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Normal map problem[3DS Max]

special821
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special821
Hi,

So, as the title says, I have a small problem with my normal map;

[EDIT]Forgot to say... I'm talking about the bricks...

render007.jpg

in this image, it's been multiplied by 5, but still I can't shake the feeling that it's not there... Is it because I have too many lights? They might be breaking the shadows that give the illusion of depth... I don't think the camera angle is too sharp, as even though I put it almost directly in front, it didn't seem to do any good. Please keep in mind that this is my first attempt at something realistic, I usually delve in the cartoonish style or I simply do the level designs...

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

-Phil-
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  • THE 5
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    THE 5 polycounter lvl 14
    The sharp shadows dont look like it, but is that mental ray renderer?
    For rendering you got to put the normalmaps into a "normalbump" map inside the bumpmap slot. Directly applying a normalmap does not work. (My knowledge relies on Max 2010, so things might have changed.)

    Anyways, if you are doing this for games, why not use a realtime shader like
    http://xoliulshader.com/
    or
    http://www.3pointstudios.com/3pointshader_about.shtml

    They are both aviable for free.

    These won't give you any trouble with normalmaps ;)
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  • special821
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    special821
    Yes, this is mental ray and my normal map is already in a normal bump.
    I'm not doing this for games, so that's why I'm not using a realtime shader.

    As for the sharp shadows, my guess is that's because of my wagon wheel lights. I'm not that good with lighting, so I put point lights everywhere there should be one. wich is extreamly heavy on the rendering. I think I have 54 lights. They all cast shadows of the wagon wheels everywhere. Guess I could have less, but I don't know how to get the same light bulb effect without having these lights.
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  • gsokol
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    gsokol
    Are you using light tracer or some sort of global illumination?

    In my experience, that kills normal maps.

    Also, as a side note...you have a lot of hard edged shadows showing up on your pillars..those do not look good.
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  • special821
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    special821
    Honestly, I have no idea if I'm using GI, I have rarely done renders in 3DS, I usally export in UDK.

    As for those hard edges, I think it has to do with the fact that my lights eitted from points, I just switched them to sphere and I'm rendering as I'm typing this.

    [EDIT]I'll post it when it finishes... probably an hour...
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  • special821
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    special821
    There you go, no more sharp shadows on the pillars, but the chair in the middle looks like it has a stepped shadow, wich is strange, but considering it took 1:43h to render, I'll start by changing my light setup and look into this a little later...

    render010v.jpg
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  • Quack!
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    Quack! polycounter lvl 17
    Isolate the wall and 1 light. Put the 1 light near the wall. Render. That will tell you if you are blowing your normals out because of GI. And yes if you have a ton of light in the room, your normals won't show, because they wouldn't in real life.

    Good luck!
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  • special821
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    special821
    Thanks, I'll do just that and post the results
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