Hail, Polycounters,
CrazyBump Beta 6 is ready for poking and prodding!
This version includes some new tools for creating specmaps, and for removing unwanted shading from an image.
Full release notes are here:
http://crazybump.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=901#901
As always, I invite you to send me suggestions and criticisms!
cheers,
-Ryan
Replies
thanks,
Rom
snowblindstudios.com
-killing.normals
microscopic bug: i noticed i cannot manually type in values by selecting numerical values and typing in new ones, save the normal map settings.
-killing.ryan
I particularly need advice on how the specmap-creating tool should work. It less automatic than the other tools, so it probably has a lot of room for improvement in its controls and its output.
I only played with it for a few but I'm stoked, it seems like it's gonna work out really well. I've been putting of quite a few normal maps lately so this should help
I really like the feature to get rid of source shadows, seems to work pretty good.
Thanks
What's happening is that CrazyBump is naively recreating occlusion and specmaps, even though the change you made doesn't affect them. I'll fix this for the next release!
Re: The nvidia filter isn't that bad really, people just tend to run images through it without doing some post process work on it.
It happens after I adjust the level of detial sliders a bit.
All of a sudden it woull look like the bumps are extruded 3 times. The normal map is perfect, but the render window looks odd.
My blind guess would be that the displacement map is causing the trouble. Parallax displacement can have weird artifacts in some cases. Try reducing the depth of your displacement map, and see if that makes a difference!
Thank you Ryan.
Re: The nvidia filter isn't that bad really, people just tend to run images through it without doing some post process work on it.
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No really, it sucks shit. Even with a decent bump map created specificly for the nvidia filter, crazybump is 100x better.
I'm just using it for models in Doom3 engine so I'm only using diffuse, spec and normal in the end.
it would be nice to be able to toggle the visibility of all maps separately in the crazypreveiwer. some times i'm jumping in to create a single map and the previewer doesn't help when it's showing a spec and displacement map, etc, when i'm not looking to create all maps at that time.
You're hardwork is appreciated!
Kicks ass as usual.
I have one request still! When opening a normalmap would it be possible to allow the user to pick what kind of green channel is needed? Just a single tickbox with 'invert y channel' in the Open window would do the trick, near the Common Info tab.
Also in that window it would be neat to have an extra 2d thumbnail displaying a lit preview of the normalmap with a light coming from the top - making it very easy to chose the appropriate 'y' option.
I often have to go back to photoshop to resave my maps because of this... Would be nice to skip that step :P
Thanks!
At present, you don't actually need to go back to photoshop: Just toggle the "invert y" setting in CrazyBump's preferences before loading your map.
I've turned the displacement off and that does seem to be better. Of course I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of the displacement is.
I'm just using it for models in Doom3 engine so I'm only using diffuse, spec and normal in the end.
[/ QUOTE ]
Displacement/ parallax maps are very handy for faking surface geometry on flat polygons. Rocks with deep grout, brick walls, muddy river banks... For instance: I created a deep normal map of a corrugated sheet metal surface, then extracted a height map from that. In the material, the height map gives the illusion that the wavy folds of the metal actually rise and fall on the surface and obscure each other when seen from extreme angles.
As you walk back and forth and shift your view of the panel, it's virtually identical to looking at the textured high res source mesh, only you're looking at a flat plane:)
For instance, if you have CrazyBump's "enhance detail" and "depth" sliders both turned up at the same time, you'll just get a shimmering mess.
Try parallax mapping with a softer bumpmap, and you'll have a better idea what it's for!
I love the occlusion maps!!
Thanks Ryan!
B
CrazyBump Beta 7 is available. Please send me your feedback and suggestions!
Download links are here: http://crazybump.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=255
New features include:
<ul type="square">
-More options for the preview window. All maps can be toggled independently.
-Controls to add highlights & crevices from your normal map to your diffuse texture.
-A control to soften the displacement map, because parallax can look bad with sharp edges.
-Major overhaul of the specmap controls. We gained some new sliders and lost some old ones.
-New option to "save all textures"
-New option to load diffuse color from the clipboard.
-Performance improvement: Maps aren't rendered when they aren't visible.
-Nifty "fade in" effect for the title screen.
[/list]
cheers,
-Ryan
Alex
For example, I'm finding that Occlusion Power at 0 is very different from Power at 1... I'd like to try values like .01, 0.2, etc.
[edit... oops, nevermind, looks like you changed the algo, power=0 isn't doing the same thing in 7 that it was in 6.2]
Also seems like the upgrade link is downloading the 6.2 upgrade, not the 7.0 upgrade. Might be my cache though.
Alex
Was using 6 before, opened it up today and grabbed the update the BAM. Freezing at the "Open texture from file" and Open Normal map from file" screen.
Going to roll back to 6. Anyone else having this issue?
Thanks for reporting this problem!
I have an idea about what's wrong. I'll have an update shortly which I hope will solve this.
Meanwhile, if Beta7 has trouble then please switch back to Beta 6.2: http://crazybump.com/beta/CrazyBumpUpgrade62.exe
Thanks very much for helping to test CrazyBump!
-Ryan
What mesh format were you loading when CrazyBump crashed? Obj?
but i think this is "functionality vs usability"^^
The specular controls will be revised again soon, and your advice will be helpful.
Could you tell me more about why you prefer Beta 6 specmaps? Is a specific control that Beta7 is missing, such as the "original texture" slider?
thanks very much,
-Ryan
It would also be helpful if I could use arrow up/dn keys when editing, to increment in whole numbers up/dn, like Photoshop does.
atm it seems to be a fixed mixing value
Arrangemonk- Thanks for the information. I'll make sure that's improved in the 7.5 specmap controls!
Okay, new beta is posted!
It improves the specmap interface, adds arrow-key controls to all of the number fields, and fixes miscellaneous bugs.
http://crazybump.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1212#1212
My computer spec are.
Windows XP Pro 32bit.
Athlon 64 34
2 gigs ram
GeForce 6800 gt 6.14.11.6375 drivers
Maybe its a driver issue? I wont put it past this computer. its the millennium falcon of computers
If there's a more recent geforce driver, then it might be worth a try.
Otherwise my guess would be a bad relationship between CrazyBump and some other program running on the computer. Are you running antivirus software?
Also, could you try dragging an image file onto the title screen? Does that work any better?
thanks for testing the software,
-Ryan