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--- arma:texturing:normal_maps [2007-07-09 06:27]
snakeman
+++ arma:texturing:normal_maps [2017-10-06 13:59] (current)
snakeman http to https switch.
@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Say goodbye to dull surfaces with 3D World's high-speed tour of the games industry’s hottest new technique
-If you aim to work in games, it’s worth playing around with normal mapping. Now one of the industry’s hottest topics, normal maps make the surface of a game model look much more detailed and impressive. This detail is displayed in real time: the images in the article are screengrabs, not renders. To create a normal map, a 3D software package samples the directions in which the surfaces of a detailed model (a higher-resolution version of the in-game object) face, storing the information as coloured pixels. The map is then applied to the lower-resolution object, passing information about the hi-res model to the lighting calculations.
+If you aim to work in games, it’s worth playing around with normal mapping. Now one of the industry’s hottest topics, normal maps make the surface of a game model look much more detailed and impressive. This detail is displayed in real time: the images in the article are screenshots, not renders. To create a normal map, a 3D software package samples the directions in which the surfaces of a detailed model (a higher-resolution version of the in-game object) face, storing the information as colored pixels. The map is then applied to the lower-resolution object, passing information about the hi-res model to the lighting calculations.
 At present, a common approach is to build the hi-res source model immediately, but I feel it can be more effective to start with the lo-res final model. Firstly, starting low makes it easier to revise proportions, and allows for vital early rigging and animation tests. Secondly, once the lo-res is finished, it is a simple job to add polish. I recommend exporting the mesh to ZBrush 2: a great tool for sculpting in organic detail.
 ====== ArmA guys ======
+Panda[PL]: IIRC one of devs once said how specular texture should look like:\\
+Red = diffuse\\
+Green = specular\\
+Blue = specular power.\\
+So if you don't intend to change specular power and diffuse then both R and B should be both set to full. If diffuse is not all white (full) then the material gets darkened, if Blue is not all white then the value you input as specular power in rvmat gets multiplied by this value (which is treated as a number between 0 and 1, not 0-255). Texture for specular should be "1,x,1,1", where x is specular, unless you want to modify the diffuse and specular power.
 Panda[PL]: The problem with specular map is: it needs two channels to work! The texture is 2D, so one channel supplies only information on how the light is applied along one axis.
 My advise on normal maps:\\
-) draw a height map (lighter th color the higher the point), you can use the normal texture here if you're really in a hurry, but I advise making it by hand.\\
+) draw a height map (lighter the color the higher the point), you can use the normal texture here if you're really in a hurry, but I advise making it by hand.\\
 ) use programs like Xnormal to convert it to normal map.\\
 The correct channel settings seem to be:\\
@@ Line 52: / Line 59: @@
 ====== Normal Maps Tutorials ======
+===== Normal Maps Tutorial by freddern =====
+**Normal Maps Tutorial for ArmA  by freddern**
+Tools used in this tutorial:
+  * Photoshop
+  * xNormal plugins for Photoshop (install the program and it installs the plugins too) http://www.xnormal.net/
+  * TexView2
+First of all I would like to say that this may not be the best way to make normal maps for ArmA, but I't works for me and I'm satistfied with the results. (My native language is not English so bare with me)
+In this turitorial I'm going to show you how to make a new normal map for a us soldier. I'm using my own diffuse texture as an example to show you what I want the new normal map to be based on.
+{{ https://pmc.editing.wiki/images/freddern_diffuse_texture.jpg }}
+As you can see in the diffuse texture , most of the changes are on the vest and the new armpads. The rest of the texture will look great with the original normal map. So this means that I'm going to add my own vest and armpads to the original normal map.
+{{ https://pmc.editing.wiki/images/freddern_original_normal.jpg }}
+But how do you do this?
+If you have created your own texture you probably have the whole thing separated in different layers, right?
+Just delete everything except the parts you want in the new normal map, and all you have left are the layers that makes the details you want (In this case the vest and armpads).
+Then desaturate everything (I think just turning the image to grayscale will give you trouble later on).
+Now, give the whole image a gray background and then kind'a play with the image so that you get something similar to a height map. (White is high and black is low).
+It dont have to be a perfect height map. The trick is just to give all the little details some depth.
+Now you have somthing like this:
+{{ https://pmc.editing.wiki/images/freddern_my_vest_height.jpg }}
+Use the xNormal plugin and choose Height2Normals.
+As source you may choose Gray scale (seems to be the most logical choise), and set Swizzle to X+ Y- Z+ (I read somewhere that this would give the most similar result to the ArmA original Normal map).
+Now, copy the image you've created and paste it as a new layer over the original normal map, but wait! The Normal map you created with xNormal got a more red'ish look than the original.
+Don't worry. Just press Image -> Adjustments -> Channel Mixer and drag the "Red" slider down to zero %.
+**Note**: //I think you need to leave the red channel as it is, your original normal map above seems to be missing the red channel. Did you use TexView2 or Kegety's plugin to open the original normal paa?, if you used Kegety's plugin the red channel gets put in the alpha channel and needs to be copied into the red channel to give you a proper normal map.//
+Now you can cut this layer so that you get the new vest and arm pads with the old pants and shoes etc...
+Looks finished now don't it?
+{{ https://pmc.editing.wiki/images/freddern_my_normal.jpg }}
+Not quite.
+You also have to modify the alpha layer. Make sure you have the channles window open and press "alpha 1".
+Now you see this:
+{{ https://pmc.editing.wiki/images/freddern_alpha_channel.jpg }}
+Select the whole image\alpha picture and copy it, select RGB channel, then paste so that you get a copy of the alpha channel in a regular RGB layer and can modify it as you wish.
+Now you can make your details (vest and armpads) in to something similar as the alpha map (Maybe use xNormal plugin -> Normals2Cavity and a little Brightness\Contrast untill the colours fits the rest of the image.)
+Merge these "alpha looking" layers you have been working with, copy the image, press "alpha 1" channel in the channel window and paste the image.
+Now press the RGB channel and make sure your normal map is showing (not the "alpha looking" layers you were working on).
+Flatten the image and save as 32 bit TGA. Load it in TexView2 and here you can look at the alpha channel or RGB channel seperatly or blended together.
+Save it as a Paa file and there you go! Your own normal map.
+I'm not going to write about how you get the normal map ingame, partly because that's a different subject and partly because I have not figured it out myself yet.
+Have fun!
 ===== Normal Maps Tutorial by Skaven =====
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 (as a side note, I didn't just write it for myself. Somebody on Ars Technica's Macintosh Achaia (http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...m/726000575831) expressed the same complaint with NMG as I felt, so I figured, why not write it.
 ===== Nvidia Tools =====
-Nvidia tools are supposedly doing normal maps (automatically?), some filters or something. Check out [[http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html|Nvidia Adobe Photoshop Plug-ins]].
+Nvidia tools will create normal maps automatically. Check out [[http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html|Nvidia Adobe Photoshop Plug-ins]].
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