Need help clearing things up re: nDo2/dDo/CrazyBump etc.

mobkon

Hey all -

Just want to clear some things up to make sure I have this right...

dDo - used for modifying textures created in Photoshop. Great way to easily add quick wear and tear to textures that saves hours of time. You can then export out diffuse/normal/spec etc.

nDo2 - used mainly for creating normal maps from textures created in photoshop. Can also create Occlusion, Spec etc.

CrazyBump - Similar to nDo2. Just preference?

xNormal - Haven't used this, but similar to nDo2/CrazyBump?

Normals for high poly models are always baked out within Maya/3DSmax often using floating geometry to also save time. The above programs are used for already created texture maps.

Please correct me if I'm wrong here...I can find bits and pieces to these questions, but not full answers...hoping this is correct.

Thanks!

ZacD

dDo is used to generate base textures using baked texture maps.

nDo2 is mostly for generating normal maps using shapes and filters in photoshop

CrazyBump mostly designed around generating normal maps from photos

xNormal is a texture baking application, not similar to any of the above applications. It can be give you better and faster results than using 3ds/Maya.

shirogatsu

dDo is the best option to create basic textures for your material, if you have normal map, lowpoly and color map(Not diffuse, just colors without any details). Color map will define basic material setup(gloss and spec properties) and then tons of enviromental details will be generated(scratches, dirt, worn-out and etc) of your choice. You can tweak all of this stuff, modify spec/gloss textures at once, add custom layers(Some text or custom unnatural stylish details)

nDo2 - tool for creating normal maps inside photoshop, using masks/grayscale maps and photoshop brushed itself. Plus, it has tons of "convert from photo to normal/AO/height map" presets, which allow you to convert photos much prettier!

Crazy bump - have no idea, never used

Dataday

Dont forget substance designer.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulUOKkNmeLk"]Substance Designer 3.5 - New Features - YouTube[/ame]

Jerc

Substance Designer can indeed do all the things mentioned in the first post in one software.

nksilver5

I use substance everyday now, and can make all the things all the programs you mentionned do ( and I own nDo2 and dDo ), but its more flexible in substance. There is no limit

It's the perfect tool for texturing. Still have to do some links with photoshop for some steps but I hope they will soon enough add some layers and 3Dpaint, and this will annihilate photoshop !