Bitmap > Normal Generators list & reviews

Shrike

Hey guys,

I had the pleasure to do some research or mainly testing on that subject,
(applications which convert bitmaps to normals) and I decided to put my conclusions on a place for my team and everyone. All programs seem to have specific strengths and weaknesses.

Im 110% sure I missed some nice semi-hidden features, and all personal
opinion, but still if you disregard my judgment, its still a list ; )

If I missed a major application, let me know!




All listed programs have test versions! (usually 30 day trials)


http://www.crazybump.com/

http://shadermap.com/buynow/

http://frozenflamecorp.com/site/pages.php?page=products

https://www.knaldtech.com/

http://quixel.se/ndo/

http://www.allegorithmic.com/products/b2m/overview

http://www.filterforge.com/

http://www.pixplant.com/index.php

http://www.smart-page.net/smartnormal/

Stromberg90

You also got pixplant http://www.pixplant.com/index.php might be worth taking a look at for your list.
And the xNormal and nvidia photoshop filters.

Edit: one more http://www.smart-page.net/smartnormal/

Noors

I have a question regarding all those generator but i don't really know how to express it. We all know that the generated normal is perfect for a flat plane, or well oriented and undistorted uvs. Some of them can even perform rotation.
But would it be possible to generate a normal that would also consider the uvs and bitangent of the target mesh ? I mean, if you generate some rivets or cloth pattern, or something you would do with floating geo, and place them all over an unwraped model, they wont look well oriented, but if somehow they take the target mesh in account, they could be "rebaked" the correct way. I dont know if it's even mathematically possible, but it was an idea ^^

Shrike

I think you can do that what you mean with nDo2 and Shadermap, you paint the geo that you want, and it gets combined with the normal you already have. Or you can combine 2 normals you have with most programs. But this can not be done over the border of an UV island and continue on the adjacent, but perfect to add scratches or bolts and such things on surfaces of your model. Check out the videos at the nDo2 site

Ty Stromberg, good addition , added them