Crazybump does not auto generate self shadowed normal maps. It generates normal maps.
height2ssbump generates shadows for light arriving from the top, bottom and right of the texture. If light arrives diagonally or from the left the nearest available baked shadows are blended between, producing an acceptable but hardly ideal image.
In order to run Height2ssbump use:
- Code: Select all
height2ssbump <options> <path\to\heightmap.tga> <float|bumpscale>
The output is <input name>-ssbump.tga, in the same folder as the input file. Bumpscale controls the intensity of the ssbump (i.e. coarseness of the surface); 60 is a good starting value.
Note:Bizarrely, the tool examines only the alpha channel of the input TGA. The original alpha channel will be passed on to the output TGA, but serves no purpose and should be deleted.
NOTE In the Valve paper a normal map is sometimes referred to as a heightmap but what you're looking for is a true heightmap that needs to be inserted (grayscale, preferably 16bit, though 8 will work too ofc.)
It's often easier to create hand painted height maps in Photoshop than it is to generate them in Crazybump (unless you have either a good source or pinch everything really tight) because it usually leaves in a lot of noise and unwanted stuff.