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Author Topic: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character  (Read 36373 times)

Jak (ripened peach)

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How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« on: November 03, 2010, 03:59:31 PM »
Note: The following information is out of date with the introduction of the new Character Editor but will be left here for reference.  Please see this thread for more up-to-date info.

Character Bump Mapping

This tutorial will show you how to add custom bump maps to characters in Sex Sim.  Please note that bump mapping is a more involved process than texturing, and you will need to download additional tools to do them.

Make sure you have read through the CHARACTER TEXTURE TUTORIAL before trying to do bump maps.  This tutorial references things from that one so you'll need to be familiar with it.

What you need:

1. Photoshop is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

2. Unity : OPTIONAL (see "Alternate Bump Mapping Creation Method" at the bottom of this post) - this is the game engine we created Sex Sim in, and it also offers the easiest way to make bump maps for it.  Unity is an amazing engine, and if you're interested in developing games it's in my opinion the best way to go right now.  The beauty of it is they made it free for the basic version, so there's no cost to download and get started.  We're going to use it for this tutorial, so go ahead and download Unity here and get it installed.  I'll wait.

3. Unity Package with Bump Maps This is a package you'll need to import into Unity in order to follow this tutorial.

4. Base Female Bump Map Textures : This zip file contains the base female bump map textures in Photoshop format (GIMP can also load Photoshop format) if you don't have Photoshop.

Loading the Unity Project:

This part is OPTIONAL.  You can also make bump maps with GIMP.  Please see "Alternate Bump Mapping Creation Method" at the bottom of this post for details.

Once you get Unity installed, click on the "File" menu and choose "New Project", then save the project wherever you like.  Once the new project is ready, click the "Assets" menu, then choose "Import Package" (figure 1).  When the file dialog comes up, find the Unity Package file you just downloaded (the Unity Package with Bump Maps) and import it into Unity.  When the window comes up asking what to import, just make sure everything is checked and hit "Import".  You should now have a scene open with a Textures folder in the Unity Projects section.  Click to open that folder if it's not already opened, and you should then see the textures we'll be using for this tutorial.


figure 1

Once the project files are loaded you won't have to do that import package part again, the files will be there from now on when you load up Unity and open the project you made.

Exporting the Bump Maps:

The bump maps included with the files I list above can be used as is in custom characters.  So first, let's imagine that you're happy with the maps and you want them to use with a custom character.

Make sure you have the Unity project open, then click on the BODY bump texture in the Projects window.  You should then see it appear in the Inspector Window.


For now we're going to leave the "Bumpiness" factor set to 0.01 as that works best for a nice look in Sex Sim.

Right click on the Body bump texture and choose "Export Normalmap" (See the bottom of this post for info on this option).


When the dialog comes up, you'll want to save the bump textures into the SAME FOLDER where you put your character textures form the first part of this tutorial (from the section titled "Saving your new textures:").

We're going to do this for all three textures in the project: BODY, HEAD, and LIMBS, so once you export the BODY texture, click the others and do the same thing.

Just like in the first tutorial, the bump maps have to follow a certain naming convention.  In our tutorial we're using a "main name" of "blue_alien", so we'll use that main name in our bump map filenames as well:

f_bumpBODY-blue_alien.png
f_bumpHEAD-blue_alien.png
f_bumpLIMBS-blue_alien.png



Once you have the textures exported, you can now use them in your character.

Putting the bump map textures onto a character:

As we talked about in the first tutorial, Sex Sim uses XML files to tell it information about what textures a character uses.  Please see the XML File Specs : Characters for full info about the character XML files.

Open up your XML file in your text editor and find the <BumpTex> tag.  That's where we'll let Sex Sim know to use your textures.

<BumpTex>blue_alien</BumpTex>
<BumpTexSource>Jak</BumpTexSource>


As in the first tutorial, I put my name in the "Source" section so the sim knows where to find the textures, and I use the bump textures "main name" in the "BumpTex" section.

When you start the sim now and choose your custom character, she should now be using the new bump maps.

How do I make my own bump map textures?

Alright so the instructions above outline how to use the default bump map textures on your character in the sim, but that's not what you're here for is it?  You want to do some cool stuff with bumps.  Well you came to the right place.

Once you've got the steps above figured out, it's easy to add your own touches to the maps.

First, open up Photoshop (or GIMP) and then open one of the bump map files from the project folder where your Unity project is.  You can find the files in the path \New Unity Project\Assets\Textures\.  Once you find them, let's open up the BODY map.

The first thing you'll notice is that the texture is greyscale and not blue like it shows in Unity.  That's exactly how it should be.  When Unity loads the textures it automatically makes them blue since we checked the "generate bump map" checkbox in our Unity project.  When you work on the bump maps in Photoshop you'll be working in greyscale.

A greyscale bump map uses a simple concept of brightness values.  The brighter a section is, the higher it will be when bumped, and the darker it is the lower it will be.  So pure white will be the highest points on the map and pure black will be the lowest.  Since we don't want any extreme values on our default skin bumps they are more in the muted grey range.

Basically you're on your own as far as what you want to add to your bump maps, but play around and see what happens.  Here's an example of using pure white to paint a design on the girl, and how it ends up looking in the sim:


So you can see that there's a lot that can be done with bump maps, from lizard skin to wrinkles, to who knows what.

Getting your customized bump maps into Unity:

Ok so you played around and painted some things on a bump map.  All you have to do is save it in Photoshop or GIMP, go back to Unity, and it will automatically reload the texture.  Then just follow the section from above about exporting the bump maps, and that's it.  Same thing.

Again make sure you have read the first tutorial as there's more info in that about what to do with the XML files and all that.

Oh yeah, the file listed up top named "Base Female Bump Map Textures" has the original bump maps in it in case you need them to revert back to defaults or whatever.

Have fun!

Alternate Bump Mapping Creation Method

Using the GIMP Normal Map Filter:

Thanks to Isotemod for pointing out the GIMP Normal Map filter.  If you don't feel like messing about with Unity then this method will also work.

You can download the plugin here, and then it needs to be installed to your GIMP plugins folder.  After that, restart GIMP and you should find the plugin under Filters\Map\Normalmap.

Open up the greyscale bump image and apply the filter.  I've experimented with it and find that the following settings are as close as I can get it to the way Unity makes the maps:


So you apply the filter and then save the image directly into your texture folder for the character. 

Doing it this way means you can skip all the exporting and all that that goes along with the Unity technique, but (based on my testing at least) at the expense of some extra detail and smoothness of the resulting bump maps.  The choice is up to you, but thanks again to Isotemod for the heads-up.


ADDED 2/17/2011: Installing the "Export to Normal Map" script into Unity

If you've chosen to use the Unity method, then you'll need to install a special "Export to Normal Map" script into Unity in order to have that option.

To do that,

1. Go to this page: http://www.unifycommunity.com/wiki/index.php?title=ExportNormalmap

2. Copy all of the text inside the box on that page (starting with "@MenuItem ("Assets/Export Normalmap...")" and ending with the final curly bracket.

3. Paste that text into a text file (using Notepad or TextPad or whatever), and then save it as filename "ExportNormalmap.js" into your Unity project's "Assets\Editor" folder.  If there isn't already an "Editor" folder in your Assets directory, then make one now.

4. Start Unity and the project, and you should now have the "Export Normalmap" option as shown above in this tutorial.
« Last Edit: February 03, 2012, 01:32:37 PM by Jak (ripened peach) »

Isotemod

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2010, 04:51:50 PM »
Gimp has a normal map plugin which seems to work well.

Here is a pic with an exagerated bump map torso with a mark on the chest created with gimp alone.


Jak (ripened peach)

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2010, 05:32:23 PM »
Gimp has a normal map plugin which seems to work well.

Here is a pic with an exagerated bump map torso with a mark on the chest created with gimp alone.

Awesome, I didn't realize that GIMP had a plugin like that.  There's one for Photoshop but I thought it might be a little difficult to explain using it.

I recommend using the Unity technique described here as it seems to have the best result for Sex Sim out of the tools I've tried for making bump maps, but  I'll check out the GIMP one definitely.

Isotemod

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2010, 05:46:17 PM »
Is there an additional layer for the bump map for the areola/nipple as there seems to be clash at this point?

Jak (ripened peach)

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #4 on: November 03, 2010, 05:51:59 PM »
Is there an additional layer for the bump map for the areola/nipple as there seems to be clash at this point?

No in the BODY and LIMBS bump map it's all in one layer.  If you need to adjust the nipples just make them brighter or darker as needed.  The only bump map file with extra layers is the HEAD one so you can change out eyebrows and adjust the lip lines.

Isotemod

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2010, 06:05:33 PM »
I probably didn't make myself clear here is a screeensot showing the problem

Jak (ripened peach)

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2010, 06:35:05 PM »
Is that using the GIMP plugin or the Unity tool?  There is a little bit of weirdness around the nipple areas with bumps because of the smaller details, but it generally isn't that noticeable as in your screen shot.  It's advisable not to try to get too much bumpage going on around the nipples because of this.  It's fairly easy to simulate bumps in that area in the regular skin texture though, if you need to.

One thing to keep in mind with bump maps is they don't actually make something stick out, they just simulate the way the light would fall on an area if it were sticking out.  For instance, making a super white nipple won't make the nipple actually push out any further than it does on the model, but it will add a highlight and shadow that looks like it's sticking out.  It's a little hard to explain but playing around with it will show what I mean.

There are quite a few sites out there that go into way more detail on bump mapping., if anyone is interested  Here is a Wikipedia page on Bump Mapping, and one on Normal Mapping which is what we're actually accomplishing in Sex Sim.


Jak (ripened peach)

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2010, 11:22:43 AM »
I did some experiments with the GIMP plugin and added the instructions to the end of the post.  Thanks for the heads up Isotemod.

Mythandariel

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #8 on: November 11, 2010, 03:52:25 PM »
Stupid question time.

How do you color the maps?

Jak (ripened peach)

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2010, 06:46:23 PM »
Stupid question time.

How do you color the maps?

Just so I am clear on how to answer...

Are you asking how to color the bump maps so they are blue as in my screen shots here, or are you asking how to make the actual skin texture maps for characters?

Mythandariel

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2010, 07:52:44 PM »
Stupid question time.

How do you color the maps?

Just so I am clear on how to answer...

Are you asking how to color the bump maps so they are blue as in my screen shots here, or are you asking how to make the actual skin texture maps for characters?

How do you color the bump maps like you did for your alien? I am using GIMP and am not quite as familiar with it as I want to be.

Jak (ripened peach)

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2010, 12:17:58 AM »
Stupid question time.

How do you color the maps?

Just so I am clear on how to answer...

Are you asking how to color the bump maps so they are blue as in my screen shots here, or are you asking how to make the actual skin texture maps for characters?

How do you color the bump maps like you did for your alien? I am using GIMP and am not quite as familiar with it as I want to be.

I think what you're wondering about isn't the bump maps but rather the skin maps.  You can find that tutorial here.

rocbach

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2011, 05:50:41 AM »
Hi, Haveing some problems here. Downloaded unity from the link, selected the free version. Followed all the steps, but my inspect window doesn't look the same, and there is no option to export normal map when I right click. Have they changed the version and it now works differently? Any help would be appreciated.

Jak (ripened peach)

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2011, 09:52:22 AM »
Hi, Haveing some problems here. Downloaded unity from the link, selected the free version. Followed all the steps, but my inspect window doesn't look the same, and there is no option to export normal map when I right click. Have they changed the version and it now works differently? Any help would be appreciated.

Sorry about that.  I accidentally left out the part in the tutorial where I explain how to get that "Export Normalmap" function.  Up until now no one has mentioned it so I guess not too many people are working on custom bump maps, haha.

Anyway... I added the instructions for that bit to the bottom of the tutorial, so there you go. :)

cybertoad

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Re: How to use custom BUMP MAPS on a Sex Sim character
« Reply #14 on: November 13, 2011, 09:55:27 AM »
Unity says it only a 30 day trial ? Is that correct ?

Thnks

 

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