Ambient Occlusion in source!?

[nub]

I'm talking about this:

http://www.interlopers.net/tutorials/30685

By "bake" I mean taking the AO map, layering it on top of the diffuse, then setting the layer to multiply.

[Carbon14]

Anyone else that has enabled the nvidia AO found it rather buggy in source (when looking directly at corners the AO dissapears)?

[SotaPoika]

Anyone else that has enabled the nvidia AO found it rather buggy in source (when looking directly at corners the AO dissapears)?

Yep, I got the same problem so I decided to turn it off, becuase it looked odd.

[AcapulcoGold20]

I'm talking about this:

http://www.interlopers.net/tutorials/30685

By "bake" I mean taking the AO map, layering it on top of the diffuse, then setting the layer to multiply.

Checked out that tutorial, and it seems like its a lot of extra work if your not using it for actually baking shadows from higher res models onto lower res models via the normal map. Sure, it adds a level of detail to the diffuse that you probably wouldn't be able to accomplish otherwise, but is anyone going to notice? And the phong shader can bring out a lot of highlights if used correctly with an exponent texture.

[marks]

AO maps seriously take almost no time to do, and really adds depth to the diffuse (even just from lowpoly). Sure phong shader works great for highlights ... but AO is simulated shadows...

[Psy]

AO in Max is piss. Takes about a minute to set-up then it's just a matter of waiting for it to render the map out and you're done.

[Jike]

Oh, wait. Does that mean there are two possibilities:

-Adding the ambient occlusion map in a vmt file with $ambientocclusion (or whatever)

-Layering the AO shadows into the Albedo texture itself (with a Image manipulation program - in laymans terms photoshop)

Is this correct? Are there still any visual differences?

[crazycarl]

I don't think anyone has tested $ambientocclusion or even knows how to use it yet.

What's the point of using the NVIDIA option in Source games? The maps already have global radiosity and shouldn't need more shading.

[AcapulcoGold20]

Well I've always painted shadow and highlights in Photoshop using burn&dodge or layer effects, I've never tried putting an AO map as a layer over the rest of the texture to simulate shadow. It seems like you may end up with more generic results? I will try this method today. At the very least it will probably save me some time working in Photoshop on the texture.

[source-maps]

Well I've always painted shadow and highlights in Photoshop using burn&dodge or layer effects, I've never tried putting an AO map as a layer over the rest of the texture to simulate shadow. It seems like you may end up with more generic results? I will try this method today. At the very least it will probably save me some time working in Photoshop on the texture.

why do all the hard work if you can let the shadows be rendered for you

[TicTac]

So, can I simulate "active" AO by baking AO in a 3D package and bringing it into source with $ambientocclusion ?

not sure if this was answered already, but yes you can. It's pretty common practice, but the AO map is usually blended with the diffuse/albedo texture instead of being its own file.

This will look the best on non-animated models, since the AO on an animated model would change drastically throughout the anim.

[Sathor]

You simply render the AO map for your model and add is as a layer in your diffuse texture, set it on top, and make it "Multiply". You can of course change opacity or dublicate it, too, whatever you like.

An example, two models I recently did for ME:S project:

[Jike]

Looks nice. I fell in love with ambient occlusion. Another customer satisfied, thank you interlopers!!

[marks]

I pretty much dont texture anything without ambient occlusion anymore. It's pretty integral to getting good textures.

[Kosire]

Does anyone else use the "Ambient occlusion" effect in Source games? You can turn it on in the Nvidia option panel, and it should work with any game that uses the orange box engine. I think the effect makes the some shadows appear more realistic, but i dont see any difference when i turn it on in my Nvidia panel.
Does anyone else use it?

This is what happens when I enable it in the nvidia control panel: