Shader Map (generate normals, etc.)

Jonathan

Anyone use this yet? Just found out about it.
http://www.renderingsystems.com/index.php

ShaderMap Pro automatically converts photographic textures to height maps, normal maps, dudv, and specular maps in seconds. ShaderMap Pro is available for $19.95 and includes a commercial site license for CL/Pro versions and a graphical user interface (GUI). Easily export command lines from the interface. Make money by selling maps created with ShaderMap Pro.

rooster

from the video, it seems to give a lot less options than crazybump.. but useful i guess if you only have 20 dollars to spend

Japhir

that's betrayal of crazybump .
looks pretty cool though.

Snowfly

Thanks for the heads up...gonna demo this. I'm wanting it to not be as effective as Crazybump but I guess you can't be king of the fishbowl forever. :-)

Ged

well if it works almost as well as crazybump does and costs only $20 I think we have some serious competition

Eric Chadwick

Doesn't look nearly as rich, probably just an incremental upgrade from Nvidia's code.

Murdoc

It created a shortcut to the install folder and not to the exe on my desktop.... I have no idea why....

Jonathan

Murdoc wrote: »

It created a shortcut to the install folder and not to the exe on my desktop.... I have no idea why....

The command-line version is free, the regular GUI version is $20.

Did you install the free one or the $20 one?

Slainean

"Make money by selling maps created with ShaderMap Pro."

So that's how it works...

Michael Knubben

This has got a long way to go to beat Crazybump, but I do enjoy its interface. Despite an obvious lack of robotic overlord-speak.

Thewiruz

No actually its pretty close!I guess you guys doesnt know how it works?

All maps is affected by eachother,If you change the displacement map it affect the normalmap Ao and the other maps.

I downloaded the crazybump demo a while ago and i cant see why the price is that diffrent.I want to see a personal licens that is far cheaper then the commercial if i would buy it.Also second quater next year Shadermap 2 will be availeble.


If you want to get a crisp normalmap you simply change the smoothness of the displacement map.there is alot more options then just the sliders in the normalmap tab.

Its worth every penny !!!

Michael Knubben

Right. Nice gravedig/advertisement!

Thewiruz

When it comes to Adverticement i have seen 100ds of more crazybump treads out there "this is amazing blabla"
I dont see any diffrence besides the price,sorry!.Also whos adverticeing honestly?

i have tried both and $70 bucks more for cb there is alternativs like this app!Thats all plane simple

odium

Crasy Bump is awesome, but hell its over priced...

Thewiruz

Its not when a company pays $99 but there is few options for the rest of the people who isnt working commercial.

But im not sad,found a very good alternativ as i said before!

Michael Knubben

Yes. And you also said that 'maybe we don't understand Shadermap'. I just feel like you're either a developer, or a friend of the developers, and your advertising is therefore a bit dishonest.
As you already noticed, we were aware there was an alternative. And then I tried it, and found Crazybump to be better.

Ignoring the issue of price, I find Crazybump to still be better for my workflow, although I hope Shader Map turns into a viable alternative.

edit: actually, you're probably not one of the developers at all. I was under the impression you had registered here just to rant about Shader map. Not that you had a lot of posts before you dragged this posts up, but still...
As a funny aside, on his profile:

The last 8 visitor(s) to this page were:

1. fullofclovers
2. gavku
3. MightyPea
4. Ott
5. Ryan Clark
6. Snight
7. Stronin
8. Vrav

Look out, Thewiruz! Ryan is plotting your death.

Thewiruz

no im not one of the developers and not even close,Dont know the guys eather or Ryan.His application is the first of this kind and i respect Ryan and crazybump no dubt.

But what i wanted to say is that the price is to high for most of us just doing this for fun and there is a cheaper application that is very good,I have tried CB for a long time when it was beta and i cant tell which is the best,I think they perform very good both of them!Perhaps CB is faster when generating AO becuse this take a while in SM but i have time.

Oh and it sounds like you are a friend to Ryan btw !
I dont mind if he sees this!Do you?

ElysiumGX

This looks handy. I'll keep it bookmarked for now, and see where it goes. I can't bring myself to buy CrazyBump, not even it if "helps Ryan". Whoever he is. It's not a complex tool, I assume. Just one that was needed. It's great for the workflow. Still, I come across many who use it, and have no clue what is going on. Only that it makes Next Gen art quickly. A simple tool is no substitute for talent.

EarthQuake

I find it funny how people complain about the price of crazybump. I bought myself a personal copy with my own hard earned cash and could not be happier. For $100 I get a tool that can save countless hours of time and is far and away better than anything on the market. Not to mention you're supporting a very cool guy, who is doing all of this in his spare time and listens to *every* comment we have here for him, and is very quick to make fixes, and add new features that are useful.

Really in this day and age where workflows have gotten exponetially more complex, with highres modeling, baking, and all these other technical aspects, its great have such a nice tool that helps to streamline so many of these hurdles. If anyone fails to see how this isn't worth $100 of your own cash, you, my friends are MORALLY BANKRUPT.

EarthQuake

ElysiumGX wrote: »

This looks handy. I'll keep it bookmarked for now, and see where it goes. I can't bring myself to buy CrazyBump, not even it if "helps Ryan". Whoever he is. It's not a complex tool, I assume. Just one that was needed. It's great for the workflow. Still, I come across many who use it, and have no clue what is going on. Only that it makes Next Gen art quickly. A simple tool is no substitute for talent.

The point of CB isn't to make someone into a good artist with a single click, why someone would even bother to mention this boggles my mind. Its about making a feature-rich, and more efficient tool for a very large problem. Automation is the key here folks, spending countless hours panting in details to support your normal map(details you already modeled in the first place) does not require any extra skill, all it is is mindless, tedious work. The more mindless tedious work that can be removed from my day to day work, the better. Or spending hours painting height-maps when you can have an approximation to work on in just minutes, man i really dont see how people fail to realize how powerful tools like this are.

Still, I come across many who use it, and have no clue what is going on. Only that it makes Next Gen art quickly. A simple tool is no substitute for talent.

Honestly man, this can be said about every tool, ever created, since the begging of time. Whats your point?

Neox

can't understand it myself, i bought it, it's great and it saves a LOT of time when you work with normalmaps

adam

Crazybump is a crutch. Real men use Zbrush or paint the normal maps with a soft airbrush in Photoshop.

FACT.

EDIT: nVidia normalmap filter is still the bee's knees kids, don't ever forget that.

EDIT #2: Yes this post is sarcastic. And yes there's a point to it; Hopefully those who aren't quite grasping Crazybump's value will read between the lines.

ElysiumGX

My point is, it's good to have an alternative, for those are aren't in your day to day situation. In this case, a much more affordable alternative for those who are not investing in a career, or in the position to, or likely won't use at as often to justify the cost.

I clearly stated that Crazybump is a great tool, that is needed. Therefore, I understand its purpose, and assume that many "realistic-next-gen" game devs are now meeting their deadlines easier. I'm sure you hard working professionals are very thankful for that.

By the replies, I have to believe that you took my last few comments personally on some level, ignoring the praise I gave it. And so I'm not going to argue with your logic. It's just a tool, just like anything else. Get over it.

Edit: Did you guys admit that you're using the "non-commercial" license for your commercial work? Yeah, way to support Ryan on his efforts!

Rob Galanakis

Let me add one thing about Crazybump. You aren't just paying for a great tool. You are paying for great support and continued development.

You know, there was a time (real or imaginary) where software developers engaged with the community, took ideas, got feedback, and actually listened. We have the ear of an incredibly talented mad-genius programmer who posts regularly on this forum to make fixes and improvements. You can ask him for almost anything and he'll do it. This is amazing. You'd pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for support like that for another program, and you get it for free as part of your license. We are so used to being ignored by behemoth omnomware companies that shove useless features down our throats that we forget how much more value it is to have fewer, better and targeted features, with better support. Your $100 for CrazyBump is much more than paying $100 for a hamburger or a monitor... it is money that keeps on giving across hundreds or thousands of people.

Yeah, I'd say $100 isn't too shabby for all that.

Thewiruz

This is ridiculous.Is there any adults in here ? :P

Also this is a Shadermap tread from the beginning.Most of you guys cant compair the applications right?If you say yes i assume you bought a licens for shadermap and compair the results in any 3d application or game or is it the preview window?

There is a cheaper alternativ then CB thats the point,nothing more nothing less.Most seems to take this tread way to personal.

Also Ryan has great support you said.Thats good!
Renderingsystems has great support to!They have a forum and fix the bugs fast,And listen to their customers to.

So people who want a good Normalmap,AO,Displacement generator to a cheap price and great support this is one good choice!!

Slingshot

"This is ridiculous.Is there any adults in here ?" Dude give it a rest, everyone has a right to their opinion!

The program seems good for the low price it costs and it does looks like it can do Some of the same things Crazybump can. I still think I would prefer Crazybump over ShaderMap Pro for now, but as time progresses we shall see.

Thewiruz

I dont say people shuld choose SM insted of Cb thats not the point.I said its cheaper and can do pretty much what CB can.Most aint aware there are alternatives

Also you say (Dude give it a rest, everyone has a right to their opinion!)
I see more Cb advertising here then SM.CB is great with this and that.So read the topic again.It started with (Anyone use this yet? Just found out about it.)And i think he talks about SM right?

Maybe i shuld hijack a CB tread somewhere insted,Then i would understand (Dude give it a rest, everyone has a right to their opinion!)

this tread is starting to get intreresting.

Fangirls :P

arshlevon

lol at this thread, if you work for a major studio then crazy bump is not expensive, seeing as the company will pay for it... i think ryan probably priced the software for the professional market. if you think cb is expensive then go buy a maya license, thats overpriced..shader map is perfect for the mod scene and the hobbyist, and its priced just for that, they are obviously not trying to market toward professionals and that is just fine. now relax, stop crying, its going to be okay.

Lee3dee

I'm very happy with my crazybump purchase, while I don't use it as much as most others do, it was worth every penny! Plus Ryan is always updating it and adding features that people request.

$99 is reasonably priced, if you finding it hard to part with money, then could be a good alternative.

adam

Hey Ely - I own a licensed copy of Crazybump AND my post wasn't directed at you, if thats what your last reply was about. Crazybump's a fun tool, I love it!

*hugs it out*