Best Normal/Spec/etc mapping Question
I am fairly new to 3D modeling, I took a 3D modeling course in college last semester and learned maya. The professor taught normal/spec mapping using crazybump. The school had a subscription so I used it for a while and like the product fairly well, but I was wondering if there are (most likely)any better programs for this. I would like to purchase a program within a couple of months, but please keep in mind I dont have a ton of money (crazy bump will run me 50 bucks for a student version) so I would prefer under 60-70 if possible.
Again sorry about having to ask, and I tried to search for the answer but it wouldnt load after searching.
Again sorry about having to ask, and I tried to search for the answer but it wouldnt load after searching.
Replies
http://www.quixel.se/
PS: Also I forgot to ask, but is nDO2 or others more or less 'industry standard'? If Im not mistaken high level studios create custom maps somehow and not use these programs, but I guess the better question would be if it gives professional looking results?
Read this:
http://www.manufato.com/?p=902
That'll get you started on the basics. There's a lot of other, very good pages of information out there regarding skin specular/etc, go find them.
Someone with better written skills will be able to explain this to you and give examples.
Also, be-careful about nDO2, I got myself last week a copy, and while it's good, it's less then stellar as I had hoped. For example, Crazybump is able to generate a Specular using old school RG invert and basic add to make a quick and dirty Spec to get your start FROM your Normal Map, but in nDo2 I found out they are using the wrong math in it (EI: If you have any rock like objects that are diagonally, it will actually keep the R Channel Up and Invert the G only).
Strangely enough, it seems to do fine with a Normalized Displacement Map or Cavity, although in both cases it looks like it's simply multiplying layers and levels together. Kind baffles me as to why no one seems to have noticed these shortcoming for this plugin honestly, you would assume for something which costs alot more then a newly released movie or game, people would spend more time taking a look at it.
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategorySpecularMap
I would start there (and definitely the link Brendan posted!), there's plenty of information out there about creating spec maps. It is a pretty broad subject, but once you get an understanding of how a spec map works and what its supposed to do (maths included), you will understand how to use them to define any given material.
As for the NDO2 "issues" Ace brought up, I fail to see how those are shortcomings. If your problems with a Normal Map creation plug-in are "It does specular maps wrong" then, for lack of a better phrase, "Yer Doin it Wrong".
And in my case, I could have gotten an educational version of CB, which compared to N2 shortcoming's would have avoided me buying it personally, if I had known about the issues which I'm experiencing now, and how cheap some of the functions are at their core. However, no one mentioned them...I wonder why...
And Math is Math, you can't honestly tell me I screwed up something, considering simple Google search on the Doom3 wiki for the Toolkit which shows you exactly what I'm talking about for Normal Map > Specular creation. Read if this and you'll understand what ONE of my issue is with nDo2:
http://www.modwiki.net/wiki/Start_a_Specular_map_with_a_Normal_map
A very good way to start a Specular BASE, to use as reference if you don't have access to a baker which can bake out a Cavity Map, like Max right off the bat.
nDo2 is doing the MATH wrong in here, their math doesn't make any sense! They can generate Cavities from a Normal Map, but not a Specular directly, which would require a Cavity blur anyway? How does that make sense and it's OK? It will take you at tops a week to put in a sensible solution yet people will defend the software when they're doing something as silly as making the Red channel an 'up' for the Specular, meaning an RECESS information that happens to be Red is going to shine...especially for Rocks, this doesn't make sense!
N2 never promised to be a 'magic make art' button, but they did promise me a streamlined process to create my maps, and so far they only delivered in the Normal Map field, the rest are a mess, or aren't needed! Take out Normal Map > Specular option because it's wrong.
All this I'm posting so people like Surferdude can make educated decisions and be prepared on what they buy, not all of us have money that grow on trees you know..
Theres nothing wrong with improving software (I didnt say there wasnt), it happens all the time on the NDO2 forums. I know plenty of people who have had issues with NDO2, posted their concerns on the forums, and in the next release it was fixed.
Why didnt you download the free trial and try it out before you bought the software? If youre really that upset about it, contact Teddy B and maybe he'd give you a refund (hes a super nice guy).
NDO2 will bake out a cavity map from a normal map (and bunch of other maps), I use it all the time, its very good and Ive never had problems with it. As for the math, I dont know anything about that, I'm not a tech guy and I'm bad at math. Ive only used the "spec map" function a handful of times, I use photoshop to make spec maps, but when I have used it it seemed to get the job done. However, you should bring up your concerns on the NDO2 forums, I mean you're a paying customer and if you arent happy about the product you bought, you should bring it up.
You say they're a mess, but I happen to use many of them in my workflow, both personally and in production. In addition, most of my art friends/peers do the same, and I know of more than a handful of studios who have integrated NDO2 into their production pipeline. And why take out the spec option, I thought you said we should fix stuff and improve software? Seriously, post it up on the NDO2 forums...if you have a valid concern it will be addressed! The quixel team is very good at addressing customer concerns.
Once again....free trial. No one should plunk down $60 for NDO2 or CB without having tried them out. And seriously, if you're that unhappy with it, ask for your money back.
NDO2 is awesome....so is CrazyBump. They are both great software, I just happen to think (based on personal and production art experience) that NDO2 is more versatile and useful than CB. Maybe NDO2 isnt perfect (never said it was), but most software isnt. I'm not gonna throw photoshop out the window because its not great for painting 3d models. Its normal map creation software, the fact that it can make a bunch of other handy things is icing on the cake.
I apologize for the slight thread derail into opinions of NDO2, hopefully something in this wall o' text will help out the OP.