High Quality Normal map mode

[GED]

check out this thread about a new max shader and have a look at the example, it greatly improves the rendering of normal maps, dont know if this is or isnt possible in 3dcoat but I just thought its probably the way things will go in games soon so its worth seeing

http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=72861&page=4

Also please please add coloured specular painting to 3dcoat! that was requested ages ago and is really standard stuff!

[Andrew Shpagin]

How is it different from usual normalmaps?

[artman]

How is it different from usual normalmaps?

I think its just a shader .

http://www.3pointstudios.com/3pointshader_features.shtml

The normal map is the same,but the shader allows it to render with less error in game engines.

This is a weird feature request as it does not concern normal map generation but only display and to be valuable to display in 3DC this shader would need to be avaible by default in all main game engines which is not the case currently.

Otherwize 3DCoat would just show a better display than what is currently used and that would be a problem.

If this shader gets implemented by all game industry then I guess it would be cool to have it in 3DCoat but until then...really I dont see the point.

Also please explain to GED why having colored specular in Paint Room is very hard and too heavy.

I dont remember where you originally answered that question but i remember you did.

Also on the subject maybe if you would add colored specular not in Paint room but only in Render room it would satisfy some people.

[3DArtist]

...

Also please explain to GED why having colored specular in Paint Room is very hard and too heavy.

I dont remember where you originally answered that question but i remember you did.

Also on the subject maybe if you would add colored specular not in Paint room but only in Render room it would satisfy some people.

I would like to know also why color spec is difficult to implement. Or if someone could point me to the thread with the explanation.

[artman]

I would like to know also why color spec is difficult to implement. Or if someone could point me to the thread with the explanation.

Found it.

Making colored specular is even more complex thing then Ptex, at least on the first glance because of straightforward method will lead to bigger memory requirements even if you are not using colored specular. So, it should be done in tricky way, it will lead to changes even in interface. It is not feature for one or two days.

[wailingmonkey]

well, at the risk of sounding antagonistic ( ), it's been quite a bit more than 1 or 2 days that

colored specular as a feature request has been on the table. And to be honest, I'm not aware of any

other software out there that really makes painting/creating custom colored specular 'easy' AND realtime for

the artist? (perhaps Mudbox 2011?, but I'm on 2010 and haven't really used it to it's full capacity

since I have ZB as well as 3DC and tend to hop between them the most)

it would be great to see Andrew really start to nail down some of these areas of opportunity which can

make 3DC far more appealing in the production pipe...

[haikalle]

I don't see a big problem with this one, because in the end you take all your maps out from 3d-coat. So what you don't see in 3d-coat,

you can see in your renderer. I agree that it would be nice to see it while you paint your model. But I can live wihtout it...for now at least.

[GED]

If this shader gets implemented by all game industry then I guess it would be cool to have it in 3DCoat but until then...really I dont see the point.

It was just a suggestion, I dont expect Andrew to actually do it, too many people on these forums are forceful with thier all thier suggestions, I just want people to consider the implications of this shader if it does go mainstream, as it may be important for 3dcoats future to improve the viewport shaders at some point.

As for the specular, yes you are right I dont understand why its so hard to have coloured specular but that doesnt stop me suggesting it as a feature because I believe it is an industry standard for games and film so it really doesnt make sense for 3dcoat to lack something so integral to day to day working practices.

So what you don't see in 3d-coat,

you can see in your renderer.

this is exactly the problem, why even use 3dcoat at all if you cant tell wether what you are doing in 3dcoat is going to look right in your final game or film? may as well just stick to photoshop and using your game engine or render engine.

[haikalle]

I understand you point of view. I'm just used to create many maps, not only disp,spec,bumb. And I don't expect them to show in 3d-coat. But I think that what

you have done is good. Sometimes it's good to raise a topic here. Maybe next time when we are talking about this Andrew has idea how to do it.

[artman]

Making colored specular is even more complex thing then Ptex, at least on the first glance because of straightforward method will lead to bigger memory requirements even if you are not using colored specular. So, it should be done in tricky way, it will lead to changes even in interface. It is not feature for one or two days.

Those 2 parts suggest there is hope to see this one day.

[Roger_K]

This shader was released to highlight the fact that if the normal map baker and the renderer use the exact same tangent basis calculation then the normal map display will be near perfect.

The only special thing the shader is doing is taking Tangent basis data from a max modifier and not from max itself. basically max's viewport and baker use differnt methods to calculate the TB so normal maps wont display 100% correctly.

What this feature request should be is to allow custom tangent basis calculators.

[GED]

What this feature request should be is to allow custom tangent basis calculators.

exactly but I didnt know how to phrase it, thanks for your help.