Quixel Suite not altering normal map
polycounter lvl 11
So I've been using the Suite for my portfolio work without much issue until I upgraded to Windows 10. After doing so Photoshop wouldn't start - I ended up having to reinstall one of the visual c++ offerings from Microsoft to fix that. This after uninstalling and reinstalling both Photoshop and the suite. Now, both start up and I can use Quixel but after a few minutes while working on a metallic profile (doesn't matter which it seems)the Suite stops altering the normal map and in most instances, reverts back to using the originally supplied one. Not sure what's causing it or why it's happening.
I can make one or two metallic materials that seem to have affected all maps, then go to add a third material (or a second in some cases) and boom! It's like the normal was never altered to begin with. This has happened with and without the 1.9 patch. Any idea what could possibly be going on? I know the Suite uses Photoshop's patterns, do you think maybe reinstalling again will resolve this? Could the error I get when linking that Photoshop could not save a copy of the file because it's already in use be to blame here? This error was new for me after Windows 10 also.
To reproduce:
Launch either Photoshop CC 2015 and then Quixel suite
or
Launch Quixel Suite and it will open Photoshop CC 2015
Load the obj and texture maps from the grenade contest (just as a test I did this and got same results)
Link the material definitions or don't - doesn't seem to matter
Use Disney (GGX Rough) or Toolbag 2 (Metalness)
Create the base
Apply a metal material - let's say Military Metal 01 and assign it to one of your various color ID's.
Then assign Layered Painted Metal - the preview of which shows some interesting disturbance on the surface - to another part of your mesh
Note that the normal hasn't updated, your surface is still smooth.
The scratches on the military metal 01 are still shiny but they aren't looking like they're scratched into the surface, just bits of grey metal here and there. The Layered Painted Metal has no effect and is essentially just a color.
I can make a short video illustrating this if you like but this is exactly what happens. No additional input on my end. Perhaps I'm simply using the materials incorrectly and I'm meant to alter the smart materials further? I usually use Specular/Glossy but my job just implemented a metalness option and I wanted to test it out before using it in production (after getting my job to upgrade me to commercial) but I'm unable to get the suite to tweak the normal map to that end. I need to check and see if Glossy Specular is having the same issue in the Suite, if so, I will freak out, lol but then I'll know that something is seriously up with my install. Right now, I don't know if it's just user error, a bug, or an issue with Photohsop/the suite.
I can make one or two metallic materials that seem to have affected all maps, then go to add a third material (or a second in some cases) and boom! It's like the normal was never altered to begin with. This has happened with and without the 1.9 patch. Any idea what could possibly be going on? I know the Suite uses Photoshop's patterns, do you think maybe reinstalling again will resolve this? Could the error I get when linking that Photoshop could not save a copy of the file because it's already in use be to blame here? This error was new for me after Windows 10 also.
To reproduce:
Launch either Photoshop CC 2015 and then Quixel suite
or
Launch Quixel Suite and it will open Photoshop CC 2015
Load the obj and texture maps from the grenade contest (just as a test I did this and got same results)
Link the material definitions or don't - doesn't seem to matter
Use Disney (GGX Rough) or Toolbag 2 (Metalness)
Create the base
Apply a metal material - let's say Military Metal 01 and assign it to one of your various color ID's.
Then assign Layered Painted Metal - the preview of which shows some interesting disturbance on the surface - to another part of your mesh
Note that the normal hasn't updated, your surface is still smooth.
The scratches on the military metal 01 are still shiny but they aren't looking like they're scratched into the surface, just bits of grey metal here and there. The Layered Painted Metal has no effect and is essentially just a color.
I can make a short video illustrating this if you like but this is exactly what happens. No additional input on my end. Perhaps I'm simply using the materials incorrectly and I'm meant to alter the smart materials further? I usually use Specular/Glossy but my job just implemented a metalness option and I wanted to test it out before using it in production (after getting my job to upgrade me to commercial) but I'm unable to get the suite to tweak the normal map to that end. I need to check and see if Glossy Specular is having the same issue in the Suite, if so, I will freak out, lol but then I'll know that something is seriously up with my install. Right now, I don't know if it's just user error, a bug, or an issue with Photohsop/the suite.
Replies
Turns out the fix was to just downgrade back to CS6 and it fixed all issues. It's probably a bug with CC that prevents it from altering the normal maps at some point. Try CS6, I'm sure it should help the issue.