create your own normal maps

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# 1 08-11-2004 , 05:13 AM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

A good buddy and co-worker of mine has posted a tutorial on how you can create your own normal maps from real objects. All ya need is a digital camera, photoshop with the normal map plugins (link provided), a light source (ala flashlight), and whatever the subject is.

You can find the tutorial here: https://zarria.net/

Good stuff!

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 2 08-11-2004 , 05:22 AM

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cool stuff.... wanted to learn a bit about normal mapping...

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world. (Albert Einstein)

https://www.artstation.com/kurtb

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# 3 08-11-2004 , 04:29 PM

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Quality tutorial - many thanks Mike.

Keith

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# 4 08-11-2004 , 11:58 PM

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neat stuff... never would have though about doing normal maps like this. makes perfect sense user added image

might come handy some day user added image

Kari
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Do a lot, Fail a lot and Learn a lot!

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# 5 06-12-2004 , 06:23 PM

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newb question, what are the benifits of a normal map? What are they used for?

I WILL get this stuff!

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# 6 06-12-2004 , 08:07 PM

The Maya Mountain
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Location: Seattle, WA

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normal maps are used for real-time applications (ie. games) to simulate bump maps that are calculated based on light directions rather than your regular bump maps which just emboss things and don't take lighting into consideration.

Normal maps give a much more realistic/natural affect.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 7 06-12-2004 , 09:41 PM

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understood, thanks for the info.

I WILL get this stuff!

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# 8 10-12-2004 , 03:39 AM

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Location: Minnesota, USA

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MIKE!!!!!

This is AWESOME!!!!!!

I'm gonna try it with the head of a buddy of mine to see if that will work too user added image

Thanks man!!!

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 9 12-12-2004 , 04:41 AM

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got 1 question. will the color be normal when rendering instead of the tie-dye effect on the normal map.

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I'm up for a chat anytime.

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# 10 12-12-2004 , 06:25 AM

The Maya Mountain
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it isn't a rendering process. It's for realtime applications (ie. games) only. It acts like a bump map. Just like the bump map isn't rendered, so too is the normal map.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 11 12-12-2004 , 12:54 PM

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Now that is realy usefull.... Thanks

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# 12 12-12-2004 , 04:02 PM

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Mike,
curiously
you thin kthis method can be applied to Cylindrical objects just as well as Planar?..

if so any suggestions on how to take the pics for the normal map?

Legend

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# 13 12-12-2004 , 04:29 PM

The Maya Mountain
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Location: Seattle, WA

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What you'd do is model your high res details laid out in a square and render it from the top view. Then you could map this image onto a cylinder or whatever like you would any other kind of image.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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