Pendragon1951 Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I'm pretty well versed in photoshop but I'm at a loss as to how some of those complex shapes were created using the normal maps. My questions are, what free normal map generator do you guys use, and how are some of those complex colors done? Right now I'm practicing on the Excalibur model. Thanks for any help. As to vids on youtube, seen them all but none seem to focus on the normal map sculpting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Connor Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 The colours in a normal map are (most of the time) generated by the program you use to create the normals. xNormal is free and is quite effective if not a pain too use compared to programs like NDO or Maya. basically the process is : You create a high poly, detailed model, usually by sculpting in a program like zBrush, Mudbox, or Blender. Then export the high poly sculpt as a .obj. Import it to the program you're using to create the normal, import the low poly mesh you will be applying the normal map to. Bake the high poly to the low poly, and it spits out the normal map which you then apply as a texture in the normal / bump slot of your shader. of course there are further steps inside the program which will be specific to the program you use. You can also generate a normal map from a texture using a program like Nvidia normal map filter for photoshop ( also free), but this sometimes won't do as good a job at representing the shape you want, and you need to account for things like shadows, and too much small detail which will show up as noise in your normal map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pendragon1951 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 Thanks unfortunately I have CC2015 so the nvidia plugin won't work I got a trail of Ndo2 so we'll see how that works, thanks for the info:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Connor Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Thanks unfortunately I have CC2015 so the nvidia plugin won't work I got a trail of Ndo2 so we'll see how that works, thanks for the info:) NDO2 is very robust and high quality. Crazybump is pretty basic but is free. I didn't know those Nvidia filters didn't work in CC. Just another reason to not upgrade from CS6 for me then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pendragon1951 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 I think I figured out what to do with the normal map creation and design, I think I'll create lots of designs then convert them in Ndo2 while I have the trial then just overlay those maps onto the normal map of excalibur:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pendragon1951 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 Well here is a WIP of my Renaissance Excalibur Armor, I like how armor in that period was very artistic as well as functional Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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