I am wondering what you texture wizards think of the freeware program "Displacement Map Creator"?
->
http://66.70.170.53/Ryan/heightmap/heightmap.html
Do you think it could be a good companion to Photoshop's normal map filter? Because I get the impression the normal map filter isn't very good at creating depths, and if that can be fixed automatically through this program that could potentially solve that problem. I don't know if it's good though, but I thought I might post the info in case it is.
I got the tip from
a post phoenixamon made on ESF. She said,
Quote:I used a free program called Displacement Map Creator to make a greyscal image out of Beth's normal map. Then I turned it back to a normal map. The results are very much like Beth's original normal map.
It looks like it would benefit you 3D modellers more than us texture wizards. I'm not sure exactly what we'd do with it actually, though that may be because I'm not fully awake.
It looks like you can create displacement maps from photographs, but when you click the link it shows you how to make normal maps from photographs, in which you use the Displacement Map Creator to convert the normal to a D map. It may be helpful in some cases, but until I get home I couldn't confirm anything.
The tool is pretty much bogus. It is not designed to recreate normal mapping, but to convert them into bump and parallax type maps. I tried it on every setting to reproduce that decorative cross grayscale map they had on their site out and in, and still nothing looked simular to the normal map. The way bethesda does their normal mapping is via modeling program where they create high polygon models then capture that into a normal map and edit it a little in photoshop or zbrush then stick them on a low poly model.
And of course there should be no question as to why the normal maps from the daedra stuff is going to be looking 80% simular to bethesda's... it is because he changed them into bump and rechanged them into normal map when there is really no a point of doing so. If you do look closely at that one person's left, middle, and right pictures you will see the left doesn't appear totally like the right. Even still, this is a useless tool for doing normal mapping with just because it was designed to convert normals into grayscale parallaxes not the other way around. What good is a normal to grayscale back to normal going to do?
Quote:Originally posted by tibmaker
What good is a normal to grayscale back to normal going to do?
You're kinda supposed to edit it before turning it back into a normal map.
Well what's the point when you can edit the color map before turning it into a normal? Just desaturate the color map, clean it a little if you must, then convert it. If you are editing current skins, then I suppose it'd be fine. Even still, you will not receive the same quality normal map as the original.
Okidoki.
Since there are no ads on the page and the program is freeware, I'm sure that Ryan dude saw a genuine use for his program even if it doesn't necessarily do Oblivion texturers and modellers any good.
Aye, he made it for the source engine no doubt as it uses displacement maps. What is really useful (though impractical) is the tutorial he posted on converting photographs into normal maps. That was the most impressive part of his work in my opinion. Just the whole idea of converting normals to displacement back to normals again is very unnecessary.
hmm, I've never heard of it. How is it used?