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Here's a small standalone program you can install on your computer: SpriteIlluminator. After the free trial, you can purchase a license. Or you can sign up for a free license if you are a blogger, framework developer or book author. The key feature you'd need is the "Emboss" function. It looks like it works the same as the Nvidia plugin.
Here's another one, and it's free. Njob looks to be distributed by an individual, not a company, so on-going support might become an issue at some point. I just downloaded it, and will take a look at it today.
This one Part way down the first post
I used this one on my baby dragon render but didn't do anything but drop the Uber shader on it. I may go back and add the maps, I really like what you did with this one.
...yeah the link only goes to the product which is 50$.
Exactly. Keep in mind, the freebie script only works with the NGS product, so you'll need to own that.
...ahh well, so much for that.
Oops. I thought @KyotoKid was talking to me about the normal map program I mentioned earlier..
Okay. I've spent a bit of time playing with Njob, and I'm blown away.
The first thing I did was scan the file for viruses, and then I installed it.
To install, create a new folder in your Program Files (x86) folder. I named mine njob, but as far as I can tell, it doesn't matter. Extract the files from the zip into your new folder. In Windows, right-click on njob.exe and select Create Shortcut from the resulting pop-up menu. An error message will pop-up: "Windows can't create a shortcut here. Do you want the shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead?" Click on the Yes button.
Njob doesn't appear to affect the Windows registry at all, so uninstalling should be a simple matter of deleting the folder with the files, as well as any shortcuts pointing to it.
Here's a quick run-down of how easy it is to create a normal map using Njob:
There are four Normalmap format options, including one for seamless tiling, and other filter functions. All-in-all, this is a small, fast utility that doesn't require another graphics program in order to work.
I can see I'll be retiring my Nvidia photoshop filter! This gives me so much more control over the results, it's a lot faster than opening up Photoshop, and I can even use it to create bump maps!
Once again, here is the link: Njob.
L'Adair, are the Heightmaps the program mentions Bumpmaps? Or are they two different things?
Alright! I gave Mage Tower & Mage Tower Accessory Pack 3 a try this time and let's just say... it's amazing! The product is so old, I wasn't expecting it to look so incredibly good out of the box!
So first render:
Second render:
Some side by side comparisons:
I'll probably buy Sorcerous Stronghold now that I know this looks fantastic!
L'Adair, are the Heightmaps the program mentions Bumpmaps? Or are they two different things?
To be totally honest, I have no idea. I've always assumed the two terms were interchangable, but I've not read anywhere that they are. However, if I'm working with one of those old sets, and there isn't a bump map, I have no qualms creating a "heightmap" in this utility and using it in the Bump Map parameter!
Using a height map will give you better results than a bump will. It can be very detailed whereas some bump maps aren't as crisp. I personally won't use another bump map in my packs because of this very thing.
Thank you, Frank. I'm glad you were watching the thread, and cleared that up for us. Now that I know the difference, I expect I'll create my own height maps, and replace bump maps with them, where the object is close enough for details to matter.
...I would just like to get decent texture quality without going through a lot of pain or geologic scale render times (like increasing Sub_D would do) Again I have to do it all locally on the workstation as it has not Net connection.
Took a look at Njob, nice little utility. Downloaded it to test.
What do you mean texture quality? Bad textures or just takes to long to render?
...basically I', referring to not getting surface details like roughness and such when using older sets/props in Iray. In 3DL they look fine but in Iray they look as if they were "painted on" a smooth flat surface.
For example here is the one scene I renderd in both engines.
As you can see in the 3DL version (first attachment) the bricjwork on the shelter, the body of the trashbin, the pavementm and the red brick road surface all have a degree of roughness to them that creats more depth. In the Iray version (second attachment) all these surfaces look flat and featureless.
Alright, so I also downloaded the Njob app and experimented with it a bit to see how the map creating differed to what Photoshop has to offer. Here are my finding so far (keep in mind I know little about 3D, so I'm going by trial and error, rather than clear understanding).
I went back to Silence and experimented only in a portion of the wall (since this one takes a bit longer to render). So, the process before this experimentation is pretty much: Uberbase + N.G.S. Script
1st Render:
2nd Render
I've been reworking Gadomar. I spent a lot of time on it, when I did the kiss series, resizing diffuse maps to 4K, creating normal maps using the Nvidia filter, (still using CS6!) and so on. It's really interesting to see the color differences when comparing the original with my first rework using different lighting than the kiss series. Some of the stonework looks the same, and some of looks significantly lighter. No reason that I can figure out.
I'm currently rendering the Njob rework, using the original images, and I'm not seeing the color differences. It's been a while, I wonder if I did something to make them lighter...? I'll have to look closer at the parameters. I'll post some comparisons in a bit.
@giselle3000, very interesting comparisons. The Njob version doesn't appear to be much different than the Photoshop version. Which is good news for KyotoKid. I'm really glad I went "fishing."
..I actually noticed the difference in the last pic almost immediately. Sadly I do not have PS to set up the normal map.
kyoto kid, your height map is going to dictate, to a point, what your normal map looks like. I've found I turn the Coarse Detail off most of the time and turn Fine Detail all the way up. I move Mid Detail around the most. I usually have the Scale slider around the middle, but I've had some maps I turned it down on, and others I turned it way up on.
One of the diffuse maps for Gadomar, for the tall upright columns, has both flat plain surfaces and high-relief surfaces. I actually created two separate height maps, optimized for one surface or the other, and created two normal maps as well. And there is a big difference between those two normal maps! (I combined them in Photoshop, but I could have just as easily used the Geometry Tool to separate those surfaces and used both normal maps as is.)
...yeah, not having PS can't do that final step.
To make normals you can also use the free AwesomeBump https://github.com/kmkolasinski/AwesomeBump and a tutorial for version 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSoiaOK5OVk.
I'll keep playing with Njob to see if I can re-create the normal map I've made with photoshop. I'm thinking the difference is that with PS I'm creating the normal map out of the original bump map rather than the diffuse. But when I tried that with Njob it didn't work (since that one asks for the diffuse map). Will check it out after work and post my results.
I'll test this one too if I can't make Njob work for the normal map.
Oh, this is a great idea! I hadn't thought to do that and the Classical Pools does have both flat and high-relief surfaces. Will try this out tonight! Thanks for the tip!
Okay, I'm back with Gadomar images. (Sorry I didn't get these up last night, but I was dead on my seat!)
Here is a long shot of the setup: Gadomar, ground, and a FlipMode environment HDRI, (Green Hills.) This is the reworked version, using Njob for both height and normal maps throughout. At this distance, the differences between this and the original with just the Iray Uber Base conversion is subtle, so I'm only puttin up this one.
(Links to full size image.)
Close Up Shot collage; In order: the original, "clay" without textures, and the Njob rework . The closeup images are the basis for the detail comparisons to follow.
(Links to full size image.)
Links to each image:
Iray Uber Base
Without Textures
Njob Height & Normal Maps
The following comparison images are full size.
Detail Comparison 01
Detail Comparison 02
Detail Comparison 03
Detail Comparison 04
Detail Comparison 05
First of all, Gadomar includes a lot of detail modeled in, as seen in the render with the textures removed. That goes a long way toward making the set look good in Iray, even without adding normal maps. This set uses the diffuse image as the bump image, too, so there is some bump. However, the default value for bump after the conversion is too low for Iray, and should be increased.
The lighting and camera angle are identical, but the Njob render appears to be darker. My theory is with the new height and normal maps, Gadomar has more fine detail, producing a lot of small shadows, but I really don't know why... The carved stone appears to have more depth; with darker shadows, lighter lights, (in some cases,) and rougher texture overall.
In the first comparison, notice the metal spire on the top of the column appears to have a bit of shine to it. Same with the disk embelishment on the sides of the column.
I chose to not compare Njob to Photoshop generated normals. I'm not sure if the normals created by the Nivida filter are the same as those created by Photoshop CC, and while I don't fully understand what they do, there are a lot of options with the Nvidia filter which can change the final output. Instead, I concentrated on showing how much better the Njob version looks over the original.
Njob is a viable alternative for anyone who doesn't have Photoshop. Even if you can get online, Njob is faster than the website I linked to, and it doesn't limit the size of your image.
I like Njob overall, but I did find a couple of things I didn't like: If the image is larger than the view window, you can scroll to see the rest of the image, but you can't make it fit the viewing window; and when you are adjusting the parameters for any given conversion, it snaps to the upper left corner, and you can't scroll while adjusting; and last, but not least, it appears this tool is no longer being developed, although I could be wrong. If you can live with these limitations, Njob just might be the utility for you.
Alright, took a shot at the same one you did L'Adair. So here's my experimentations with DM Gadomar (took a while to get everything rendered). Every render is using the same light, which is an Iradiance HDRI. I'll also divide my results in three different posts, just to give this confusion some semblance of a structure.
First Batch - Out of the Box
1ST Render (let's call it Uber):
2ND Render (let's call this one Shaders):
3RD Comparison Render between Uber vs Shaders:
4RTH Render (let's call this UberMaps)
5TH Render (let's call this UberMapsShaders)
6TH Comparison Render between UberShaders vs UberMapsShaders:
2nd Batch - N.G.S. Inclusion
1ST Render (let's call it NGS):
2ND Render (NGS Shaders):
3RD Comparison Render:
Best Result
By far I think the best result was using Uberbase > N.G.S. > Bump/Normal Maps > Deco Metals + Ingenious Rocks Shaders settings.
Here's a comparison between using N.G.S. in the process vs not using it:
You're getting some really great results using NGS. I have it, but haven't used it much on inorganic objects. I know Will (Timmons) talks a lot about tweaking the settings after applying, probably because of things like that greenish cast to the set after. I must really start using this more.
I wondered about this when I read it. Now that my computer isn't busy rendering, I thought I'd check something... And I was able to create a normal map from the bump map by using the 4th Filter option, Heightmap > Normalmap. That eliminates one step, if there is a bump map. Now I must try a comparison between creating the normal map starting with the diffuse, and creating it from the bump map. I'm going to use a different older DM set, though. Just for a little variety...
I haven't seen kyoto kid in here since Monday. I wonder how Njob is working out for him/her...? Hopefully kk is rendering like crazy and about to come in here with some comparison renders...