Different maps
When creating a material for a mesh you usually combine three texture maps, Diffuse, Normal and Specular:
- The Diffuse map is the colours of the model and it contains surface details and some self-shadowing. This is the most important texture since this holds the most straight-forward information. It shows what colour and what texture your model have. It is important to not add any other shadows, from a light source for example, because those will not be accurate when the model is put in a setting with light and other objects. Everything on the diffuse map should be neutral and not created by a specific setting.
- The Specular map is what control how shiny the surface will be. By doing a specular map you can difference materials from each other. Things that are white on the specular map will be shiny and things that are black will be matte. When you do the specular map it is important to think about how shiny different materials might be, look them up. It is also important to think about your texture as materials, not the texture of the surface you have in your diffuse map… your diffuse map might have dark areas where the model should be shiny so do not feel obliged to keep the details. How shiny something looks is a very important part of deciding what material it it; it is something you can see from afar. The specular map also makes the model look more realistic and “alive”.
- The Normal map creates bumps on the surface. However these bumps are more like optical illusions and they will not break the silhouette. Just as the specular map the normal map is based on the difference from black and white. White parts of the map will bump outwards and black parts will bump inwards. It is important to remember that that white is not the neutral colour; the parts that should be flat should be a neutral grey. Another thing is that it is not possible to have very sharp edges on the bump map, don’t use it fore the wrong things. Also be sure that the texture you create with the normal map don’t look like they should break the silhouette, it might work in some angles but in others it will look very strange.
My Sci-Fi Crate
Diffuse map
Specular map
Normal map
These are the textures I made. So what can I say looking back? Well one thing I regret is the sine that actually is on the Diffuse map. I realized that that should not be there after I had started on the specular map. That shine is a typical example of something that is there because of the environment and since the crate itself does not have any environment it should not be there.
Another thing is that the metal “seams” on the corners, as well as the nails on them, probably should have been modelled instead of normal mapped. The reason behind this is that I realized that I wanted them when I started doing the diffuse map. When the UVs are already mapped it is pretty much too late to change anything in the model (unless you want to map them again) and since this was a learning assignment I decided to just try and see what I could achieve whit a normal map.
 
|
