Swapping texture files to brighten image

thistledownsname

So, I'm sure this is old news, but I just discovered it and found it very helpful for brightening dark things.

I've been making a lot of things with armor.  Most of them were originally for 3DL, so they need some work for Iray.  Most of the time this is for Pathfinder characters, many of which wear Mithril armor, so I'm looking for something very silvery and shiney.  I find a nice metal shader and try it on (my favorite is the New Chrome from http://www.sharecg.com/v/81214/browse/21/DAZ-Studio/DAZ-Iray-car-related-shader-presets-megapack.)  But I'd also want it to keep the patterns on the armor, so I'd set it to Ignore Images.  Problem was, it always came out very dark and somewhat enamel-y.

Then I found the solution.  Remove the default Base Color texture and replace it with the Displacement texture or the Specular texture for the same armor piece.  Boom, instant brightness while keeping details.

Yes, it's a knight in Mithral Full Plate wearing a jetpack and wielding a chainsaw.  I really want to add some greebles to the chainsaw somehow.  Also, which armor do people prefer for this tyrant-overthrowing lumberjack?

Oso3D

Another thing I've sometimes done is use LIE to add some white (white layer with opacity set to 50% or something), or to add the same map and multiply (generally magnifying the range of the map ... doesn't always work)