STC #20 - July 20 - July 27 - RTS Defensive Turret

[laughing_bun]

oh yah i use 3ds max. it was a pain till someone made this thread its a great script. this was my first time using it.

http://www.game-artist.net/forums/ap...-question.html

[wolfsage]

I'm gonna have a go and escape from the mid day sun! Its so hot this weekend..
Is there a cut off time?

[Tiros]

Bobbeh: Sorry mate, but can't allow that entry when you crossed the given timelimit

You could however remove anything from it that you did during those last 7 minutes. I know this is a bit strict, and that others may cheat. But it is a competition against yourself, all about improving... and keeping the deadline is one of those things one'll have to learn. Deciding upon what's most efficient and having a clear goal while starting, and also what parts to sacrifice if it takes longer than expected.

Wolfsage: By cut off time, I assume you mean deadline

And yes, I'll start the vote around 15:00 GMT.

Cheers!

[wolfsage]

Doh!! God dam computers! I just lost my whole texture! System Crash!
Guess thats means I've missed this one as its now 15:18GMT

[Tiros]

Sorry to hear that, and I'm afraid so, just about to start the vote here

[Bobbeh]

it's ok Tiros I knew that it wouldn't actually be up for submission since I went over. The last 7 was me making the spec and normal map and shrinking everything down and throwing it unreal. I disregarded the fact that unreal takes like 5 min to open =]. I was tempted to cheat though lol. Anyway its all good, there will be many more of these to come.

[Machaca8]

Well, I thought I could turn my submission in today, but the vote has already started. (Does the vote always start on Sunday/the last day of the challenge?)

I want to still post what I did, and ask you guys for help. What I wanted to do was so simple, and it ended up taking much longer than I think it should've. It's not done, but I stopped at 90 min. to stay within the rules. Well, this is what my submission was going to be:



Diffuse:


So, this is where I need help: specular and normal maps. I think I'm missing some basic info that's confusing me on how to make these maps. I have the nvidia plugin for the normal map (acts like better-bump map, right?), but how do I actually use it in 3dsmax? For example, the diffuse map goes in the diffuse map slot... normal maps get applied... how?

As for specular maps, does anyone have a good tutorial (or link) that gives good basics? Like, how does it work? Whatever's whiter/brighter is shinier/glossier and vise versa? In my "submission" I just used a few lights in the 3dsmax scene to give it some depth/shadows. When using specular maps, lights are still needed in the scene, right?

Third (and last ) question: what's this whole "baking" business and should I be doing it? Any basic tutorials/links available?

I feel like I am capable of grasping the complexities of texturing, but I'm missing all the basics. So, when I try to jump in head first, I get lost way too quickly on what I'm sure is common knowledge/simple stuff to everyone else. Anyway, any comments, advice, questions welcome and appreciated! I wish I could've participated this time around, but I misunderstood the deadline.

[JBaird]

@Machaca8

The lego idea is good and fits well with this object I think.

This is actually my first real UVW mapping so I was learning at the same time, but I have done a bit of normal mapping and specular. Im still learning how to do good specular maps so Ill let someone else answer that, but to apply normal (bump) maps you just apply them the same way you do the diffuse.



On a side note it sorta looks like you tried to colour in the lines of the UVW map. I found that you can make it really messy all around the outside but when finished you can flatten your texture then create a clipping mask with the UVW map under it to remove all the extra fluff so it's more clean. Just make sure when you are unwrapping the model to save the rendered out UVW map as a PNG so you can do this, otherwise you will have to remove the filled in black space on your own which would take hours on complex model's.



That's just part of my work flow so someone might have a better technique, but it's good to try different thing's.

[wolfsage]

Originally Posted by JBaird

otherwise you will have to remove the filled in black space on your own which would take hours on complex model's.

Personaly I dont think you need to bother removing anything from outside the UV space, as its just dead space.. wont effect you texture, alough its often usfull to have a bit of bleed around the edges helps prevent nasty seams

[X-Convict]

Dammit I hit a button on my mouse and it deleted all that I wrote

Anyway, I like the idea of the lego rts building Machaca8, it's probably the best idea for this specific model (being blocky and all) that I've seen. As far as your questions:

Normal maps: To elaborate more on what JBaird said:

-In the bump slot of your material hit "None"
-In the window that pops up select "Normal Bump"
-In the Normal slot click "None"
-Select Bitmap from the window, and find your normal map
-Don't forget to go back to the main material section and make sure you change your bump from "30" to "100" so that it is utilizing the full strength of your normals.

Specular level and color: I would call this "reflection strength" and "reflection color", because realistically specular defines the amount of strength something reflects in light. In most game engines specular maps usually just control what kind of highlights something receives from being in light, color and strength, and then there are reflection materials or maps that you may include to control that aspect. In Valve's Source engine specular maps do indeed control the strength of reflection something receives in the light though. If something has no specular or has a black specular map then it will not reflect in light and will appear rough and flat. As opposed to something that has a specular map that leans more towards white will reflect intensely. We might as well touch on Glossiness as well, glossiness from my experience being a setting or a map controls your actual highlights, so if you had a high gloss then your specular highlights (for instance if it was white) would be very thin and tight when hit by light, as opposed to no glossiness or very minimal glossiness it would include a broader range of highlight across the object.

With next gen techniques people refrain from putting any lighting into their diffuse maps (or very minimal, usually an ambient occlusion is used in the diffuse to save texture memory and to also bring out more detail) as you want the in-game lighting to control how things are lit, from what angle and intensity and color, and for everything to be consistently lit.

So from what I see in your diffuse map you wouldn't have those shadows under the "dots" on the lego pieces, and you wouldn't have the little light sheen across some of the areas, you would let your normal and specular maps help handle both of those. You want all of your maps to work together to create your material, if you start letting one have control of another one's strength (such as putting light into your diffuse) they will be sad and fall apart


Hopefully this is helpful and answers some questions.