Export normals any format?
Is there any format in Cheetah 3D that will export normal maps?
Thanks
Is there any format in Cheetah 3D that will export normal maps?
Thanks
Export normals any format?
- Thread starter uncle808us
- Start date
Swizl
0
Hi Uncle,
I'm just guessing here, but I think if you turn on the G-Buffer in the render settings, it will allow you to output a 32-bit exr for a depth map. Then this could be used in a bitmap editor to output a normal map. I don't know what all the settings do. I know Photoshop (and I assume GIMP, Affinity Photo, etc. also) has a function to create bump and normal maps.
Hopefully someone will drop in and give more detail about this?
I'm just guessing here, but I think if you turn on the G-Buffer in the render settings, it will allow you to output a 32-bit exr for a depth map. Then this could be used in a bitmap editor to output a normal map. I don't know what all the settings do. I know Photoshop (and I assume GIMP, Affinity Photo, etc. also) has a function to create bump and normal maps.
Hopefully someone will drop in and give more detail about this?
Unfortunately no: https://www.cheetah3d.com/forum/showpost.php?p=112345&postcount=5
You have to assign/connect it back in your destiny app.
Cheers
Frank
You have to assign/connect it back in your destiny app.
Cheers
Frank
Swizl
0
The newer versions of Modo will open gITF. What it can do with them, I don't know though. I haven't played around with it yet.
I'll test some files from C3d into Modo when I get some time and see what it does.
Latest Unity 5.6.3p2 can´t reveal such files. I guess Bob needs something less exotic right now like FBX or DAE. Martin just hasn´t implemented normal maps for export (normal maps connected to bump-channel).
Cheers
Frank
Cheers
Frank
Ahem, Modo can't be the answer for uncle.
And photoshop has only the bumpmap and normalmap editors as it can render 3d. Which Gimp and Affinity can't, as much as I know. So I don't think they or other bitmap editor have this possibility.
I didn't try it, as I use photoshop, but there's an online map-maker.
http://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online/
And a free software, awesome bump, which should do the same:
https://github.com/kmkolasinski/AwesomeBump
With programs like this you can use a diffuse map or bump or whatever, which you should get out of obj.
Or you can use the depth map, as swizl indicated, but only if you have your texture on a flat construct, like a plane, view from top.
If we're talking about a procedural material, then Cheetah wouldn't produce anyway no normal map. So whatever you have as displacement in Cheetah, (if I'm guessing halfway right), you can use in one of the apps above or render as indicated.
Hope, that helps.
And photoshop has only the bumpmap and normalmap editors as it can render 3d. Which Gimp and Affinity can't, as much as I know. So I don't think they or other bitmap editor have this possibility.
I didn't try it, as I use photoshop, but there's an online map-maker.
http://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online/
And a free software, awesome bump, which should do the same:
https://github.com/kmkolasinski/AwesomeBump
With programs like this you can use a diffuse map or bump or whatever, which you should get out of obj.
Or you can use the depth map, as swizl indicated, but only if you have your texture on a flat construct, like a plane, view from top.
If we're talking about a procedural material, then Cheetah wouldn't produce anyway no normal map. So whatever you have as displacement in Cheetah, (if I'm guessing halfway right), you can use in one of the apps above or render as indicated.
Hope, that helps.
Swizl
0
It may not be an answer for him, but it could be an "answer".
I was responding to Misoversaturated anyway. Learning about something, doesn't necessarily mean you (or Uncle) has to buy or use what's being discussed.
We'll let Uncle decide what's best for him. He's a big boy I'm sure, and doesn’t need you to help him with that.
Verstanden?
Swizl
0
Boys Boys for now I will use my paint app of choice a grey scale map and then Crazy Bump it's all good just trying to stay in one app as long as I could this way I have to bounce between two or three, I'd use bump maps hight maps but then Poser for some crazy reason switch the black depth hight white around just reverse of C3D always has driven me crazy. Have I used the word CRAZY enough in this post?
This from a Gimp compiler Partha "I looked at it and the plugin is very old. The development stopped long time ago and the dependencies are very old."
Yes to Photoshop no to the rest Gimp used to but no more.
This from a Gimp compiler Partha "I looked at it and the plugin is very old. The development stopped long time ago and the dependencies are very old."
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Swizl
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Ah ok, sorry to hear that Gimp doesn't support it any more. I've played around with Gimp, but never used it a lot. I have to use Adobe products for work, so I've never had a pressing need to learn Gimp more fully. Mostly Illustrator, but I do a fair amount of work with Photoshop too. I have filter forge, which is suppose to be able to output a lot of those formats. But it's confusing and I haven't used it much either. I got it on sale and needed it for a freelance job. Have you tried Allegorithmic's Substance B2M (Bitmap to Material)? I haven't, but it's suppose to be able to generate different maps from an image. I suppose it's similar to CrazyBump.
Sorry I couldn't be more help. I haven't used these types of files much, but I know they would help my rendering improve. Still a lot for me to learn!
@uncle Good, that you have a workaround.
@swizl
No, not likewise. It's just that we all tend to digress a bit too often and have a tendency to forget the ops questions in such threads. And usually that's not helping much. So just don't take it personal. Just think in such cases, that this hasdrubal doesn't mean any harm. Especially your "verstanden" was quiet rude, and on something like that you will always get a response in kind. Everybody does (in this case I was quiet ... hm ... restrained. I'm many things, but never was conflict-shy). That said: Peace.
Anyway, back to gltf. Cheetah can embed the textures if you choose so in the preferences. Otherwise they should be referenced.
As I don't want to install a gltf viewer (at the moment I don't use this format) I can't look at an exported file. I don't think, procedural textures get exported, at least I don't get an image file when exporting without embedding. And as gltf was built around pbr (at least as I understood), I'm not so sure if it works with anything else in Cheetah (I couldn't find this info in the forum but I'm sure it's somewhere). So, if you work with a pbr, you have a normal map anyway, if you work with procedurals, you probably don't get it. Please, someone correct me, if I'm wrong.
So you would have to bake a procedural and create a normal map from that with one of the mentioned tools (be that photoshop, crazybump or one of the map creators I linked to).
Cheetah can't import gltf.
Neither does modo. They have built in 'native support' for gltf in their shaders in the last update for 11, but somehow missed to create an importer.
Misoversaturated can tell us more: For blender exists an importer (of course).
b2m should be good, it's just not free (99 bucks).
If you have filter forge, you should have a look at it again. I only know the beta before it was on the market, some 12 years ago or so. Even back then it had a lot of great possibilities. While creating your own filters even at that time was a bit of a pain, it had some interesting built in filters which just were great. Like a real good comic look or drawings from a photo. Today they have thousands of ready filters, created from the users (just had a look at it: 12364). Sadly, I had to ditch the textures I created with it at the time: Too small for todays renders.
Saw, they offer a special price (99 $ for the professional license), but as it is a smaller firm, I'm not sure if their programs will run on a mac after mojave. With the decision to force metal on the developers, apple hurts their business already today. Big time.
@swizl
No, not likewise. It's just that we all tend to digress a bit too often and have a tendency to forget the ops questions in such threads. And usually that's not helping much. So just don't take it personal. Just think in such cases, that this hasdrubal doesn't mean any harm. Especially your "verstanden" was quiet rude, and on something like that you will always get a response in kind. Everybody does (in this case I was quiet ... hm ... restrained. I'm many things, but never was conflict-shy). That said: Peace.
Anyway, back to gltf. Cheetah can embed the textures if you choose so in the preferences. Otherwise they should be referenced.
As I don't want to install a gltf viewer (at the moment I don't use this format) I can't look at an exported file. I don't think, procedural textures get exported, at least I don't get an image file when exporting without embedding. And as gltf was built around pbr (at least as I understood), I'm not so sure if it works with anything else in Cheetah (I couldn't find this info in the forum but I'm sure it's somewhere). So, if you work with a pbr, you have a normal map anyway, if you work with procedurals, you probably don't get it. Please, someone correct me, if I'm wrong.
So you would have to bake a procedural and create a normal map from that with one of the mentioned tools (be that photoshop, crazybump or one of the map creators I linked to).
Cheetah can't import gltf.
Neither does modo. They have built in 'native support' for gltf in their shaders in the last update for 11, but somehow missed to create an importer.
Misoversaturated can tell us more: For blender exists an importer (of course).
b2m should be good, it's just not free (99 bucks).
If you have filter forge, you should have a look at it again. I only know the beta before it was on the market, some 12 years ago or so. Even back then it had a lot of great possibilities. While creating your own filters even at that time was a bit of a pain, it had some interesting built in filters which just were great. Like a real good comic look or drawings from a photo. Today they have thousands of ready filters, created from the users (just had a look at it: 12364). Sadly, I had to ditch the textures I created with it at the time: Too small for todays renders.
Saw, they offer a special price (99 $ for the professional license), but as it is a smaller firm, I'm not sure if their programs will run on a mac after mojave. With the decision to force metal on the developers, apple hurts their business already today. Big time.
No need to if you go here: https://gltf-viewer.donmccurdy.com
Don´t know why Cheetah3d needs an importer as it´s meant for game+web development.
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Sorry but I failed to install the blender gltf add-on on my system (maybe Windows only or whatever) otherwise I would have already reported some results.
With the viewer linked above I could verify that map-based PBR textures (including alpha) work as well as value based ones, whereas procedural (node) based don't, as expected.
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Unless you "bake" it.
Of course, because then it's map based again :wink:
But we don't have the means to bake procedural bump textures to normal maps in Cheetah AFAIK.
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