creating deep normalmaps with the nvidia plugin for photoshop

[HollowIchigoBanki]

Originally Posted by Stormy

Its a shame that the only way to get any decent results out of the nvidia filter is to do what is shown in the tutorial you have done here.

But crazybump still produces the best results if you can afford the £50 price tag.

I would say a program that does most of it for you will never compete, with photoshop as you can use layer upon layer with many different effects on them.
Some of my normal maps have 30 layers to them but still only take a few minutes to make.

[Stormy]

Its true that you can take the images and edit the hell out of them but I feel the results can be quite "general" there are hardly any settings or options when you go around creating them and they can come out looking very samie. You can get good results but it takes time and a lot of editing layers with over lays.

The options and sliders in crazy bump really alow you to get in and tweak settings and having the results rendered in real time as you tweak makes creating normal maps a very speedy process. The final results again will likly need editing in photoshop but I find its often small tweaks rather then a full overhull.

If you can't afford crazy bump then the nvidia filter is a good alternative but I think if you have a few quid floating around you would be unlikly to regret it. I'm planning on getting my self a copy asap!

[[hP]]

I agree with Stormy there, Crazy Bump is a great time saver

[aphexx]

Originally Posted by [hP]

I agree with Stormy there, Crazy Bump is a great time saver

i like the method inside photoshop.
but when time comes to be crucial, its like you said, crazy bump is simply gold.
and in the end, there is plenty of need for a prog like this, ryan did a great job on this
i wonder, why he still is the only one, who tried to do such a prog...

[HollowIchigoBanki]

Originally Posted by Jedah

surprisingly enough, this method seems to produce better results in Gimp by occasionally adding a Filters-Light and Shadow-Sparkle to the Overlay layers in the middle. ( you will have to mess with the filter though. )

i am very closed minded with programs i use photoshop so i would never admit another 2d package is better, same with 3d i used 3d max and i think it is the best 3d program, but reacently i had to admit it was not the best for hi poly so i am learning mudbox and zbrush, but i have not made my mind up yet.

[2d-chris]

Nice tutorial thanks, i'm always interested in improving my art skills.

[svelle]

yeah, very nice tutorial.

i checked out the other tutorials on your site, now i finally understand how pelt mapping works

also your portfolio work looks great.