[Tutorial] Video - Create Halo 3-like Normal Maps

[madworkz]

This is my very first video tutorial so bare with it :P....

Anyway, this tutorial will show the user how to create ORGANIC/REALISTIC/Non-Repetive Normal maps. The very same method used in highend gamestudios.(example: Halo 3 cliff normals).... Please NOTE: This video is not detailed for noobs. Its for people who have a great knowledge of These programs already. Its just a way for them to get better.

Tools needed:

1. max or maya
2. 3d sculpting program.( zbrush or mudbox) unfortunately as much as i love using Zbrush 3 :), they have not released the Zmapper plugin yet for it. If you have Zbrush 2.0, you are fine. just download Zmapper plugin and read how to use it.( Im using gimpy mudbox for the tut :(.
3. Photoshop. For editing your normals if you wish.

http://www.madworkzstudio.com/tut/tutpic2.jpg
http://www.madworkzstudio.com/tut/tutpic1.jpg
http://www.madworkzstudio.com/tut/tutpic.jpg

Download:
http://www.madworkzstudio.com/tut/tut.html
http://files.h2vista.net/tutorials/madworkz-normal-map/index.htm

[Halo2Vista]

wow good info on how to do that and i will try and make that on halo 2 vista

[FireDragon04]

wooo... Thats crazy! Nice work!

[X3RO SHIF7]

nice!

[Masterz1337]

Good job :)

[Roostervier]

Nice job, thanks for the video.

:(, says I need to spread some rep around.

[Limited]

Nice work, just please whoever sees thing, do not make really contrasting bump maps (high low bits there is a big difference in them) because I just cant stand that look :) Suttle is better

[ShadowCloud]

only for h2v, that sucks :(.

[Patrickssj6]

Very nice! :)

[Limited]

only for h2v, that sucks :(.You can use bump maps in halo 1..

[Flyboy]

Ya, except they look like crap in comparison.

[Dole]

Ya, except they look like crap in comparison.
You apparently aren't familiar with a fine gent named Crowpath.


Suttle is better
*Subtle is better.


Relistic/Organic Normal Maps
*Realistic.

Beautiful stuff, Madworkz.

[Limited]

Ya, except they look like crap in comparison.Have you not seen Crowpath's church map? Crowpath is the fucking king of halo 1 bumpmaps. They certainly do NOT look like crap.

[Ki11a_FTW]

The link wont load for me

[madworkz]

You can use bump maps in halo 1..


Yes, But Way to limited. Crow path is able to pull it off by adding dynamic lighting, as well using a heavy spec map on most of his texures. Thats why they all look glossy and wet.

Bumpmaping in halo2vista is Way Way diffrent. you would never pull off what im doing in ce.

[phase]

Good tutorial a nother resson am gona get halo 2 vista you can use normal maps luckly I havn't upgraded to zb3 yet.

[bleach]

hmmm, something to try when i get H2V after an upgrade. Nice Tutorial!

[TheGhost]

Great stuff, madworkz. I'm putting up a mirror on files.h2vista.net:

Normal Mapping Video Tutorial by madworkz (http://files.h2vista.net/tutorials/madworkz-normal-map/index.htm)

[Stealth]

I give this a 5 out of 5 stars for being so helpful, to bad I don't have 3Dmax or maya, D: but I got Photo Shop. GJ I hope to see more tutorials like this from you.

[phase]

I give this a 5 out of 5 stars for being so helpful, to bad I don't have 3Dmax or maya, D: but I got Photo Shop. GJ I hope to see more tutorials like this from you.
It would be 5 stars if he explained how to make a bumpmap into a normal map and how to get the normal map ingame those who havn't used the halo ce editing kit.

[demonmaster3k]

nice, but high poly creates lag
lag decreases playability

halo 1 has bump mapping, but it's only sunbaked, it shows in ingame lights, not like halo 2 where the mapping automatically shows

[DaneO'Roo]

demon, read the thread. He makes a hi poly mesh of the object in either Z brush or Mudbox, and uses that mesh to create a displacement normal or something in max, i think and he applies that normal onto the lower poly rock. It isn't actually any higher poly than what it was to begin with ingame.


Also, halo 1 only displays the bumps when a dynamic light is shined on them, they're not "sunbaked". Halo 2's actual radiosity or sun power in a map is actually a dynamic light, and thats why bumps always show, because theres always a dynamic light in place somewhere. I'm not exactly right with the full details but it's somewhere along those lines.


Also, if you don't have Zbrush or couldn't be fucked doing hi poly meshes, do what I do, and just paint a greyscale bump map of the cliffs and then convert it to a normal map with the nvidia plugin, like so:

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/8872/retinarender8pc7.jpg

:)

Btw, thats an old pic >_>

[phase]

demon, read the thread. He makes a hi poly mesh of the object in either Z brush or Mudbox, and uses that mesh to create a displacement normal or something in max, i think and he applies that normal onto the lower poly rock. It isn't actually any higher poly than what it was to begin with ingame.

Yar he made the high poly model in mudbox then he baked the normal map in 3dsmax.

[madworkz]

nice, but high poly creates lag
lag decreases playability

halo 1 has bump mapping, but it's only sunbaked, it shows in ingame lights, not like halo 2 where the mapping automatically shows

Bud, you have really missed the concept. There is no HIGH poly mesh in game. This method simply captures the silhouette of the super high poly object and creates a normal map to be used on the Low poly mesh. Thus creating a great looking low poly mesh in game. Thats the beauty of bump/normal maps. Creates an illusion of high poly objects with out waisting a ton of polys.

[demonmaster3k]

ouch, ok i'm feeling like an ass

it's a nice tutorial, how do you save it?

[Roostervier]

http://www.madworkzstudio.com/tut/tut.swf

Found that looking through his tut section. It is the same thing, I'd try right click save-as. And Madworkz, if you don't want that link there for some reason, I'll remove it (they are his files).

[p0lar_bear]

Your normal map in the first picture looks more like skin than rocks, though.

[TeeKup]

Holy Christ Dano. Thats fucking awesome.

[demonmaster3k]

nice sig t33kup, like the use of jahrain's biped
this tutorial looks helpful for later +rep
(but no saveable version...=( i like having copies for refrence

but using this technique (or dano's[gg btw]) i could see some pretty pro bsps coming out

[Limited]

nice sig t33kup, like the use of jahrain's biped
this tutorial looks helpful for later +rep
(but no saveable version...=( i like having copies for refrence

but using this technique (or dano's[gg btw]) i could see some pretty pro bsps coming out
My god, are you brain dead or some thing? Right click that .swf link and save as, or click on it then go to file > save as.

[Reaper Man]

Pretty nice tutorial there, I'm assuming that the cliffs in HL2 were done similarly. No offence meant, but the cliffs in HL2 have a much rockier appearance than those your example map.
http://www.unlimitedgamer.net/coverage/hl2/images/hl2_lost_coast_001.jpg

[Sakievich]

You can also convert b/w images that you import into .bitmap format into normal maps through tool and guerilla. You simply import the image file as you normally would, then open the .bitmap file and change some of the settings (see below) and then import the file again. This works in pretty much the same way as it does in HEK.

Format: 32-bit color
Usage: Height Map and check UNUSED
Processing: this is where the adjustment happens for personal preference, bump height is of particular importance.
WDP fields: these compression quality things can be tweaked.

[Patrickssj6]

My god, are you brain dead or some thing?
LMAO!

[phase]

Pretty nice tutorial there, I'm assuming that the cliffs in HL2 were done similarly. No offence meant, but the cliffs in HL2 have a much rockier appearance than those your example map.

Thats becuse of the way the map is formed the example map is sorta of a soft curved crator witch there isn't refrences of. hl2 used a huge amount of real life refrences for there scenery.

[Con]

Can someone explain something to me? If you wanted to create an non-repeating normal map for the cliffs of your map, wouldn't that require having a bitmap/several bitmaps for the entire of your cliffs (diffuse and normal)? With a rock it's no problem, but with cliffs it's another matter. The H3 ones are repeating. I think creating a lightmap baked on a higher-poly BSP would be the best solution rather than normal maps, because it doesn't need to use the same UV's as the diffuse map.

[Sakievich]

By the way, Zbrush 3 is out now (got my free upgrade!)and it has some interesting new features like tileable modeling on a surface that can then be exported as a normal map. It's called "wrap mode". It can then be exported as a bump/normal or whatever else you need it to be.

http://www.zbrush.info/wiki/index.php/Image:Zb25droppedImage_16.png

I hesitate on making one normal map for my entire map's cliffs since that would be a very very large file, I think it would generally (not always of course) be better to create normal maps that do not appear to repeat by not putting too much variation in the normal map and organizing the geometry so that the full length of the bitmap is never seen at one time.

[Con]

I hesitate on making one normal map for my entire map's cliffs since that would be a very very large file, I think it would generally (not always of course) be better to create normal maps that do not appear to repeat by not putting too much variation in the normal map and organizing the geometry so that the full length of the bitmap is never seen at one time.

Ah, thought so. Thanks

[ShadowCloud]

Well, mostly halo ce, halo 1 got old.

[bleach]

but not a lot of people play Halo CE currently, neither with H2V.

[Limited]

but not a lot of people play Halo CE currently, neither with H2V.
Thats because it hasnt been official released. Duh

[supersniper]

Thats because it hasnt been official released. Duh
makes sense to me!:D

[Zeph]

I'm impressed by your tutorial. You present good information in a knowledgeable manner while keeping it down to earth. I haven't slept for the past 60ish hours and was about to crash, but after watching this, I feel like playing with a 'mudbox like tool' for a good while with terrain. I've only used tools like this for literally forming organic objects. While it's essentially the same thing as using it for giving quick organic detail to inorganic objects, I have no idea why I've never made the connection between the two.

[Chewy Gumball]

hl2 uses vertex painting for that kind of texture. The shaders are blended together in hammer so you can get a non repetitive surface. The displacement maps would be similar though.

[DOMINATOR]

basically you see the bump map in 3d state as your making it instead of 2d in photoshop... nifty

[Tweek]

good info, well presented, and every usable to the common user.

exelent job

[Zeph]

Oh, could you list your hotkeys for mudbox?

[Kalub]

Pretty sweet! I understood that fully, kudos.


For your next tutorial you should do a two part series on how to UV map cliffs and set them up for the texturing in photoshop. :rolleyes:

[Con]

Pretty sweet! I understood that fully, kudos.


For your next tutorial you should do a two part series on how to UV map cliffs and set them up for the texturing in photoshop. :rolleyes:
.

[Phalanx_Master]

Pretty sweet! I understood that fully, kudos.


For your next tutorial you should do a two part series on how to UV map cliffs and set them up for the texturing in photoshop. :rolleyes:


i agree

[phase]

For your next tutorial you should do a two part series on how to UV map cliffs and set them up for the texturing in photoshop. :rolleyes:
Lulz thats pretty easy I would make one for the repz if I had a filming program and a decent mic.

[Snaver]

Excellent work madworkz, this a really a top notch tutorial.

[SnaFuBAR]

combed through the thread and didn't see a .wmv or .mov download :smith:

[Kalub]

L2R Newb :P

Download:
http://www.madworkzstudio.com/tut/tut.html
http://files.h2vista.net/tutorials/m...-map/index.htm (http://files.h2vista.net/tutorials/madworkz-normal-map/index.htm)

[SnaFuBAR]

i must've combed through while being overly-tired :smith:
thanks croc :unsmith: what the shit i demand :unsmith: be an emote

[Kalub]

:smith:

[Skilzdatkil]

nice i like

[Phopojijo]

What was that about Max 1-7 not being able to take the high detail map? Maya on my computer specs could take up to approximately 5-million triangles (I had it up to 4.5 million and it was a bit laggy, but it was multiple objects which is brutal on overhead versus single objects)

[Chewy Gumball]

Max 8 was a huge performance update. On 7 you could get those numbers, but you would need a ridiculously powerful machine.

[[EJ] Bean]

Any cheaper, non illeagal programs sculpting programs?

[Dr Dmoney]

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1062/713394560_9547746141_o.jpg
This is what I created so far. The best tutorial out there for Halo 2, even if I have only seen one other.

[Dr Dmoney]

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1102/716183748_4166bd58e1_o.jpg



I got the bumb on there but don't really know how to complie a map correctly. Everytime I run sapien a file error pops up. I have got a few crappy skymaps that have nothing in them to load but nothing complicate as what this is. Any help would be apreceated. ALSO IF MY IMAGES (MATERIALS) cannot be found would that make sapien not run.

[Patrickssj6]

check debug.txt inside the halo custom edition folder and post the last few lines of it.

[Dr Dmoney]

07.04.07 07:04:01.948 ### WARNING effect 'effects\impact\explosion_large\satchel_charge\sat chel_charge_explosion' particle system is invalid
07.04.07 07:04:02.645 initialize_for_new_map: level [scenarios\multi\maxie\maxie]
07.04.07 07:04:06.900 failed to load structure bsp #0 (scenarios\multi\maxie\maxie)
07.04.07 07:04:07.025 (your disk may be full or you may be out of memory)
07.04.07 07:04:07.062 ### ERROR unable to load initial structure bsp (maybe scenario has none?)
07.04.07 07:04:07.147 ### ERROR: main_game_change_immediate() failed for 'scenarios\multi\maxie\maxie', and game cannot load.
07.04.07 07:04:07.448 ### ERROR: Main game failed to load. Recovery not possible. Returning to pregame.

[CrowPath]

Yes, But Way to limited. Crow path is able to pull it off by adding dynamic lighting, as well using a heavy spec map on most of his texures. Thats why they all look glossy and wet.

Bumpmaping in halo2vista is Way Way diffrent. you would never pull off what im doing in ce.
I find it odd that you should mention that, since one of the hallmarks of the entire Church project has been the fight against the overuse of 'plastic/wet' looking specular highlights. If you've seen it in screenshots it's either been A) entirely intentional and relevant to the material or B) beta work that will be corrected for the final map.

[Lightning]

Hi, Crow =o

Also, in reply to the Sapien error, it seems that your scenario file has no BSP tag in it. Open it in Guerilla and add one at the bottom.

[spookers622]

lol i wonder how many people are gonna go out and buy mudbox and how many are gonna... you know... "buy" it

[spookers622]

is it supposed to take like 2 hrs. to bake a texture? its also making HUNDREDS of images... is that supposed to happen?

[phase]

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1062/713394560_9547746141_o.jpg
This is what I created so far. The best tutorial out there for Halo 2, even if I have only seen one other.
Just for that am going to make a tutorial and stabb madworkz in the balls.
If I ever get internet back.

[Dr Dmoney]

Just for that am going to make a tutorial and stabb madworkz in the balls.
If I ever get internet back.


WTF What do you mean. Is it bad or what. Why are you so fucking angry.

[Tweek]

Bean;94194']Any cheaper, non illeagal programs sculpting programs?

mudbox is like THE cheapest 3d-package available that isnt milkshape or somethign like that.

[Phalanx_Master]

Camtasia duh lol.

[madworkz]

May i convert this to a video format everyone can use (avi/mpg/divix)

ofcourse, feel free to link, edit, addon, or what ever. i dont mind at all.

[fletcher77]

I used this tutorial when I did the map I made blast castle. Before I rendered the lighting in my map the bump mapping was there and looked great. But after I compiled the light it did not show up.
I thought is was because of 2 posible things. But you let me know what you think. 1) map was to dark. 2)I compiled the light on medium(while rendering on super my pc crashed at 50%. after 3 days, so I have been putting it off. I will try again when I understand why the bump maps did not show up).

[johnnyblaz20]

That was a great tutorial. I'm still a noob and i'm having trouble making the awsome looking rock show up in-game. What i'm doing is just creating a shader and using the bitmap i got from mudbox and using it as a .bump for the rock i sculped. Am i missing a step? Is there anything special i need to do?

[yXy BiScUt yXy]

good job ill keep that in mind

[Trav41514]

I tried this same sorta technique to try and model an entire level in mudbox.
I started from a 10,000 poly mesh, and managed to deatil it to 3,000,000 polys!

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f204/dozerdog55/Level.png

On topic, can you use this idea on the ground itself, in the same way you use it for the cliffs and the rocks?

Is there nothing stopping you from normal mapping an entire level?

[BobtheGreatII]

May I be the first to say it just looks like a ton of crap stuck together?

Also... I dunno, maybe if it wasn't all brown, I would be able to say something better for it...

[Inferno]

You know that would never EVER import into halo 2.