How to make normal maps from real surfaces
I've devised a way to capture normal and displacement maps from real 3D surfaces. It's easy! Just follow the steps below.
Materials
You need these things:
1. Digital Camera
2. Computer with Photoshop and Nvidia's Texture Tools
3. Movable light-source
4. Subject. (In this example, Subject is a bowl of peanuts.)
Camera
Computer
Light source
Step 1
With your camera fixed, photograph your subject four times, lighted from each of four directions. You'll want to experiment with the elevation of your light. Light from a low angle, but not so low that your subject is obscured by its own shadow.
Lit From Above
Lit From Left
Lit From Below
Lit From Right
Step 2
Crop your photographs, and convert them to grayscale.
Lit From Above
Lit From Left
Lit From Below
Lit From Right
Step 3
Create a new image (hereafter called "AboveLeft"), with your Above-lighted photograph for a green channel, and your Left-lighted photograph for a red channel.
AboveLeft:
green channel = Lit From Above
red channel = Lit From Left
Step 4
Adjust levels for "AboveLeft". Select output levels 127 and 0.
AboveLeft:
after levels adjusted
Step 5
Create a new image (hereafter called "BelowRight"), with your Below-lighted photograph for a green channel, and your Right-lighted photograph for a red channel
BelowRight:
green channel = Lit From Below
red channel = Lit From Right
Step 6
Adjust levels for "BelowRight". Select output levels 128 and 255.
BelowRight:
after levels adjusted
Step 7
Paste BelowRight into a new layer over AboveLeft. Set the new layer's blend mode to "Overlay," and flatten your image.
(Optionally, experiment with other blend modes. I find "Hard Light" works well for some maps).
Normal Map:
after image overlay
Step 8
Fill the blue channel with a light color. Experiment with the shade; a lighter blue will yield a smoother normal map.
Normal Map:
blue channel lightened
Step 9
Apply NVIDIA's Normal Map filter, using the "Normalize Only" setting. Your normal map should now be finished and ready for use
Normal Map:
finished and ready for use
Step 10
If you need a displacement map, my href="http://66.70.170.53/Ryan/heightmap/heightmap.html" target="_blank">Displacement Map Creator will make one for you.
Displacement Map:
from displacement map creator
Further Examples
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