creating specular maps

simon-s

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on how to create a specualr map from a Zbrush model.

I have been using XNormal to create my normal/occulsion maps but I am unsure how to create a good specular map.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

sampson

specular map.. from zbrush???

not sure what you mean by that though this maybe should be in the technical talk section. It depends what you want to replicate, metal - wood, concrete etc they all have different degrees of how light or dark you should make your specular

simon-s

Hi, maybe I should rephrase... I have created a character in zbrush and have exported the high res model as an obj. I have then used xnormal to create my maps from that.

I was really wondering if you can create specular maps in xnormal?

I have seen a tutorial on how to create a specular map from a bump map in photoshop, but I can't seem to export a bump from xnormal.

EmAr

Creating your own specular maps is a much better practice. I would render an ambient occlusion map in xNormal and overlay my UV layout on that in Photoshop/GIMP/whatever, then paint my specular map on a new layer(s). You can blend in the ambient occlusion map where needed too that way.

Good luck.

simon-s

Thanks, I will give that a try.

Cheers

Bad Spleen

Hello Simon-s,

When creating specular maps for game characters, remember that you should have lower specularity on the recessed areas of the model. Although this is not technically correct, it helps to sell the normal map more convincingly, as 'shiny' recesses can break the effect you are trying to achieve. I therefore advise you use a cavity map from ZBrush if possible to assist your specular map.

TheSplash

If you want a baked-out base to start from, in MAX you can assign materials (With specular) to different areas of the high-res model then using render-to-texture bake out a specular map with those values. This can provide a good base to start from, but will probably require tweaking to get the look you want in whatever renderer you use.

dvisionvoid

Maybe the cavity map is useful to create the specular map You can obtain the cavity map using xnormal

ZacD

Specular should be pretty flat in values based on material properties. All of the scratches and details should be done on the gloss/roughness texture.