Normal map testing

[Lupus]

Sweet, thanks for all the help all I'll give them a shot.

 

[Lupus]

Does the high poly model used in generating a normal map have to have all the detail in the actual model? What I mean is, can you use displacement/bump maps to enhance it's detail, and have that extra detail included in the normal map?

 

[softmonkey]

Does the high poly model used in generating a normal map have to have all the detail in the actual model? What I mean is, can you use displacement/bump maps to enhance it's detail, and have that extra detail included in the normal map?

Yes, the best normal maps are a combination of geometry and bump/displacement effects. Displacement should always work, but you may have some issues with the bump map, e.g. if the normal map is calculated before the bump then it simply won't appear. You will need to test this in your program. In XSI, its best to use the "Bump_Generator" node in the rendertree.

 

[Lupus]

Ah very cool This should help alot hehe, as I don't have Zbrush....or the patience of an extremely patient thing (eg. a dead snake).

 

[Lupus]

Sorry, another question. When making the hi-res model, do you have to make it all one surface (exluding bits that have to be seperate if there won't be deformation eg. a hinge). Or is it ok to have intersecting objects, meaning the normal map is generated from the first surface that hits the low-res mesh?

 

[softmonkey]

Sorry, another question. When making the hi-res model, do you have to make it all one surface (exluding bits that have to be seperate if there won't be deformation eg. a hinge). Or is it ok to have intersecting objects, meaning the normal map is generated from the first surface that hits the low-res mesh?

In a word - YES

...The way it works in XSI.

You can have as many intersecting pieces of geometry you like. Since normal mapping works using a distance parameter, the surface furthest away is the one baked into the normal map. E.g. you have a character and you want to normal map a belt. As long as the distance parameter includes the belt, it will rendermap correctly.

 

[Lupus]

Ah that is great news, and should make things so much easier hehe.

Thanks again

PS. I think you did a great job on the dino.

 

[CommandoSR]

Heard of a game called Far Cry? Get those dinosaurs in the game ASAP
Looks good btw.

C&C.exe -funpark

 

[Lupus]

I have been trying to use ORB to create and test a normal map, but when I try to type in the directory of the files I can't type a colon ( : ) for some reason, it just ends up tying some other character.
I tried changing my keyboard to US layout, but that didn't make any difference at all, anyone have any ideas?

 

[Phisionary]

you could try pasting a char from the charmap.. ??

 

[Lupus]

How would I do that? I know in word I can bring up the character map thing and choose a symbol, but I don't know how to paste it into another program.

 

[Jeremy]

3d max 7 is out with some new normalmapping features. Anyone else get the trial? Its nice

 

[Phisionary]

open charmap (it's in Accessories -> System Tools by default in my ver. of Windows; or you can type 'charmap' in the Run dialogue box).

make sure it's in 'DOS: United States', or scroll to the very top for the 'Unicode' set.

find the character that looks like a colon, it should show a tool-tip that says 'Colon': click it. it should pop down into the text field at the bottom. Click Copy.

go to your program, put your text curson where you want that character, right-click and select paste (or press Ctrl-V).

that should be it. If it doesn't work then it's the program that you're trying to use that's the problem.

 

[Lupus]

Thanks for trying, it still isn't working though This is getting frustrating grrrr.

 

[Barking_Mad]

http://www.monitorstudios.com/bcloward/tutorials_normal_maps1.html

has some usefull info on Normal Maping