[Max / Texture] Normal Map lighting issue

LuckyNinja

I'm not really sure how to describe it exactly, but when applying the normal map to the mesh (here I'm using Xoliul's shader) the light hits the mesh....differently? This is what I mean:



The barrel is all the same colour, and displays as such under light until the normal map is applied. Looking at the normal map, I can't see anything which could be causing this. What could the problem be?

Many thanks!

L

LuckyNinja

Okay, a potential update to the problem. I think it's to do with the green channel of the normal map. When I use "flip green" in Xoliul's shader it does "flip" the correct/incorrect parts, and now I've got another problem. I've tried inverting the green channel in photoshop, and I see the change in photoshop, however in 3ds max it appears that no change has happened at all, and still only flips when the "flip green" box is ticked...

C86G

Ddd you refresh the map in Max?

Anyway, there´s nothing wrong with flipping the channel in the shader.

LuckyNinja

I have definitely refreshed the map in Max, and the only problem with flipping the green in the shader is that it makes some other bits of the model light wrong.

C86G

Do you use tifs? If so, reload the map manually or save it as a tga and give it a try. I had older max versions not reloading my tif maps automatically.

LuckyNinja

They're tga. As an experiment I entirely flipped the UV map in photoshop and loaded into Max, and it did show a change (and looked horrible, naturally), so it's not an issue with photoshop and the maps not changing.

I think in the morning I'll upload the mesh & normal map, and see if that's more helpful.

LuckyNinja

Here's the normal map and the low-poly mesh (tga & .3ds file).

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ss34xq