str8g8 on 5/11/2007 at 11:15
Normal maps are basically bump maps and are used by modern graphics engines to simulate complex surfaces without using loads of polys. Normal maps allow the surface to react to light sources in real time. You can use colour textures that have shadows on them and look photo-real - but those shadows are burnt in to the texture and will not change according to different lighting conditions.
Creating good normal maps is difficult however. Crazybump makes is easier - not easy mind you, it will never be a one-step process.
massimilianogoi on 7/11/2007 at 19:50
Wow! :D It looks very nice!!
I think I'll try it, yes....
Beleg Cúthalion on 27/6/2008 at 18:12
Just one little thing to add: Both Judith and I weren't sure whether we could use Crazy Bump even after it's not public beta anymore, but I tried it today after setting the date to 2007 and it worked without a glitch. :)
Judith on 27/6/2008 at 20:15
Hmm... It doesn't work with version 1.05 Do you have a previous version somewhere?
Beleg Cúthalion on 27/6/2008 at 22:20
Oh, now you got me. :erg: I always thought that I had already entered this demo mode but apparently it started this morning after getting another update. Anyway, I still got a 8.91 or something beta setup (
http://jayb.ath.cx/Eidos/CrazyBumpSetup.exe) here.
Judith on 28/6/2008 at 09:30
Thanks, but still no result. I believe it's due to some entry to the registry Crazubump makes when you finish your trial period. I already tried to delete all the entries named "crazybump", I guess it must be labelled differently.
[Edit] Well, I guess I can live without Crazybump, I've found some nice normalmap tutorial, and I got similar results doing it in Gimp: (
http://www.cgtextures.com/content.php?action=tutorial&name=normalmap)
Of course, it's more time consuming, but you have some better control over your image. Besides, if there's a script maker somewhere, allowing you to record your actions (fu-script, maybe), you should be able to automate it :)
massimilianogoi on 22/7/2008 at 06:57
Quote Posted by str8g8
Normal maps are basically bump maps and are used by modern graphics engines to simulate complex surfaces without using loads of polys. Normal maps allow the surface to react to light sources in real time. You can use colour textures that have shadows on them and look photo-real - but those shadows are burnt in to the texture and will not change according to different lighting conditions.
Creating good normal maps is difficult however. Crazybump makes is easier - not easy mind you, it will never be a one-step process.
Then why we can instead simply use the nvidia (
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html) tool for Photoshop? :P However, now I will test this site to see the differences.
Judith on 22/7/2008 at 09:11
Because simple normalmaps generated with nvidia plugin are far from being perfect. You need to perform some operations in photoshop or gimp to make them look better. It takes me additional 15-30 minutes to polish a normalmap, while Crazybump's algorythm does it in seconds :) Still I don't believe it's worth 90 bucks, not for an individual amateur like me.
massimilianogoi on 22/7/2008 at 11:25
Then you say that all my matlibs are ... wrong?? :o
My word.. I think then it's better I reelaborate them with this program.
In facts this morning I tried Crazybump, and I have to say that there is more settings and options than the nVidia plugin.
I'm wondering what it will happen with the surfaces of my bots..
