Normal Maps in 4

From ZBrush Info

(Redirected from Normal Maps in 3.5)
Jump to: navigation, search

Normal Map Submenu

The Normal Map menu has been enhanced to provide more control over the created maps.

Several options have been added or enhanced:

  • FlipV to flip the map vertically
  • FlipR, FlipG and/or FlipB to flip specific color channels in order to accommodate the needs of a specific renderer.
  • SwitchRG will switch the Red channel with the Green channel in your normal map.

Note: These settings are in addition to the NormalMapFlip settings that are found in the Preferences >> Importexport menu.

  • Texture Thumbnail, which displays the currently-selected normal map or can be used to select a new one. To select a different normal map, it must first be loaded into the Texture palette. Then click the texture thumbnail found in the Tool >> Normal Map menu and select the desired map from the popup window.
  • Clone NormalMap, which will copy the current Normal Map to the Texture palette. This action lets you save your map or do other operations from the Texture palette.
Note: To all intents and purposes, ZBrush 3.5 renders ZMapper obsolete. Aside from providing new map calculation algorithms which have now been incorporated directly into ZBrush so that they no longer need to be manually selected, the two main purposes of ZMapper were to let you use bump maps in the creation of normal maps or to project details from one mesh to another that doesn’t share the same subdivision history. Both of these features are now obsolete in ZBrush 3.5:
  • Bump maps are now useless in calculating normal maps because 3.5 can easily handle models in the 10 to 16 million polygon range. A 4K map has no more than 16 million pixels of data. That means the most detail it can possibly hold is equivalent to a 16 million polygon model. Most maps actually waste about 25% of the available texture space, which means that a model of 12 million polys holds the same detail that a texture of 4096x4096 can hold. So a bump map can’t add any more detail than what the model can already support. Additionally, ZBrush 3.5 can use HD data to create a normal map. (See below.)

As for projecting details between meshes, you can now do that through the SubTool menu thanks to the Tool >> SubTool >> Project All feature and the ZProject sculpting brush. In fact, 3.5 has improved the projection routines and also added new features such as PA Blur and PA Distance. This is a significant improvement over ZMapper, which provided no control for projections. You can also use the sculpting brushes to clean up a projection before creating the map from it – something else that wasn’t possible with ZMapper.

Creating a Normal Map which includes HD Geometry

The creation of a Normal map which includes the HD Geometry is the same as a traditional Normal map, except that the HD Geometry slider must be at the maximum value, while the Subdivision slider must be at the lowest value.

Retrieved from "http://www.pixologic.com/docs/index.php/Normal_Maps_in_4"
Personal tools
Editing ZBrushInfo