@Teddy:
Thanks for the heightmap feature!
This is my old test file that was purely created with nDo. I just quickly did a conversion with your latest version with it.
There seems to be something wrong, maybe due to it beeing created with one of the first nDo versions though.
I will do some more testing soon
For those of you who are into that sort of thing, I setup a small nDo twitter news feed: http://twitter.com/cgtedNews
THE 5,
Thanks for providing me with the picture. I've tried to make all new versions of nDo fully backwards compatible. Please feel free to send your PSD to my gmail address (teddy.bergsman) and I will look into what might be causing this for you ASAP.
xXm0RpH3usXx,
You are correct, occasionally some details still don't pop the way they should -- as demonstrated by your example. I will continuously improve the height conversion algorithm, as it's not 100% "aware" just yet.
Calicocat,
The latest version of the nDo alpha is now v0.6.6.
ironbearxl,
Thank you kindly, I admire your generosity!
But I am unsure of the workflow to be used.Let me describe what I think the flow is in my own words.
I am primarily wanting to use this for tank skins/textures so wouldnt need anything crazy.
1. Generate a greyscale image of current diffuse texture
2. Run NDO plug to generate a nromal map of the above greyscale image
3. Technigue chisel hard on the tutorial page seems to be the best for my needs
4. For individual areas of the normal map I want raised I would use bevel tools in white color to raise and lower areas ?
5. In order to use bevel tools do I need to run the 16bit mode button ?
6. Instantiate button is meant to create copies of the layer u are working on automatically ?
7. Is the best way of doing normals in this tool is to create 4-8 different layers with the tool each one with a minor 1-3 pixel gaussian blur effect each layer ?
8. Once the nroaml map is created I assume their is a 1 click solution to generating the height map in newest release ?
I'm just wanting to be clear before diving into using this tool. Easy methods of creating normal maps is what I am after. Thank you in advance.
Hey guys, Im trying to create a height map from the normal map that I created from nDo, but I can't seem to figure out how to use that particular normal map to create the height map.
I use the cobblestone preset, and do my tweaks. Immediately thereafter, I click Height from Normal...and I get something that is so bright and has no contrast whatsoever.
What is the general workflow / process to obtain a heightmap with ndo?
had time to do something on this tool in the meanwhile?
i wated to report another bug (lately i hadnt had much time to do stuff, so i was rather inactive, hence no nudging by me )
after having applied a preset i wanted t o start from the bottom to the top, so i hided all the layers except the bottom one.
i changed it.
now i wanted to go one layer up (with the ui button) but it somehow doesnt detect the hiden layers anymore...
Hey one of my students got this weird "no constructor" kind of error with nDo in CS5. I'm sorry i can't be more specific, but it seemed related to the options dialog appearing, as it did all the actions just not show the UI. Any idea teddy ?
Thank you very much for providing me with the PSD. There was a great deal of funky stuff going on with some of your normal element properties, namely the layer name property string not matching the actual layer properties. I'm not quite sure how this has happened, but I assume it was from an old bug in the early days of nDo.
Bubba91873,
1. Generate a greyscale image of current diffuse texture
2. Run NDO plug to generate a nromal map of the above greyscale image
3. Technigue chisel hard on the tutorial page seems to be the best for my needs
If you want to extract just finer details from your diffuse map, then yes, this a simple way to do it. There is however no need to convert your texture to grayscale, nDo does this automatically when generating normals.
4. For individual areas of the normal map I want raised I would use bevel tools in white color to raise and lower areas ?
Normal bevels can be created from not only white-painted layers, but also selections and vectors. Then yes, you would alter the depth property of the bevel to control whether it should point inwards or outwards.
5. In order to use bevel tools do I need to run the 16bit mode button ?
Running in 16-bit mode is not a requirement, but it does produce smoother results, especially when sculpting or working with subtle volumes in general.
6. Instantiate button is meant to create copies of the layer u are working on automatically ?
The "Instantiate" button makes a linked copy of the currently selected normal. When the properties one instance is tweaked, the same changes automatically apply to all other instances.
7. Is the best way of doing normals in this tool is to create 4-8 different layers with the tool each one with a minor 1-3 pixel gaussian blur effect each layer ?
If you want to do the normal manually step by step, then that method could work for you. Yes, you can apply gaussian blur (or any other filter) to your normal, but there is also a "Soften" slider which just might do the trick for you.
However, for a faster and more automatic approach to converting photos to normals I would recommend playing around with the different "Photo presets", a recently added feature not covered in the tutorial. This function basically does what you are after, i.e. extracting different normal volumes from your texture in multiple passes.
8. Once the nroaml map is created I assume their is a 1 click solution to generating the height map in newest release ?
Yes, however this does not function properly for photo-based normals just yet.
I hope this answered you questions.
tristamus,
Yes, unfortunately nDo does not fully support the conversion of photo-based normals just yet, but hang in there. For now it works best for converting normals created from selections, vectors or custom-painted layers.
xXm0RpH3usXx,
Thanks for the report! This is actually a known issue and I'm sorry to say that this is how Photoshop's layer stepping functionality behaves -- it simply ignores any hidden layers. I'm afraid only the old-fashioned approach works in this specific case: close nDo, select the next layer, re-run nDo .
Cathodeus,
I have now sent you a mail about it, but for anyone else who may ask themselves the same question: yes, it is fully possible to change the normal channel configuration. Just open the "nDo.dat" file and do the changes of your choice. For an inverse Y "unreal style" normal, use this configuration:
I'm not quite sure, but this could either be because of an incorrect installation of nDo (maybe your student has moved files from the nDo folder to the Photoshop folder, a known cause of this problem), or there is something corrupt with the PS preference file (info on how to solve this can be found at the bottom of this post: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1254057&postcount=287).
Thanks for this fantastic tool.
I am a little late for the party > read the whole thread but did not find the answer.
How do you guys approach this when you already have a normal map created and you only need to add some details to it. When I do it i create new layer and paint some lets say seams with white and hit f3 and there is a solid background color (127,127,255) that hides the information from my original normal map and I am not sure if i have to just delete it or there is a better approach.
I guess there is a way to use the blending modes but while experimenting i did not find good solution.
Thanks
here are few images with my steps. And I know it is a silly question but any help will be greatly appreciated
I think I figured it out - i just merge the layers in that group that was created from the nDo and delete the blue background and then just put the layer on a overlay and it looks like it is working. Still not sure if this is the way you guys do it.
Edit : oo I feel dumb now there is a overlay action that comes with that tool . Going in the corner to cry now.
Thanks again for the fantastic tool.
I'm happy you figured it out on your own! Thanks for posting the solution for others to see.
Chris,
I have replied to you personally, but I'll post here as well for anyone who might run into the same issue:
Due to a limitation in the scripting engine of CS2, nDo must be installed to the C:/nDo directory in order to work for CS2 Windows users. This is likely the cause of your problem. This can be solved in two ways:
1) In ../nDo/nDo.jsx, in the beginning of the script, look up a variable named INSTALLPATH_FOR_CS2_USERS and change its contents to your installation path. This should do the trick for you.
2) For windows users, just move your nDo folder straight to C:/.
xXm0RpH3usXx,
Indeed I have something coming up for you guys. Something which requires a bit of time to pull off. My full-time employment significantly limits my resources, but rest assured change is a'coming.
nah, quit your job for us! just kidding
i'm eagerly awaiting what there will come...
do you have any date yet? or anything like "within this month" / "next month" /"next year" Oo
also I may tell you that you inspired me to get into scripting a little further, too, just bought me a Java book (if that even interests you)
cant thank you enough
I have a problem with nDo using Photoshop CS4 (OSX 10.6.6).
The plugin works but as soon as I change any option (doesn't matter which one - eg. moving a slider) the change is applied but the nDo window is disabled after that. Am I doing something wrong or is there any solution to this?
I could REALLY use a video tutorial on how to use this. Im @ Win7 x64 with CS5 and installed this properly, but like Wonderboy, when I change any settings on the sliders and stuff, the settings get grayed out and I can't do anything but close the window. Also, Using a shape-node filled with white, I don't get anything that looks like a normal map, it just sits there, that white shape, no matter what I press.
a video t utorial how that works wouldnt solve your issue i guess.
also at this time it would be rather dumb to make one as teddy promised to have some major updates up his sleeve...
i'm on win7 x64 cs5 at home, too, and it works just fine...
sure you threw it into the the right folder?
Hi
Might be a great tool and thanks.
Pscs4 win7 64bit.
There is no option for running a script under the menu file tab. Automate has no entry either. Drag dropping the nDo.atn into the play script tab with a document open and hitting the play script button with Overlay Normal selected will give a normal map. The script seems to freeze and there is no dialogue.
I am not applying the script properly. As far as I can see there is no install but rather just extract the folder to the C drive which is what I did.
A video tutorial isnt really necessary but a good step by step for those who don't run scripts normally would be terrific.
Any help appreciated, this looks like it could be an amazing tool.
Ah I found the bloody scripting menu item under 'show all menu items'. Running a script from there only allows the nDo.jsx to run, which it does well but freezes pscs4 after map creation and doesn't display the tools dialogue. I have to press escape to use photoshop after script run. I am running the last version of nDo.
Starting with some asset production on my own gsme and speed is essential--and with nDo I am getting exactly the kind of results I need. Thank you for such a great tool.
Just wanted to reported I am also having issues with Ndo.
Running Win 7 64 bit, CS5.1 (extended version) and whenever I try to do a transform or an instantiate the Ndo dialogue goes away and puts PS is in a frozen state. Hitting ESC brings back the dialogue.
I've triple checked that I've installed this correctly. I've even deleted and reinstalled.
Would love to use this on a project. Hoping we see an update or bug fix soon.
Thanks for poking me, it's been quite a while since I last visited the forum. Thank you all for your nice comments, I'm sorry I've not been around to reply properly to everyone. I try to reply ASAP to every email I get, so if something is ever urgent feel free to mail me at any time.
RictusGrin & wonderboy,
I've never been able to reproduce this bug, but now once and for all I took a shot at what I think might be the problem and uploaded a patched-up version. I really hope it works for you, let me know if it doesn't and I'll look further into this issue!
Hi Teddy thanks for the quick response, unfortunately problem still exists.
What I did:
1. Deleted Ndo Script from PSExtended CS5.1
2. Deleted Ndo folder
3. Unrar'ed to c : \ Ndo
4. Open PS
5. Dragged the action Ndo to the Actions Tab
6. Open 512x512 document
7. Did a nDo normal map on the full canvas (worked, this worked before the update)
8. Did a circle selection, embossed (worked, this worked before the update)
9. Try to Transform (failure, Ndo goes away, PS locks up have to hit ESC to get back PS control)
10. Try to Instatiate (same results as #9)
Ah, sorry RictusGrin, your mail reported the issue where the tool window froze after interacting with it, this was the bug I've now hopefully fixed.
Regarding the Transform bug freezing PS, this is a CS5 specific bug that I've despite many efforts not been able to solve. It simply seems CS5 does not allow a free-transform to be performed when the function is executed from a ScriptUI.
To get around this, you can always just duplicate manually in the layer stack. To make instantiation work, first duplicate manually and then just link the duplicate layer with the original one (select both layers and press the link button). Let me know if the workarounds do the trick for you!
I grabbed the newest Nvidia beta drivers, now the cube primitive renders fine however Im still getting the same warnings that Photoshop is not connected, and it requires Visual Basic (even though I have it).
Clicking on the New Normal crashes ndo but creates the normal.
Replies
Thanks for the heightmap feature!
This is my old test file that was purely created with nDo. I just quickly did a conversion with your latest version with it.
There seems to be something wrong, maybe due to it beeing created with one of the first nDo versions though.
I will do some more testing soon
THE 5,
Thanks for providing me with the picture. I've tried to make all new versions of nDo fully backwards compatible. Please feel free to send your PSD to my gmail address (teddy.bergsman) and I will look into what might be causing this for you ASAP.
xXm0RpH3usXx,
You are correct, occasionally some details still don't pop the way they should -- as demonstrated by your example. I will continuously improve the height conversion algorithm, as it's not 100% "aware" just yet.
Calicocat,
The latest version of the nDo alpha is now v0.6.6.
ironbearxl,
Thank you kindly, I admire your generosity!
Happy new year!
Teddy
Hotmail fails at attaching files, so here my dropbox.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17364025/Files/F_nDo_test_hightech_tiles.psd
I've seen the tutorial located here about using this tool:
http://www.philipk.net/tutorials/ndo/ndo.html
But I am unsure of the workflow to be used.Let me describe what I think the flow is in my own words.
I am primarily wanting to use this for tank skins/textures so wouldnt need anything crazy.
1. Generate a greyscale image of current diffuse texture
2. Run NDO plug to generate a nromal map of the above greyscale image
3. Technigue chisel hard on the tutorial page seems to be the best for my needs
4. For individual areas of the normal map I want raised I would use bevel tools in white color to raise and lower areas ?
5. In order to use bevel tools do I need to run the 16bit mode button ?
6. Instantiate button is meant to create copies of the layer u are working on automatically ?
7. Is the best way of doing normals in this tool is to create 4-8 different layers with the tool each one with a minor 1-3 pixel gaussian blur effect each layer ?
8. Once the nroaml map is created I assume their is a 1 click solution to generating the height map in newest release ?
I'm just wanting to be clear before diving into using this tool. Easy methods of creating normal maps is what I am after. Thank you in advance.
I use the cobblestone preset, and do my tweaks. Immediately thereafter, I click Height from Normal...and I get something that is so bright and has no contrast whatsoever.
What is the general workflow / process to obtain a heightmap with ndo?
had time to do something on this tool in the meanwhile?
i wated to report another bug (lately i hadnt had much time to do stuff, so i was rather inactive, hence no nudging by me
after having applied a preset i wanted t o start from the bottom to the top, so i hided all the layers except the bottom one.
i changed it.
now i wanted to go one layer up (with the ui button) but it somehow doesnt detect the hiden layers anymore...
I was trying it with udk but udk invert the "G" axis insterad of our own engine. Is there a way with nDo to invert "Y" ("G") axis ????
I was searching for that but didn't found anything.
So, how do I solve this?
Im having the same error.
thanx
Thank you very much for providing me with the PSD. There was a great deal of funky stuff going on with some of your normal element properties, namely the layer name property string not matching the actual layer properties. I'm not quite sure how this has happened, but I assume it was from an old bug in the early days of nDo.
Bubba91873,
1. Generate a greyscale image of current diffuse texture
2. Run NDO plug to generate a nromal map of the above greyscale image
3. Technigue chisel hard on the tutorial page seems to be the best for my needs
If you want to extract just finer details from your diffuse map, then yes, this a simple way to do it. There is however no need to convert your texture to grayscale, nDo does this automatically when generating normals.
4. For individual areas of the normal map I want raised I would use bevel tools in white color to raise and lower areas ?
Normal bevels can be created from not only white-painted layers, but also selections and vectors. Then yes, you would alter the depth property of the bevel to control whether it should point inwards or outwards.
5. In order to use bevel tools do I need to run the 16bit mode button ?
Running in 16-bit mode is not a requirement, but it does produce smoother results, especially when sculpting or working with subtle volumes in general.
6. Instantiate button is meant to create copies of the layer u are working on automatically ?
The "Instantiate" button makes a linked copy of the currently selected normal. When the properties one instance is tweaked, the same changes automatically apply to all other instances.
7. Is the best way of doing normals in this tool is to create 4-8 different layers with the tool each one with a minor 1-3 pixel gaussian blur effect each layer ?
If you want to do the normal manually step by step, then that method could work for you. Yes, you can apply gaussian blur (or any other filter) to your normal, but there is also a "Soften" slider which just might do the trick for you.
However, for a faster and more automatic approach to converting photos to normals I would recommend playing around with the different "Photo presets", a recently added feature not covered in the tutorial. This function basically does what you are after, i.e. extracting different normal volumes from your texture in multiple passes.
8. Once the nroaml map is created I assume their is a 1 click solution to generating the height map in newest release ?
Yes, however this does not function properly for photo-based normals just yet.
I hope this answered you questions.
tristamus,
Yes, unfortunately nDo does not fully support the conversion of photo-based normals just yet, but hang in there. For now it works best for converting normals created from selections, vectors or custom-painted layers.
xXm0RpH3usXx,
Thanks for the report! This is actually a known issue and I'm sorry to say that this is how Photoshop's layer stepping functionality behaves -- it simply ignores any hidden layers. I'm afraid only the old-fashioned approach works in this specific case: close nDo, select the next layer, re-run nDo .
Cathodeus,
I have now sent you a mail about it, but for anyone else who may ask themselves the same question: yes, it is fully possible to change the normal channel configuration. Just open the "nDo.dat" file and do the changes of your choice. For an inverse Y "unreal style" normal, use this configuration:
+y:[128,0,128];
-y:[128,255,128];
+x:[255,128,128];
-x:[0,128,128];
z:[128,128,0];
Xoliul,
I'm not quite sure, but this could either be because of an incorrect installation of nDo (maybe your student has moved files from the nDo folder to the Photoshop folder, a known cause of this problem), or there is something corrupt with the PS preference file (info on how to solve this can be found at the bottom of this post: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1254057&postcount=287).
I am a little late for the party
How do you guys approach this when you already have a normal map created and you only need to add some details to it. When I do it i create new layer and paint some lets say seams with white and hit f3 and there is a solid background color (127,127,255) that hides the information from my original normal map and I am not sure if i have to just delete it or there is a better approach.
I guess there is a way to use the blending modes but while experimenting i did not find good solution.
Thanks
here are few images with my steps. And I know it is a silly question but any help will be greatly appreciated
I think I figured it out - i just merge the layers in that group that was created from the nDo and delete the blue background and then just put the layer on a overlay and it looks like it is working. Still not sure if this is the way you guys do it.
Edit : oo I feel dumb now
Thanks again for the fantastic tool.
you stated you had something coming up quite a while back and i wondered if your still working on it...
I've followed the installation closely but still get this error upon trying to run the action.
TypeError: Undefined is not an object.
Mac OS 10.5.8 with Photoshop CS2.
Any help would be great!
Thanks.
Chris
I'm happy you figured it out on your own! Thanks for posting the solution for others to see.
Chris,
I have replied to you personally, but I'll post here as well for anyone who might run into the same issue:
Due to a limitation in the scripting engine of CS2, nDo must be installed to the C:/nDo directory in order to work for CS2 Windows users. This is likely the cause of your problem. This can be solved in two ways:
1) In ../nDo/nDo.jsx, in the beginning of the script, look up a variable named INSTALLPATH_FOR_CS2_USERS and change its contents to your installation path. This should do the trick for you.
2) For windows users, just move your nDo folder straight to C:/.
xXm0RpH3usXx,
Indeed I have something coming up for you guys. Something which requires a bit of time to pull off. My full-time employment significantly limits my resources, but rest assured change is a'coming.
i'm eagerly awaiting what there will come...
do you have any date yet? or anything like "within this month" / "next month" /"next year" Oo
also I may tell you that you inspired me to get into scripting a little further, too, just bought me a Java book (if that even interests you)
cant thank you enough
Great thing going on here.
Thanks again.
Chris
The plugin works but as soon as I change any option (doesn't matter which one - eg. moving a slider) the change is applied but the nDo window is disabled after that. Am I doing something wrong or is there any solution to this?
The error reads
Error 519: Server interface error"
-Server interface error 'No component returned from CreateWidget'
Line: 156
-> var m_Group_GeneralOptions = add('group', undefined);
also at this time it would be rather dumb to make one as teddy promised to have some major updates up his sleeve...
i'm on win7 x64 cs5 at home, too, and it works just fine...
sure you threw it into the the right folder?
Also thanks to Teddy for the awesome tool and to Philipk for the tuts
Might be a great tool and thanks.
Pscs4 win7 64bit.
There is no option for running a script under the menu file tab. Automate has no entry either. Drag dropping the nDo.atn into the play script tab with a document open and hitting the play script button with Overlay Normal selected will give a normal map. The script seems to freeze and there is no dialogue.
I am not applying the script properly. As far as I can see there is no install but rather just extract the folder to the C drive which is what I did.
A video tutorial isnt really necessary but a good step by step for those who don't run scripts normally would be terrific.
Any help appreciated, this looks like it could be an amazing tool.
Ah I found the bloody scripting menu item under 'show all menu items'. Running a script from there only allows the nDo.jsx to run, which it does well but freezes pscs4 after map creation and doesn't display the tools dialogue. I have to press escape to use photoshop after script run. I am running the last version of nDo.
Running Win 7 64 bit, CS5.1 (extended version) and whenever I try to do a transform or an instantiate the Ndo dialogue goes away and puts PS is in a frozen state. Hitting ESC brings back the dialogue.
I've triple checked that I've installed this correctly. I've even deleted and reinstalled.
Would love to use this on a project. Hoping we see an update or bug fix soon.
RictusGrin & wonderboy,
I've never been able to reproduce this bug, but now once and for all I took a shot at what I think might be the problem and uploaded a patched-up version. I really hope it works for you, let me know if it doesn't and I'll look further into this issue!
Get the latest version: http://cgted.com/nDo.zip
I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately. There is an unannounced reason for this though which I hope you won't be all too sorry about
What I did:
1. Deleted Ndo Script from PSExtended CS5.1
2. Deleted Ndo folder
3. Unrar'ed to c : \ Ndo
4. Open PS
5. Dragged the action Ndo to the Actions Tab
6. Open 512x512 document
7. Did a nDo normal map on the full canvas (worked, this worked before the update)
8. Did a circle selection, embossed (worked, this worked before the update)
9. Try to Transform (failure, Ndo goes away, PS locks up have to hit ESC to get back PS control)
10. Try to Instatiate (same results as #9)
Regarding the Transform bug freezing PS, this is a CS5 specific bug that I've despite many efforts not been able to solve. It simply seems CS5 does not allow a free-transform to be performed when the function is executed from a ScriptUI.
To get around this, you can always just duplicate manually in the layer stack. To make instantiation work, first duplicate manually and then just link the duplicate layer with the original one (select both layers and press the link button). Let me know if the workarounds do the trick for you!
Very interested in what this mysterious "unannounced reason" might be.
whats the plan? any updates ahead?
am
excited!
dont let us wait too long :P
Well, careful what you wish for!
I promise I won't keep you waiting much longer.
Go Teddy!
"7 months ago, two friends and I decided to leave our game industry jobs in pursuit of joint undertaking"
Just got that from the site...
So, i guess it'll get commercial then? I mean, you gotta live off of something, dont you?
You have my word that whichever way things go, the nDo script will be free and fully supported, always and forever.
17 hours a day for 7 months will hopefully be worth your wait!
and i guess we are all waiting 24/7
I grabbed the newest Nvidia beta drivers, now the cube primitive renders fine however Im still getting the same warnings that Photoshop is not connected, and it requires Visual Basic (even though I have it).
Clicking on the New Normal crashes ndo but creates the normal.
its got no cube primitve?