bump

#1

I’m using a grayscale image as a bump map. It should be creating bumps with soft edges, but they look faceted instead of soft, as if the map contained black and white data rather than grayscale data. Any ideas?

#2

Hi Mark,

convert the grayscale to RGB and try again. I have had problems with grayscale files.

Jens

#3

Well, I’ve tried that. Actually, the map started out as 16-bit RGB. Then I tried various incarnations down to 8-bit grayscale and color. I think I’ve always used .png, though. Maybe I need to bite the bullet and pull out the big guns: .img

#4

Okay, so I’ve tried a bunch of formats, color modes, bit depths and file formats including, finally, good ol IMG, and the bump edges always come out sharply faceted rather than softly beveled. Most puzzling.

I’m on v8, by the way, on a MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard.

#5

If anyone wants to muck about with this, here’s the project:

http://files.me.com/markalanthomas/vcu35b

If you want your mind blown, turn off all the maps in the “E&T Wines” object’s clipping, diffuse and spec channels, leaving only the bump map enabled. The results, when compared to the file used, are rather
curious.

#6

Hi Mark,

i think your cube is too small.
When you use your cube, the bump texture (which is 1925x2048) is way
too big, so you have to increase the cube in the info window by 143.3606.

Try to use a cube, which you dont have to scale in the info window, so your
bump map is nearly 1:1 with the scale of your 3d model.

Hope that helps on the fly and you understand what i am talking about.

Greetings fantomaz

#7

I agree with Alexander, your map is scaled at .0007
I would either reduce the map or increase the model size to avoid potential problems that would mostly occur with displacement. No concern here.
I also have a tendency to mesh my models more so that Camera has more information about the group structure when in closeup.
Anyway, I check the bevels with a single new radial light placed top left of the model and I get what seems to be normal results according to your map.

http://www.rdnmultimedia.com/eias/bumps-EandT.jpg

#8

I get the same results as Richard when i play with the files.

Maybe its better to round the edges in EIM?

Greetings fantomaz

#9

If you want the object to appear solid, you will need to use boolean operations in a modeler to make the holes.

Sometimes complex geometry like this has trouble rounding, so leave the edges alone and use the “Shade Bevel” shader to fake the highlights on the edges. :wink:

Dave

#10

Thanks for the tips everybody!

#11

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