HystericalParoxysm
14th Jan 2008, 10:43 PM
:here: What this tiptorial is for:
This tiptorial (yes, I really like that word - and it's fitting as this is more tips and illustrative examples than showing you a full project) will teach you what bump maps are, as well as basic info on how to make them for your own clothing - or how to make neutral non-bump-mapped clothing if you don't want to bother with bump maps, or your graphics card can't view them.
:here: What are bump maps?
In making clothing, you may have heard of bump maps, but don't really know what they are. So... what are they?
Bump maps are a graphics effect that creates the illusion of more depth and detail on certain items like clothing, walls, etc. and can add a great deal of realism if done properly. Bump maps make it look like an item has 3D detail even though the 3D model or mesh doesn't actually contain that 3D shape. It's great for adding a bit of added shape to buttons, seams, bricks, etc. - anything that could deal with a little more dimension can benefit from the use of bump maps.
Normally bump maps are a very subtle effect if done properly. It may be hard to tell that an outfit even has bump maps when it's done right. You probably won't even notice they're there unless they're done wrong - which often happens with custom outfits (but even with some Maxis outfits). Sometimes creators don't have bump maps enabled or can't view them so they leave the original Maxis bump maps for whatever outfit they've made, and you'll see the outline or bumps for the original outfit on the wrong texture.
If you take a look at the image below of the Maxis chef's outfit, you can see some nice, properly-done, subtle bump mapping - there's a little more dimension added to the buttons and the edge on the front, and to the bow on the back. The effect is not dramatic, and it's not meant to be, but it does create a nice look on this outfit as it's done right.
http://www.sims2wiki.info/images/d/de/Bumpmapcomparisons.jpg
Bump maps don't always work on all graphics cards, though - for people with integrated graphics or lower-end graphics cards, it may not be possible for you to view bump maps.
They may also be disabled by default for people with cards capable of viewing them, and you will need to enable them by changing certain settings in your game's files.
:here: How to tell if you can view bump maps:
Because the effect of bump maps is so subtle, semloh has created a bump map tester, an outfit that you can put in your game that will show you without a doubt whether or not you have bump maps working. Get it here (attached to the bottom of the first post): http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=43273
:here: How to enable bump maps:
If bump maps are not enabled in your game and you think you have a good enough graphics card to handle them, you can change your game's settings to enable bump maps.
Just because you have a new computer does not necessarily mean you have a good enough graphics card to view bump maps. Especially if you have integrated graphics, your card simply may not be capable of rendering them. However, it's not too hard to try to enable them to check. There are instructions here: http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Bump_Maps_and_Shaders
:here: Does the mesh I'm recolouring use bump maps?
Some meshes use bump maps, and some don't. It's really easy to tell when you make your new project whether you have a bump map or not...
Texture: stdMatBaseTextureName.bmp - This is, of course, your main texture - gives the colours, patterns, shading and highlighting, etc.
Alpha: stdMatBaseTextureName_alpha.bmp - This is the alpha, and will generally be black and white... Where it's black, it will "cutout" or not apply the texture. Where it's white it will apply the texture. Where it has shades of grey (if applicable) it will make the texture semi-transparent.
Bump Map: stdMatNormalMapTextureName.bmp - This is the bump map, if you have one, and applies the illusion of a 3D effect if your graphics card can view bump maps.
:here: Good Bump Mapping:
I've whipped up a simple shirt (mostly using Maxis textures) that illustrates good and bad bump maps.
Here's my texture for it, just so you can see what I've done: I've basically just recoloured the Maxis tank top and left the alpha the same, changing the base texture to a nice lavender, and I've added a little pink glitter heart to the front:
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/687_080114180100texture.jpg
To start with... here's examples of bump maps for this top done well, or not at all (and not at all is better than done poorly!):
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/682_080114174114bumps-good.jpg
The effect is subtle - and it's meant to be! But you can see the difference between the bumped and non-bumped shirts...
Proper Bump Mapping: On the one with bump mapping, you can see a bit more of a 3D effect around the neckline and edges for the armholes - and, though it really isn't that obvious, the wrinkles under the breasts are a bit more pronounced on the bumped version.
And here's what the bump map looks like for that (this is the original Maxis bump map for this mesh). As you can see, it's a low-contrast greyscale, with lighter areas where the texture should appear higher or "bumped out" and darker areas where the texture should appear lower or "bumped in."
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/684_080114175504goodbump.jpg
No Bump Mapping: The non-bumped version has a completely neutral bump map - i.e. none whatsoever, and so it doesn't have that 3D effect around the edges and the wrinkles. However, it has a good texture anyway in those areas, so it's still okay like that.
Here's what its bump map looks like. As you can see, it's a completely solid bucket fill of 50% grey (RGB 128.128.128) which creates neutral/no bump mapping whatsoever.
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/685_080114175639nobumps.jpg
:here: Bad Bump Mapping:
Just as important as knowing what good bump maps look like, you need to know what not to do!
http://www.modyourpanties.com/images/080114174657-bumps-bad.jpg
Over-Contrasted Bump Mapping: The shirt on the left uses the same base bump map texture as the properly-bumped outfit done above, but the bump map has way too much contrast. This results in an over-bumped effect - the 3D effect from the bump maps looks patchy and pebbly, and makes the shirt look worse than if it had no bump map at all.
Here's its texture... compare it to the proper bump map texture shown above: same basic pattern of lights and darks, but here, there's a much bigger difference between the light and dark areas, so it creates a much more dramatic bumpy effect - too dramatic.
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/688_080114180322highcontrastbumps.jpg
Desaturated Bump Mapping: The shirt on the right in the above examples shows what many beginners do when they start creating bump maps... they get their texture all finished, they copy it over to the bump map texture, and then just desaturate it, making a greyscale version of their texture, and save it just like that... and you can see that on most of the shirt, that's fine, and you do still get the 3D effect around the edges of the neckline... but where the glitter heart is on the original, well, that's just all wrong: you end up with a bumpy mess there, when in a real shirt with a logo or image on it like that, it generally wouldn't have any 3D effect in that area at all. If it did have any 3D effect via bump map, the whole heart would be ever so slightly raised from the shirt texture to give the appearance of a decal or patch - so you would just have the whole heart area -very- slightly lighter than the rest of the shirt in that area, a bucket filled heart, if at all.
For band pictures, text, prints in fabric, etc., you would not have any difference in the bump map in those areas as they would not truly be raised off the surface of the shirt, but printed on.
Here's that bump map... as you can see it's just a straight copy of the texture, in greyscale... which would probably work okay for this shirt if there were no heart, but because of the heart, it makes the bump map look very wrong. The dark edge around it makes it appear there's a "trench" around the whole thing, and where the glitter is light, it looks higher than the areas where the glitter is darker, creating a bumpy mess which just looks plain bad.
http://www.modyourpanties.com/images/080114180558-desaturatedbumps.jpg
:here: So how do I make a good bump map for a new texture?
If you're made a completely new texture (you're not modifying a Maxis or custom one) and you want to make a new bump map to match... The very first thing you need to do is THINK about it!
Put your brain to work examining your texture. Look at things like pockets, buttons, zippers, seams, wrinkles, pleats, belt buckles, ties, overlapping edges of fabric, etc... Anything that his higher or on top of things should be lighter on your bump map, and anything that's lower or underneath other things should be darker.
You really don't have to get fancy: your bump map doesn't need as much detail as your texture, and you can basically make it a 50% grey (again, RGB 128.128.128) bucket fill with a few areas of light and dark for the things you want to have bumped up or down.
You can always copy your texture to your stdMatNormalMapTextureName.bmp file and basically trace over it, selecting areas that need detail on the bump map and adding their light or dark colour to new layers, then backing the whole thing in 50% grey for the neutral areas.
You may be able to combine the (usually wrong) technique of desaturating your texture with that tracing technique, depending on what your texture looks like... Make a copy of your texture, desaturate it, and then lower the contrast until it's a bit "fuzzy" looking - it shouldn't be as clear and crisp as it was originally. Then, in any areas that would be made wrong in bump mapping (like, say, an area that has a plaid fabric print), you can select those using your graphics editor's polygon select tool and simply bucket fill them with 50% grey.
Remember, though - a good bump map can't make up for a bad texture, and many people cannot view bump maps anyway - so your outfit should look good, with proper shading and highlighting, without bump maps... the bump mapping should add to the effect created by your texturing, not rely on bump mapping where your texture falls short.
:here: What do I do with the bump maps if I can't view them?
Simple: don't make any bump maps. Trying to make bump maps when you can't view them is like painting blind: you may think you're doing okay but you really have no idea whether you are or not. An outfit should look properly shaded and highlighted without bump maps - and indeed, if you do your texturing right, you shouldn't really need them!
So just do the neutral/no bump maps method: bucket fill the stdMatNormalMapTextureName.bmp texture with 50% grey (RGB 128.128.128) to create a neutral/no bump map, so you don't have to worry about your bumps being wrong or weird looking for those that can view them. Just remember to do this with each project - if you can't view them it's easy to forget!
This tiptorial (yes, I really like that word - and it's fitting as this is more tips and illustrative examples than showing you a full project) will teach you what bump maps are, as well as basic info on how to make them for your own clothing - or how to make neutral non-bump-mapped clothing if you don't want to bother with bump maps, or your graphics card can't view them.
:here: What are bump maps?
In making clothing, you may have heard of bump maps, but don't really know what they are. So... what are they?
Bump maps are a graphics effect that creates the illusion of more depth and detail on certain items like clothing, walls, etc. and can add a great deal of realism if done properly. Bump maps make it look like an item has 3D detail even though the 3D model or mesh doesn't actually contain that 3D shape. It's great for adding a bit of added shape to buttons, seams, bricks, etc. - anything that could deal with a little more dimension can benefit from the use of bump maps.
Normally bump maps are a very subtle effect if done properly. It may be hard to tell that an outfit even has bump maps when it's done right. You probably won't even notice they're there unless they're done wrong - which often happens with custom outfits (but even with some Maxis outfits). Sometimes creators don't have bump maps enabled or can't view them so they leave the original Maxis bump maps for whatever outfit they've made, and you'll see the outline or bumps for the original outfit on the wrong texture.
If you take a look at the image below of the Maxis chef's outfit, you can see some nice, properly-done, subtle bump mapping - there's a little more dimension added to the buttons and the edge on the front, and to the bow on the back. The effect is not dramatic, and it's not meant to be, but it does create a nice look on this outfit as it's done right.
http://www.sims2wiki.info/images/d/de/Bumpmapcomparisons.jpg
Bump maps don't always work on all graphics cards, though - for people with integrated graphics or lower-end graphics cards, it may not be possible for you to view bump maps.
They may also be disabled by default for people with cards capable of viewing them, and you will need to enable them by changing certain settings in your game's files.
:here: How to tell if you can view bump maps:
Because the effect of bump maps is so subtle, semloh has created a bump map tester, an outfit that you can put in your game that will show you without a doubt whether or not you have bump maps working. Get it here (attached to the bottom of the first post): http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=43273
:here: How to enable bump maps:
If bump maps are not enabled in your game and you think you have a good enough graphics card to handle them, you can change your game's settings to enable bump maps.
Just because you have a new computer does not necessarily mean you have a good enough graphics card to view bump maps. Especially if you have integrated graphics, your card simply may not be capable of rendering them. However, it's not too hard to try to enable them to check. There are instructions here: http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Bump_Maps_and_Shaders
:here: Does the mesh I'm recolouring use bump maps?
Some meshes use bump maps, and some don't. It's really easy to tell when you make your new project whether you have a bump map or not...
Texture: stdMatBaseTextureName.bmp - This is, of course, your main texture - gives the colours, patterns, shading and highlighting, etc.
Alpha: stdMatBaseTextureName_alpha.bmp - This is the alpha, and will generally be black and white... Where it's black, it will "cutout" or not apply the texture. Where it's white it will apply the texture. Where it has shades of grey (if applicable) it will make the texture semi-transparent.
Bump Map: stdMatNormalMapTextureName.bmp - This is the bump map, if you have one, and applies the illusion of a 3D effect if your graphics card can view bump maps.
:here: Good Bump Mapping:
I've whipped up a simple shirt (mostly using Maxis textures) that illustrates good and bad bump maps.
Here's my texture for it, just so you can see what I've done: I've basically just recoloured the Maxis tank top and left the alpha the same, changing the base texture to a nice lavender, and I've added a little pink glitter heart to the front:
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/687_080114180100texture.jpg
To start with... here's examples of bump maps for this top done well, or not at all (and not at all is better than done poorly!):
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/682_080114174114bumps-good.jpg
The effect is subtle - and it's meant to be! But you can see the difference between the bumped and non-bumped shirts...
Proper Bump Mapping: On the one with bump mapping, you can see a bit more of a 3D effect around the neckline and edges for the armholes - and, though it really isn't that obvious, the wrinkles under the breasts are a bit more pronounced on the bumped version.
And here's what the bump map looks like for that (this is the original Maxis bump map for this mesh). As you can see, it's a low-contrast greyscale, with lighter areas where the texture should appear higher or "bumped out" and darker areas where the texture should appear lower or "bumped in."
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/684_080114175504goodbump.jpg
No Bump Mapping: The non-bumped version has a completely neutral bump map - i.e. none whatsoever, and so it doesn't have that 3D effect around the edges and the wrinkles. However, it has a good texture anyway in those areas, so it's still okay like that.
Here's what its bump map looks like. As you can see, it's a completely solid bucket fill of 50% grey (RGB 128.128.128) which creates neutral/no bump mapping whatsoever.
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/685_080114175639nobumps.jpg
:here: Bad Bump Mapping:
Just as important as knowing what good bump maps look like, you need to know what not to do!
http://www.modyourpanties.com/images/080114174657-bumps-bad.jpg
Over-Contrasted Bump Mapping: The shirt on the left uses the same base bump map texture as the properly-bumped outfit done above, but the bump map has way too much contrast. This results in an over-bumped effect - the 3D effect from the bump maps looks patchy and pebbly, and makes the shirt look worse than if it had no bump map at all.
Here's its texture... compare it to the proper bump map texture shown above: same basic pattern of lights and darks, but here, there's a much bigger difference between the light and dark areas, so it creates a much more dramatic bumpy effect - too dramatic.
http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/688_080114180322highcontrastbumps.jpg
Desaturated Bump Mapping: The shirt on the right in the above examples shows what many beginners do when they start creating bump maps... they get their texture all finished, they copy it over to the bump map texture, and then just desaturate it, making a greyscale version of their texture, and save it just like that... and you can see that on most of the shirt, that's fine, and you do still get the 3D effect around the edges of the neckline... but where the glitter heart is on the original, well, that's just all wrong: you end up with a bumpy mess there, when in a real shirt with a logo or image on it like that, it generally wouldn't have any 3D effect in that area at all. If it did have any 3D effect via bump map, the whole heart would be ever so slightly raised from the shirt texture to give the appearance of a decal or patch - so you would just have the whole heart area -very- slightly lighter than the rest of the shirt in that area, a bucket filled heart, if at all.
For band pictures, text, prints in fabric, etc., you would not have any difference in the bump map in those areas as they would not truly be raised off the surface of the shirt, but printed on.
Here's that bump map... as you can see it's just a straight copy of the texture, in greyscale... which would probably work okay for this shirt if there were no heart, but because of the heart, it makes the bump map look very wrong. The dark edge around it makes it appear there's a "trench" around the whole thing, and where the glitter is light, it looks higher than the areas where the glitter is darker, creating a bumpy mess which just looks plain bad.
http://www.modyourpanties.com/images/080114180558-desaturatedbumps.jpg
:here: So how do I make a good bump map for a new texture?
If you're made a completely new texture (you're not modifying a Maxis or custom one) and you want to make a new bump map to match... The very first thing you need to do is THINK about it!
Put your brain to work examining your texture. Look at things like pockets, buttons, zippers, seams, wrinkles, pleats, belt buckles, ties, overlapping edges of fabric, etc... Anything that his higher or on top of things should be lighter on your bump map, and anything that's lower or underneath other things should be darker.
You really don't have to get fancy: your bump map doesn't need as much detail as your texture, and you can basically make it a 50% grey (again, RGB 128.128.128) bucket fill with a few areas of light and dark for the things you want to have bumped up or down.
You can always copy your texture to your stdMatNormalMapTextureName.bmp file and basically trace over it, selecting areas that need detail on the bump map and adding their light or dark colour to new layers, then backing the whole thing in 50% grey for the neutral areas.
You may be able to combine the (usually wrong) technique of desaturating your texture with that tracing technique, depending on what your texture looks like... Make a copy of your texture, desaturate it, and then lower the contrast until it's a bit "fuzzy" looking - it shouldn't be as clear and crisp as it was originally. Then, in any areas that would be made wrong in bump mapping (like, say, an area that has a plaid fabric print), you can select those using your graphics editor's polygon select tool and simply bucket fill them with 50% grey.
Remember, though - a good bump map can't make up for a bad texture, and many people cannot view bump maps anyway - so your outfit should look good, with proper shading and highlighting, without bump maps... the bump mapping should add to the effect created by your texturing, not rely on bump mapping where your texture falls short.
:here: What do I do with the bump maps if I can't view them?
Simple: don't make any bump maps. Trying to make bump maps when you can't view them is like painting blind: you may think you're doing okay but you really have no idea whether you are or not. An outfit should look properly shaded and highlighted without bump maps - and indeed, if you do your texturing right, you shouldn't really need them!
So just do the neutral/no bump maps method: bucket fill the stdMatNormalMapTextureName.bmp texture with 50% grey (RGB 128.128.128) to create a neutral/no bump map, so you don't have to worry about your bumps being wrong or weird looking for those that can view them. Just remember to do this with each project - if you can't view them it's easy to forget!