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View Full Version : Bump/spec mapping techniques?

Bonedaddy
04-28-2003, 08:25 AM
Howdy all,

I've recently sort of "leveled up" in terms of Photoshop skills, but still am somewhat of a newbie. I can get pretty convincing color maps through blending and painting where I need to, but something that's still tripping me up is bump maps.
Specifically, I am just not sure how to think about them, and am always second-guessing myself on them. For instance, I was recently texturing a very old crumbly wall, and wasn't sure what to do for the bump mapping. Wherever it was dented or cracked, I used that to drive the bump map, but other than that, it was pretty much white. Same with specularity -- what with it being dull and non-shiny, nothing. I still feel like it's lacking a certain 3-dimensionality though.
Any hints? How do you guys tackle bump/spec mapping? When is it necessary/not? I -think- I know the answers, but I've been surprised a lot in the past.

I will post pics of the wall I've been working on when I get a chance; not at the right computer at the moment.

Thanks much for any replies! :D

-J
Better Films Through Trickery and Deceit (http://www-scf.usc.edu/~scfx/)
EricChadwick
04-28-2003, 09:39 PM
For my work, it helps me to create my bump maps as if they are height maps, since I am creating artwork for real-time 3D, using hardware-accelerated displacement mapping.

When making bump maps for decayed or rough surfaces, I try my hardest never to clip to solid white or solid black, because then I get plateaus in the bump, where it becomes totally flat. Instead I try to get a full value range. It helps to use Levels to see the histogram of the bump.

Hope that helps.
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