nDo2 BETA
Hey all!
About a year ago I released a thing called nDo. The feedback I got from you guys was nothing short of amazing, and the tool really grew thanks to your input. 16 releases later, sadly, the limitations of scripting started to get in the way of all your kick-ass feature requests.
It was time to do nDo for real. I quit my job. My friends quit theirs. We ate gruel for 8 months.
We present nDo2!
We just released the nDo2 site -- check it out and retweet like crazy!
Initially we planned on a closed beta, but just now we thought, hey, screw it! Everyone should be able to get nDo2! Sign up NOW for the open beta! Tell all your friends!
Major credit goes out to the guys at Blizzard, EA Blackbox and Sjoerd “Hourences” De Jong, who all helped make nDo2 what it is. And of course, you guys. You rock.
- Teddy & the Quixel Team
EDIT -- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Installation instructions
nDo2 Tutorial
About a year ago I released a thing called nDo. The feedback I got from you guys was nothing short of amazing, and the tool really grew thanks to your input. 16 releases later, sadly, the limitations of scripting started to get in the way of all your kick-ass feature requests.
It was time to do nDo for real. I quit my job. My friends quit theirs. We ate gruel for 8 months.
We present nDo2!
We just released the nDo2 site -- check it out and retweet like crazy!
Initially we planned on a closed beta, but just now we thought, hey, screw it! Everyone should be able to get nDo2! Sign up NOW for the open beta! Tell all your friends!
Major credit goes out to the guys at Blizzard, EA Blackbox and Sjoerd “Hourences” De Jong, who all helped make nDo2 what it is. And of course, you guys. You rock.
- Teddy & the Quixel Team
EDIT -- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Installation instructions
nDo2 Tutorial
Replies
just signed up for the beta, and will be telling friends. and the lincense costs are extremely attractive! although, due to the way some banks work in the uk, i'll probably end up having to pay almost £69 for my license as opposed to the actual currency converted amount.
would you look into actual UK/EU pricing for those regions?
In the tutorials there's a few things that could benefit users by being better explained:
1. For setup, there should be a section for people who have nDo1 installed and about removal if it's necessary or not.
2. I do not think it's entirely clear when or how to run nDo2.
Do you run it before PS launches or after? Do you click on the app icon in the nDo folder to run it? Or is it run the original way via the Actions menu:?
3. The download links for Setup files (DX, Net 4.0) should probably all point to English links, I think at least one was Swedish.
That ao generation is looking sexy.
1. When I generated an AO from a tiling normal map it doesn't seem like it creates a tiling AO.
2. The first time I converted I couldn't get any good results messing around with the settings. Then I noticed the presets at the bottom and tried one of them and got something useable right away. Maybe it'd be best to start out by generating with one of those presets? Maybe it's possible to have it start by doing that though and I just didn't set it up yet?
3. It'd be great if there was a Copy To Clipboard in the file menu. I try to keep as few files as I can and right now to use the AO I had to save it to a TGA, open that TGA in Photoshop and then paste it into my diffuse's PSD. Maybe it's possible to copy it after you zip it but after I was using the program for about a minute the Zip button mysteriously disappeared or moved to a place where I couldn't find it.
Other than those few things I was very impressed though. Great job guys!
RictusGrin,
Great suggestions, I will add these immediately to the installation instructions. To answer your questions directly:
1. Good idea, I will add a section about nDo1. FYI, it is not necessary to remove the tool.
2. nDo2 is run by executing nDo.exe. This can be done both if PS is closed or open. If PS is closed, running nDo2 will launch PS automatically. If you're running 64-bit PS you should run the x64 version of the tool.
3. Sorry about the Swedish link and big thanks for catching, will correct right away.
I'm very sorry to hear you got a crash on start -- did you perhaps get an error message of sorts? How far along did you come, was the nDo2 splash displayed?
My sincerest thanks for reporting.
I'm crashing after I launch Ndo and I try to create a normal map from a blank 512x512 document in PS 5.1. File > new normal map.
I just get an nDo has stopped working dialogue and the CLOSE PROGRAM button.
As a side note I reinstalled the required files. No change.
Wow, thanks for the news post! Very kind of you
cupsster & almighty_gir,
Glad you got it sorted out. We'll add a line in the registration process warning that the verification mail might be filtered as spam, to avoid confusion.
RictusGrin,
The installation instructions have now been updated in accordance with your feedback: http://quixel.se/forum/index.php?topic=7.0
To me it sounds as if the tool fails to connect to Photoshop for you. How does the nDo2 window look for you, completely blank grey, or with a big "New normal" button? If blank grey, you've got no connection.
Just to be sure you got it right:
Note that this only has to be done once, as it makes PS write information to the registry that is crucial for nDo2 to connect correctly.
I'm hoping we'll solve your problem swiftly!
I have followed your instructions to run as admin previously...it's not working.
I am seeing the New normal button.
When clicking this I get the same crash.
Note: Double-clicking nDo 64 launches PS
Im gonna reboot and post a screenshot.
Zipfinator,
Really solid feedback. Practically all of the points you bring up are all planned for and noted in my backlog.
Regarding Presets, it is indeed a hassle to first have to convert your photo into an (in this case) unusable normal, then apply the preset. I'll see what I can do about this for the next release. I will also add a bunch of new presets -- there are currently not many at all available. I've already started working on this.
You are correct, currently the AO is not tiling, however I have a very near-future fix planned -- it will most likely be part of the next version.
I'll add in a copy to clipboard function. Small PS tip: in your AO document, try Ctrl+A, Ctrl+Shift+C -- this will copy the entire document to clipboard, and you can simply paste it into your diffuse file as a single layer.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/196/ndolaunch.jpg/
(Sorry I couldn't embed the image)
FYI: Win 7 64bit
Latest Nvdia drivers
Note that I am using PS Extended. Not sure if that would change anything.
Respect!
Maybe disable all the buttons while photoshop is not open and just add a single "start photoshop" button to it?
Not a bad idea. You can never be too fail-safe.
RictusGrin,
Thank you for the image! Something is definitely up with your nDo2, the 3D part looks quite broken for you. Me and my colleagues will look into your problem ASAP. I presume you have the latest graphics drivers installed?
Thanks again.
Im also up to date on all Windows updates for Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit
I hope it's not right in front of my face and I'm just missing it, but the 3D Viewer deal? Is it another nDo window that's suppose to launch on startup? I don't see it or any option on the main window to launch it.
Also, on the main window, I went to 'Edit > Toggle Visibility' and it crashes nDo for me.. I'm running CS4 64 / Win7 64
Right now, the 3D previewer will launch as soon as you create your normal -- have you created a normal map and still not gotten the previewer? If so, the previewer has crashed without generating a crash report. We have recieved a similar report and are now looking into it.
Thanks for reporting the Toggle Visibility crash. We'll have this fixed by next release.
Any plans on a promotion video to showcase nDo2 features?
then i got to the registration site and you broke your promise to leave it for free??
not that its not totally worth it, just... u broke your promise?
and gratz on release! you guys rock!
EDIT: Sorry, should have read the rest of the thread. I think I'm having the same problem as Mike, running CS5 64 here. I'll have a play and see if its something I'm doing wrong.
No! Not at all! The original nDo script is still free for commercial use. I will never break that promise. That is what I meant. I'm so sorry if I mislead you, that was never my intention!
whatever, no offense taken, as i already speculated you need some money to live off of, so i'll get myself a paypal account just for you!
(who would want to use the first version if this one is avaialbe??^^)
needs some proper testing, but running ndo for the first time it started ps, then broke.
restarting it while ps is still opened made it work though, so i'll suspect its just the beta...
edit: nvm, never started ps as admin here, pc is 2 weeks old >.< my bad!
[EDIT] I asked for a password request, and it made me type a new one. But i still can't login.
great job man. its people like you that make this work a lot easier and funnier
Once again thanks.
-NB