Interesting topic, once again. Using the CB occlusion map generated from the normal map as different kinds of masks for the diffuse/spec is really useful. Would be nice if you could bake it from the high poly though (would be more exact of course), is there any way to do it in xNormal? Can't really seem to get anything…
Vig, unless I'm hideously mis-reading what kdm3d wrote, he's talking about multiplying the blue channel over his diffuse/spec whatever textures, not multiplying it over the normal-map. That'd make even less sense :) Unless you're referring to Lamont's post with the other wiki link about putting the AO in the blue channel?…
I started writing a long post in response, but it really just comes down to real world examples. In my experience, the results haven't seemed worth it or effective at all. My first post in this thread basically said that, they haven't seemed to do much but I'd be open to using them if people could demonstrate positive…
HA, didn't mean to hijack the thread:) To clarify, I am talking about multplying the blue chanel over the diffuse/spec with the rest of your AO. It adds a little bit more pop to the textures. You guys know as well as I do its not always about having something perfectly accurate or realistic in games or art in general.…
Cavity maps can be great guides for when you are texturing, however after some experimentation I'm not sold on using them in the final baked texture. First of all, you can barely see any difference when they are applied in most cases, and when you can see a difference, I'm not sure why you would want to. I mean, by…
I don't think it's so much about artistic skill as we have very very experienced artists here that know what they're doing but are accustomed to doing it a different way. They may have a slower pipeline but a pipeline that works for them. Even if it's going in hand by hand and walking every proper normal map blend step ala…