBIC

    BOXOPHOBIC

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2015
    Posts:
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    @jonaskhalil Hi there! Thanks for getting back on this :)

    Just my thoughts about "making it just off-white enough" but colored, I guess people previewing the channel know something about texture channels and won't get lost :) We already have buttons showing what channel you are previewing.

    Maybe having the buttons colored would work ;) Here is an ugly mockup :D

    upload_2021-5-28_12-24-36.png

    Kind regards :)
     
    BOXOPHOBIC, May 28, 2021
    #8

  9. BattleAngelAlita

    BattleAngelAlita

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2016
    Posts:
    400
    Vote to grayscale channels too.
     
    BattleAngelAlita, May 28, 2021
    #9

  10. Kiefie

    Kiefie

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    May 20, 2021
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    I might have been a bit overly dramatic lol

    Pure white isn't entirely strain-free, but I find it much more bearable than deep red <--> blue.
     
    Kiefie, May 29, 2021
    #10

  11. Addie

    Addie

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2015
    Posts:
    8
    I did this in my Channel Packing tool, You can choose to preview textures in greyscale or like how unity shows single channel previews, also you can preview any combination of channels with shift+click.

    Screenshot (7).png
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2022
    Addie, Feb 3, 2022
    #11

  12. gewl

    gewl

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    May 19, 2016
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    I would still love this feature!
     
    gewl, Feb 8, 2022
    #12
    Lars-Steenhoff and BOXOPHOBIC like this.