Merge Diffuse, Normal and Specular

[betoaac]

Good day,

I have searched in the section of 2D tutorials but I have not found anything that tells me how I can combine specular, diffuse and normal textures in a single file.

Could anyone help me?

Or how can I use them in the Warcraft Model Editor separately?
I will be very grateful if someone can shed some light on the subject

First of all, Thanks!

 

[Arowanna]

My first question would be: Why no earth would you need a normal- and spec map for WC3?

There's no proper way to put them in a single file, you can have them all in a single .psd file but that won't do much for you, as you won't be able to use the .psd format in WC3.

Are you trying to make custom shaders for WC3? If that's the case, I can't help because I've no idea how open the World Editor is these days. But the proper way to approach it if you are making custom shaders - somehow - just save three different files, one for each map. I.e. one diffuse, normal and spec file.

Example:
myTexture_diff.tga
myTexture_spec.tga
myTexture_norm.tga

Edit
WC3 has no support for normal- or specular maps. That's why I can't figure out why you need it.

 

[betoaac]

Thanks for your answer,

I try to simulate lighting and shadows within the texture of the model. I mean that if you are only going to see from one side in warcraft 3 and I will not use the day and night (cycle) then you could leave the lighting, the reflection and the more detailed shadows in the model.

For example, in the Warcraft model editor I have tried some options that leave an interesting result, but I do not find how to "print" or "export" the textures with that illumination / reflection.

I thought that 3DS max could do it, but I could not. The difference between using a texture "simulating" brightness or reflection and one that does not do so is - in my opinion - abysmal

The texture that I want to achieve:

apparently they have combined, shaded and illuminated / reflected, in the end they have left it as a single texture and within the game it looks great

I need some guidance

 

[Arowanna]

Before my ramble, my first quick tip would be this: Simply add these details to the diffuse/albedo by hand in Photoshop.

The only other thing I can think of is to combine the diffuse/albedo map with the spec and normal map in Photoshop or Gimp. The result won't be perfect, but here's an example from my time in university when I - for some reason - tried to do something similar:

1. Greyscale normal map > Edit contrast to empathize veins and etc.

Top, normal map. Bottom, edited normal map.

2. Grab specular map > Invert > Increase contrast, focus on what you need to bring out

Top, specular map. Bottom, edited specular map.

3. Base Diffuse without edits


4. Insert normal over diffuse layer, I used Overlay at 100% opacity > Insert spec over diffuse and normal, I used Vivid Light at 39% opacity. Results in this:


I would not recommend this approach however, as it won't achieve much. But if you don't have the proficiency to add these things by hand in Photoshop, it might be the best option you have.

Edit 1
And again, you can not combine the normal, spec and diffuse in WC3. The engine simply doesn't support it. Outside of the WC3 engine? Of course, any modern 3D software or 3D engine will have support for it. But that doesn't mean you can import it to WC3. Unless you hack/edit the actual WC3 engine and I've no fucking idea how to approach that.

Edit 2

The texture that I want to achieve:

If that's the texture you want and you aren't able to export it, just printscreen it?

 

[GhostWolf]

Sorry, didn't notice you replied in the other thread.

This is generally referred to as baking, where you map 3D data to a texture.

For specularity, like I wrote in the other thread, you don't actually need baking, you can simply add another material layer that uses your specular texture, and be creative with the filter mode.

You can bake a normal map given some static light, but I honestly don't think it will match the game's look very much.

If you want more information, search online for baking in 3ds Max, how to bake normal maps, etc.

 

[Arowanna]

@GhostWolf why would you bake something when you already have the normal and diffuse map? I get it if you've the low- and high poly model, which I guess we don't have here, as we're dealing with SC2 models. But why bake when we've the maps? The only thing I can see working is to make an AO from the normals and apply it to the diffuse.

Or have you guys made a low poly version from the SC2 model? If that's the case, you won't get much out of baking it either, as most of the detail is in the normals, once baked from the Blizzard sculpt.

 

[GhostWolf]

The only thing I can see working is to make an AO from the normals and apply it to the diffuse.

That is indeed what I meant.

 

[betoaac]

Thank you very much, I will look for the indicated term, I will also try the alternative of adding a layer of additional material.

I'm pretty new to 3DS max and Photoshop, so I'll be testing.
Thank you!

PD:What is AO?

 

[Arowanna]

Thank you very much, I will look for the indicated term, I will also try the alternative of adding a layer of additional material.

I'm pretty new to 3DS max and Photoshop, so I'll be testing.
Thank you!

PD:What is AO?

Ambient Occlusion, but we actually use Screen Space Ambient Occlusion for games. There are other ways to render AO, but as far as I know SSAO is currently the most common one.

This video explains how it affects your game:

In essence, AO renders shadows where light is blocked. However, you can also render static AO, i.e. shadows that won't change dynamically. For your project, we could turn the Normal Map into a AO Map, giving us some of the shadows you want for you Diffuse Map.

For that you need Photoshop and nDo2. Or that's the only way I know how to do it, there might be other ways.

I will say this again though, all these things are pointless for WC3! x'D

 

[betoaac]

Hello, a question on the subject.
To work with my DDS files, with what format and with what tool they think I should convert it, especially not to lose the alpha channel.

Try using BMP, but there is loss of alpha channel.
The photoshop that I have does not read DDS (PS CC 1)

PD: I have the nDo2 plugin c1.1.9, will it work?

 

[Arowanna]

You can open *.DDS files with GIMP if you download the DDS plugin. You can also use Photoshop and open *.DDS if you've the NVIDIA DDS Plugin, most likely won't work with PS 1, but try it anyway. I have no idea how to open DDSs with AMD cards, haven't had an AMD card in forever.

For Warcraft 3, always use the *.PSD and *.TGA file formats. PSD when you're working and always save your PSD file, TGA when you're done and ready to convert it to *.BLP. When you save your TGA, make sure to check the "Resolution: 32 bits/pixel" option to save your alpha layer.

You need Photoshop CS4 or newer to use nDo2.

And again... Why do you need these things for WC3? Are you even making things for WC3? x'D

 

[GhostWolf]

BMP

Like most standard file formats, you can simply search online e.g. "dds to png" or whatever, you don't need any programs.

CC1 is newer than CS4.

 

[Arowanna]

Missed the CC1, sorry.

 

[betoaac]

What happens is that the first time I worked turning into BMP and it went wrong.
Today I used the Gimp plugin for DDS (it edits them directly) and it worked well for me, the issue is that the steps you sent me are for photoshop. That's why I wanted to use photoshop but I only have the CC1.
The only thing I want to achieve is that my models look a little better