Trying to get the hang of some maps

justjake

So I have only really just started to try and make normal and spec maps properly and have read through the polycount wiki page for normal maps and tried taking that into consideration.




This is for a uni assignment and my tutor wants to see that I can really understand normal and spec maps, but I did put a displacement and reflection map on the dart board just to see what would happen.

Any thoughts on how it is going?

JamesWild

That's... not a normal map. It's just 128, 128, 255 blue with the displacement subtracted from the red/green channels?

If you want to make a normal map from a heightmap, go use something like nVidia's normal map filter, but it won't be as good a normal map as say high poly modelling the dartboard and baking it.

gsokol

Your normal map of the front of the board doesn't have any red or green on it....its not doing anything for the model right now. How did you make it?

justjake

They are made via photoshop, my tutor doesn't want them to be just photos that have been taken through something like crazybump. Here is where it is up to now.


Without displacement map

JamesWild

Ok, that's a little better, it now points left/right/up/down in roughly the right places. Another thing I'd do is paint a little bit of grime (scuff marks, edge wear, etc) onto that dartboard and lighten the black a little. The diffuse will be multiplied by the light brightness and being so close to black it'll come out almost 100% black under any light. And add some specular to those areas, almost nothing reflects nothing. Using what I think is referred to as a gloss map you can tighten the highlights on the metallic parts and blur/widen it on the rest.