normal maps on round objects

[thejobe]

well im trying new stuff again.

i tried a new type of decaling with normal maps.

but im having some trouble with applying them. im able to get the look i want with them but along the edges of decal where the wrap ends im getting some curling.

now someone told me about applying them in a pose but i dont see how this helps.

can anyone explain this any better.

as you can see on the top of the hammer where my problem is located.

[Rodney]

I have seen this problem before but I can't recall where.

 

At first look there seems to be (at least) two things going on - both guesses here:

 

- One of these Patches may need to be rotated two times. (or perhaps it needs to be unrotated two times)

- The Normal may be inverted (the two images would be mirror images of each other but one's coloring is the negative of the other)

 

Not really sure without seeing more of the settings for the image and the orientation of the patch.

 

i tried a new type of decaling with normal maps.

 

I take this to mean that you may have applied more than one image to the decal (for instance, perhaps you have one Color, one Normal and one Bump Map or a Diffuse Map or two Normalmaps... or...) If so, then we might need to know more about that.

[thejobe]

here are the maps i made

im applying them as decals in the modeling window.

ill post the model too so you guys can figure out what im doing better its hard to tell from the image

normal_maps_test.zip

[Fuchur]

here are the maps i made

im applying them as decals in the modeling window.

ill post the model too so you guys can figure out what im doing better its hard to tell from the image

normal_maps_test.zip

 

As far as it looks you are using a decal which is planar-applied.

 

The easiest way to get rid of the distortion at the top is, to create another normalmap, give it a gradient of transparency to the outside (like the one attached)

and applyit again to cover the bad part of the model up there. It is possible that you need to change your original texture in this area, since I am not quite sure if the height of the two ijmages is added up or if the decal that covers the other one although covers the height-informations. With colormaps it would work without a change of the orginal decal underneath... try if it works without the change first.

 

Or the second possibility: Use not the planar-application-mode but the cyclindric or sphere-application-mode. That could help a little to.

 

That can be done like this:

1.) Go to your decal.

2.) Open its properties.

3.) Change Application-Mode to "Cylindrical".

4.) Apply it only to the cylindrical part of the model.

[Rodney]

I haven't had a chance to read Fuchur's reply but I wanted to post my initial thought after looking at the textures applied to a basic cylinder.

At first I couldn't really see the problem... then I rotated the images... and saw what you are seeing.

 

I was mostly experimenting with patch images and not decals because it seemed that the wood color and the wood normal images are not properly tiled. I'm not sure how you created those images so perhaps you can shed a little more light on that aspect. They seem to be better tiled in one direction than the other.

 

One way to check for good tiling in A:M is to increase the Repeat values in a patch image or decal.

I like to apply the image to a single patch and then make the patch image or decal 2x2.

 

There are a lot of utilities that can create a good tile image but in a pinch you can create a fourpatch model and rotate the patches/flip the normals until they become tiled.

 

Once I tiled the images I did see some slight patters throughout but I no longer saw the error you've specified.

[robcat2075]

now someone told me about applying them in a pose but i dont see how this helps.

 

Why a pose?

 

Image maps are essentially flat things and 3D objects are not. If we can temporarily flatten out the surface of a 3D object so the image can face all the patches evenly, the image will appear less distorted. Generally, this flattening is something you do manually in a pose by moving CPs.

 

However, for uniformly round objects like your hammer head, cylindrical application is easier and more precise. You image needs to be painted so that the left and right edges can meet without an obvious seam.

[Fuchur]

now someone told me about applying them in a pose but i dont see how this helps.

 

Why a pose?

 

Image maps are essentially flat things and 3D objects are not. If we can temporarily flatten out the surface of a 3D object so the image can face all the patches evenly, the image will appear less distorted. Generally, this flattening is something you do manually in a pose by moving CPs.

 

However, for uniformly round objects like your hammer head, cylindrical application is easier and more precise. You image needs to be painted so that the left and right edges can meet without an obvious seam.

 

The original attempt for me is to do the flattening in an action... what is the advantage of a pose for that?

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[robcat2075]

The original attempt for me is to do the flattening in an action... what is the advantage of a pose for that?

 

I suppose you could do it in an action. Perhaps Poses are more commonly used because they get saved with the character, Actions aren't.

[thejobe]

yes thank you guys.

the cylindrical mode worked best.

thanks for the help guys.

[thejobe]

Since we are on the topic anyone know where

I can find a good tutorial on.flattening to apply

decals perfectly.

[Rodney]

Jim Talbot's Four Part 'Decaling a Face' video tutorial is about as classic as you can get.

 

http://amfilms.hash.com/video/145/Decaling...ace-part-1-of-4

 

There are others but that is always a great starting place.

If I recall correctly there are some things that Jim doesn't demo because they were fairly unknown at the time he made his tutiorials.

 

Note: Jim launches the first video with Flattening in a Pose.

[Fuchur]

Since we are on the topic anyone know where

I can find a good tutorial on.flattening to apply

decals perfectly.

 

One of the best once is from will and can be found here.

 

See u

*Fuchur*