Offshoot

I have to admit that I am disinclined to buy the new FI module because of the engine upgrade issue.
As an early buyer of FI who hasn't kept up to date, getting the module will cost me $50 including the engine upgrades. As I also own RT and BN, it would perhaps be more sensible to buy the upgrade 4 big bundle, so my upfront outlay to get the module would be $65. At this point I'm thinking nah.
I assume that if I were to buy the base game now it would be game engine 4, which means that only early buyers end up paying for the dev costs of the engine upgrades. I understand from other software I use that the argument for this is that you have derived value from the upgrade by using it, though this is not the case for me because I never bought it.
I guess I just find it strange that BF would put people off buying modules by not including engine upgrades in the price of the module.

A normal map gives the impression of form without using actual geometry. Normal mapping is a render effect that allows you to add detail to a model in the rendered image without having to add extra polygons. Normal maps do not change the silhouette of a model though, so they are best used to add finer detail and to accentuate/smooth the existing form.
 
The results you get from using an automatic normal map generator will vary depending on what images you use as input. If using existing CM textures you could get some interesting results if, for example, the texture has a camouflage pattern on it with light and dark areas next to each other. You can also hand paint normal maps (or a greyscale height map and then convert it using software like xNormal), but the best way is to start with a low-resolution model that you increase the resolution of and then model/sculpt detail into and then use software that compares the low- and high-resolution models to generate the normal map (the normal map is then applied to the low-resolution model in-game).

It seems that if you create a new temporary filter from the top left menu you can then apply column filters. I have filters working for all sheets.
Just a note, but for the Red Thunder and Black Sea sheets the "Path" for the v100a BRZ files includes the BRZ name, which doesn't seem to be your convention for the rest of the files. This means that the "Bulk" column has this name duplicated, e.g. "red thunder v100a\red thunder v100a". For Red Thunder this is also repeated in the WW2 sheet.
Not a biggie but it could mess with filtering.

Here is an index of all files one can explode (extract) from the brz files. CMSF2 is not included, yet.
Out of curiosity, here are the # of items that comes with each game :
CMBN : 12 192 items CMFI : 15 628 items CMFB : 13 285 items CMRT : 7 000 items CMBS : 9 141 items > CMx2ExplodedFilesIndex (Google Sheet)



As for what it can be useful to, sky is the limit. I use to find where is what, to guess what files the games have in common and if there's something missing in my mods collection, eg.

A normal map gives the impression of form without using actual geometry. Normal mapping is a render effect that allows you to add detail to a model in the rendered image without having to add extra polygons. Normal maps do not change the silhouette of a model though, so they are best used to add finer detail and to accentuate/smooth the existing form.
 
The results you get from using an automatic normal map generator will vary depending on what images you use as input. If using existing CM textures you could get some interesting results if, for example, the texture has a camouflage pattern on it with light and dark areas next to each other. You can also hand paint normal maps (or a greyscale height map and then convert it using software like xNormal), but the best way is to start with a low-resolution model that you increase the resolution of and then model/sculpt detail into and then use software that compares the low- and high-resolution models to generate the normal map (the normal map is then applied to the low-resolution model in-game).

A normal map gives the impression of form without using actual geometry. Normal mapping is a render effect that allows you to add detail to a model in the rendered image without having to add extra polygons. Normal maps do not change the silhouette of a model though, so they are best used to add finer detail and to accentuate/smooth the existing form.
 
The results you get from using an automatic normal map generator will vary depending on what images you use as input. If using existing CM textures you could get some interesting results if, for example, the texture has a camouflage pattern on it with light and dark areas next to each other. You can also hand paint normal maps (or a greyscale height map and then convert it using software like xNormal), but the best way is to start with a low-resolution model that you increase the resolution of and then model/sculpt detail into and then use software that compares the low- and high-resolution models to generate the normal map (the normal map is then applied to the low-resolution model in-game).

Hi guys,
 
I've been working on some tools for CM, and wanted to show you a cross platform tool for working with brz files.
https://youtu.be/8gqYZW9HjEg

A lot of the maths that is presented is from synthetic benchmarks. Real-world tests are perhaps a better indicator, as in this video. A lot will also come down to the other hardware and software being used. In the linked vid the guy concludes that a NVMe drive would help in video editing, but I have seen others say this is not the case because where it would matter the CPU is the bottleneck.
For myself, I recently bought a MX500 because where I am I was able to get twice the capacity for the same price compared to the Evo 960.
 
 

Interesting topic. It's a pity the shader can't be applied selectively as I like the look on some of the terrain and foliage (providing increased depth) but not on the vehicles or troops.

Damn, and I thought that was the straightforward version.
 
A simple answer to your original question is yes, this tool could enable people to fix the stretching problems likely without causing problems in game.