SOLVED: Solo Normal in 3DO

GavinUnit

Hi guys,

When I was using NDo2 to generate a normal from a heightmap, I could solo the normal map (disabling spec/colour etc.) in the render preview.

...I can't for the life of me figure out how to do this in the previewr now that I've switched to the Quixel Suite version of NDO. I don't want to see my heightmap on the previewer, I want just my normal.


Thanks!

Eric Peterson

You can look at each channel separate by using the number keys, view the raw normals by pressing the 4 key.

Eric Ramberg

Eric Peterson speaks the truth! Was this what you were after GavinUnit?

GavinUnit

Hmmm, I mean soloing the normal but still having it applied as a normal to the preview mesh.

This is what I get when I hit 4, not sure what this is, thought it was an error at first so I restarted and tried a different texture and got a similar thing.




My workflow usually consists of creating a height-map style B&W image that I then take (in multiple stages of detail) into NDO to convert into a normal. The problem is that in the Quixel Suite NDO it applies my heightmap to the preview mesh as a diffuse thinking thats what I would want when it actually jsut makes it difficult for me to tell how the normal is looking. In NDO2 it would still do this but I could solo the normal map over the regular grey asset so that I didnt have to look at the heightmap "diffuse".



Thanks!

Eric Peterson

My bad, the key for viewing the normal map is 5. However it sounds like you just want to remove the current diffuse texture. You can do that via the 3do custom loader found on the suite bar options.

GavinUnit

Ahh, custom loader enables me to do what I need by just linking in the active Normal document. Worked in my quick test, at least, I'll try using that in my main workflow and see how well it goes.

Thanks guys!



PS.
I can't, personally, see any situation when using the Photo-Normal Presets from NDO where you'd want to see the source file applied to the preview mesh (and not be able to be toggled off). Just sayin'

Thanks again

Eric Ramberg

Eric Peterson - do you want my job? Because that´s how you get my job!