color map, normal map, true normal map and spec map tutorial.
If you use this process and really take your time you can have a outstanding product or whatever you are making, I hope this is educational for new modelers and possibly seasoned modelers I have some techniques that can help not only the novice but experienced modelers as well, I hope you enjoy the tutorial it's my first one I have posted, if you have request for others I will try to make another tutorial? please comment on my tutorial so I can see if I need to work on anything and please if you have any better ideas in this process feel free to share your knowledge as I am trying, thank you!
In this tutorial I will show you how to make all the above listed maps, in blender 2.5, I do not use gimp to make these maps except the spec map because to me it appears you get a better quality map in blender then in gimp but thats my personal preference, the only thing I will be using gimp for in this tutorial is to make the spec map the edges around the spec map.
First a little explanation of these maps based on my experience.
COLOR MAP: This is the map where you add all the details to the map and add a texture to it. In other words this is the color scheme of your model.
NORMAL MAP: This is basically that rainbow color map that I am sure some of you have seen, if you have looked at the textures in the FPSC user guide or other places, this is also the map I use to add a bump effect to my objects.
TRUE NORMAL MAP: I am sure a lot of you are scratching your head on this one, but this is what makes your model sparkle without adding any shaders to the map, it is made by using the normal map and adding a little more tweak to it so to speak. and this is a great map in getting that look you want in FPSC, or at least it is for me.
SPEC MAP: This is the map you use to determine what shines more than others, and the map you add a edge around the object to increase the bump effect, for example: white will make that part really shiny, grey will have a dull shine to it and black does not shine at all.
Okay lets get started
The part of my SCAR-L Black I will be showing you is just the front view of the magazine, but this same process applies to all the parts of the object you are modeling, so don’t think I am giving you an incomplete tutorial. plus it takes practice and if you do only one part or a very small object, through time you will get it down real good, where you will be able to complete the process for all of your items on an object.
PART 1: SETTING UP THE CAMERA
Step 1: First thing I do is take a screen shot of the UV Unwrapped object “the complete UV map.
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Step 2: Secondly, I take a screen shot of the PART I will be working with first.
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Step 3: If you have not already saved your model do so at this time and close it, then go back to blender and open a new blender, and to make sure everything is set correctly, go to the upper left of the screen and click on FILE and scroll down to where it says LOAD FACTORY SETTINGS. This is what you will see after you have done that
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Step 4: Here you need to hit the HOTKEY X, and delete that CUBE, then hit SHIFT A, and add a PLAIN, then go to the NUMPAD and hit 7, and while still in OBJECT MODE, select SHIFT A and add a CAMERA. Then hit 3 on the NUMPAD this is what you should see.
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Step 5: at this point bring that CAMERA up to about this point, while still in NUMPAD 3, you can move the CAMERA by grabbing the BLUE ARROW and bring it up, or hit the HOTKEY G and Z and just move your MOUSE FORWARD, it has the same result.
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Step 6: at this point you are ready to set your camera up hit NUMPAD 7 to go into top view, what you need to do is go to the very bottom left of the screen and click on that object that looks like a CLOCK and scroll up to where it says PROPERTIES and select it once you have done that go to the bottom left again of the screen and click on the ICON that looks like a MOVIE PROJECTOR, here you will probably need to bring your screen display up then you will see a bunch of choices, click on ORTHOGRAPHIC you will notice the camera in the main screen got bigger, then click on where it says ORTHOGRAPHIC SCALE: 6.000 change that number to 2.000 you should have noticed the camera in the screen above got smaller.
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Step 7: at this time go back to that ICON LISTING and click on the ICON that looks like a CAMERA, then you have more choices, go down to where it says RESOLUTION: And change the X: 1920 to 512 and the Y: 1080 to 512, you will notice when you do this the camera will move vertically and horizontally in the main view. then at this point you can lower your screen down and if the left and right tool bars are present hit the HOTKEY T and N to hide them, this also makes them re-appear.
Step 8: at this point go to the lower left of of the main screen where your object is present and click on VIEW and scroll up to where it says CAMERA not the first CAMERA but the second CAMERA and a menu will appear that says SET ACTIVE OBJECT AS CAMERA click that and your camera is set.
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Step 9: Remember that screen shot of our UV Map we took, this is the part where you will need it. At this time click on the PLAIN you added, then go down to where it is set to SOLID and change that to TEXTURED and to the left of that take it out of OBJECT MODE and make it EDIT MODE. At this point split your screen and it does not matter change the left or the right screen by click on the VIEW menu and select UV/IMAGE EDITOR. it looks like this.
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Step 10: At this point we are ready to open our screenshot, so go to the bottom of the map you changed to UV/IMAGE EDITOR and click on IMAGE a drop down menu appears select OPEN IMAGE and find your screenshot and select it. then your image appears in both windows, place your mouse over the window you did not put in UV/IMAGE EDITOR and hit the the hot key R AND 180 so both views are facing the same direction. hit TAB and A to go in to OBJECT MODE. your screen should look like this.
NOTE: DO NOT FORGET TO GO INTO TEXTURE AND EDIT MODE OR THE PICTURE WILL NOT APPEAR IN BOTH WINDOWS.
NOTE: THIS COMPLETES THE FIRST PART OF THE TUTORIAL, THESE STEPS MUST BE FOLLOWED OR YOUR SCREEN SHOT WILL NOT APPEAR.
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[u]PART 2: MAKING THE COLOR MAP
Step 1: At this point, move your UV MAP to the right of the screen just to give you room to work on making the color map, and bring up a reference photo you are going to use for adding the details to your map, then all you need to do is start building those extra details on the weapon mesh, and the great thing you do not have to worry about poly count because this is for the map not the model. as you can see I added some details to [/u]
this map its not perfect but it will show you the process. once you completed your model you are almost ready to start adding the color scheme to your model.
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Step 2: At this point you will have completed making all the detail, to your model, but before you add any color you will need to separate each piece, and the way you do that is, while in EDIT MODE, place your MOUSE CURSOR over the object you want to separate and hit the HOTKEY L this will select the whole object instead of selecting each vertices.Once you have selected the mesh for separation hit the HOTKEY P and click on SELECTION, do this for each piece. Then select each piece separately in OBJECT MODE then go to EDIT MODE then go to the upper right of the screen and click on the icon that looks like a WRENCH, then select ADD MODIFIER then select SUBDIVISION SURFACE, Then go back into OBJECT MODE and hit T to bring up the tab on the left and select SOFT once you have done that if the piece is distorted go back in to EDIT MODE and hit the hot key CTRL N this will smooth it out, then go back into OBJECT MODE and SELECT APPLY ON THE MODIFIER to the right of the screen, do this process for each of the pieces, then it will look something like this.
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Step 3: Now we are ready to add color to each of the pieces, while in OBJECT MODE select one piece that you have separated, then go to the upper right of the screen and click on the MATERIAL TAB, the ICON looks like a somewhat ORANGE SPHERE, click it then a new screen appears click on NEW, here a list of things appear go to the one that says DIFFUSE and click on the WHITE BAR below the it and select the texture color you want you will see that color appear on your object. like so repeat this process for all parts you have separated.
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Step 4: at this time hit 0 on the NUMPAD, to go into camera view, and take a screenshot of your COLOR MAP, this completes the COLOR MAP portion. Here is the end result for the COLOR MAP.
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NOTE: FOR TUTORIAL PURPOSES I DID NOT SEPARATE THE BACK GROUND SO YOU WILL SEE IT BETTER BUT YOU, WILL NEED TO DO THAT TO AND MAKE THE BACK GROUND BLACK.
PART 3: MAKE NORMAL MAP
Step 1: The map we just added all the color to, at this point we are going to select each of the pieces and make them black, and also place a CHECK MARK in the BOX that says SHADELESS. NOTE: YOU DO THIS FOR THE BACKGROUND TO BUT SO YOU CAN SEE IT WELL I WILL LEAVE IT WHITE. this is what the map should look like when you are all finished, making them black?
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Step 2: At this point we are ready to make the NORMAL MAP, first thing while in OBJECT MODE, select one piece of the magazine, then go to the top right of the screen next to the MATERIAL TAB click on the TIC TAC TOE ICON, this is the TEXTURE BUTTON, then you will see the same ICON and the TAB NEW click on NEW and click on another ICON do this three times and name each from top to bottom RED, GREEN AND BLUE. then below where it says NEW click on the ICON labeled CLOUD and make each of the new textures BLEND theTIC TAC TOE ICON will change to a SILVER COLOR. you should see this.
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Step 3: At this point select the TAB labeled RED and scroll down to where it says MAPPING COORDINATES: and change GENERATED to NORMAL and BELOW FLAT make all of them X, then scroll down farther where it says RGB TO INTENSITY AND BELOW THAT IS A PINK BOX, click that and change the value to RED
(R 1.000, G 0.000, B 0.000) Once you have done that the box will turn red.
Step 4: Scroll to the top and this time Select the TAB labeled GREEN, and repeat the same process the only things you change on this is the BELOW FLAT make them all Y and the box labeled MIX click on it and make it ADD.
(R 0.000, G 1.000, B 0.000)
Step 5: BLUE is the same as GREEN, just change BELOW FLAT to all Z
(R 0.000, G 0.000, B 1.000)
Step 5: Once you have made all the necessary color changes, click on the MATERIAL TAB, and you should see this.
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Step 6: Instead of repeating this step for all the other OBJECTS that have been separated all you need to do is, click on each item, individually and select this THE ORANGE MATERIAL TAB here and a scroll down to the rainbow looking sphere and click it.
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tep 7: Once you have completed the above step, next one is to finish the NORMAL MAP by simply click on the TAB to the upper right corner that looks like a CAMERA, a list will appear below that is labeled CAMERA with a picture of a CAMERA on it, click it and then you should have your NORMAL MAP, TAKE A SCREEN SHOT OF THIS. it will look like this. This completes the process of making the NORMAL MAP.
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NOTE: THE BLACK SHOWING ON THIS WILL BE GONE IF YOU MAKE THE BACKGROUND BLACK IN THE BEGINNING OF THE BUILDING PROCESS.
PART 4: MAKE TRUE NORMAL MAP
NOTE THIS PART CAN ONLY BE COMPLETED IF YOUR COMPUTER SUPPORTS GLSL.
Step 1: At this time you can close blender DO NOT SAVE, but don’t forget to make a screenshot of your NORMAL MAP BEFORE YOU CLOSE THIS OUT.
Step 2: At this time open BLENDER once again and set to FACTORY SETTINGS, you will see a CUBE, select X on the keyboard and delete the CUBE, select HOTKEY SHIFT A and add a PLAIN then, select the HOTKEY SHIFT A again and add a LAMP and select POINT as indicated below. then bring the LAMP UP by grabbing the BLUE ARROW. from here change the top center TAB LABELED BLENDER RENDER to BLENDER GAME, and change the ICON AT THE BOTTOM CENTER FROM SOLID TO TEXTURE, AND TO THE RIGHT OF THE SCREEN CLICK ON GLSL, you will see the SHADER IN ACTION.
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Step 3: At this time go to the right of the screen and click on the MATERIALS TAB, then select NEW go down the label DIFFUSE and click on the WHITE BAR it does not matter what color you choose I am choosing BLUE. YOUR SCREEN SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS.
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Step 4: Go to the TIC TAC TOE ICON and click it and create a new texture by clicking on NEW, then scroll down to the ICON LABELED CLOUD click on it and select IMAGE OR MOVIE, then scroll down where you see OPEN click it and find your NORMAL MAP then select it. then go to the LABEL IMAGE SAMPLING and put a CHECK MARK ON NORMAL MAP, Then scroll down Further and DESELECT COLOR and CLICK ON NORMAL, Then you should have an image that looks something like this. As you can see this is WHAT I CALL A TRUE NORMAL MAP, I think it looks better???
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NOTE: HERE YOU CAN SEE WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE THE BACKGROUND BLACK IN THE INITIAL STEP, BECAUSE THEN YOU WILL HAVE A COMPLETE MAP.
This completes the part on the TRUE NORMAL MAP.
PART 5: FINAL STEP SPEC MAP
Step 1: That NORMAL MAP we made we will be using that to make our SPEC MAP, you will need GIMP for this part. first open your NORMAL MAP in GIMP, then click on the LABEL FILTERS at the top, then when the drop down menu appears click on EDGE-DETECT, then another drop down appears click on EDGE, A box will appear with your NORMAL MAP looking like its on steroids click on the ALGORITHM TAB and change it from SOBEL to DIFFERENTIAL and change the AMOUNT to 1.0 then select OK, then go to the top of GIMP and click on COLORS, a drop down appears click on DESATURATE, THEN A box appears click on LUMINOSITY then click OK, from here click on COLORS once again and click on CURVES and here the line on the right I usually bring it down about half way like in this screen shot, and there you have it a SPEC MAP all you need to do from here is hit SAVE AS and name it SPEC or whatever.
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NOTE: THE SPEC MAP CAN BE MADE IN BLENDER ALSO BUT I CLOSED BLENDER WITHOUT SAVING SO I RESORTED TO MAKING IT IN GIMP, DUMB LUCK BUT IT WORKS.
I hope this tutorial was good enough in explaining everything, but if I missed a step or you do not understand what I was saying, leave a comment and I will try my best to answer it?
