Bump map extraction...

[d3StR0Y3r]

Hi, I'm having trouble extracting bump maps from the halo 2 maps. I've read Platt's tutorial on creating halo 2 renders and whenever I enable the alpha channel and flatten the image in Photoshop, it's definately the bump image, but its really crappy quality. If anybody has any insight as to what my problem could be, that would be a tremendous help since I'm trying to make realistic renders of the models in halo 2. Thanx.

[rossgemuend]

Yes, that is the actual bump map. You need to increase the resolution to about 4096x4096 and apply an unsharp mask. That will help significantly and remember to invert it when applying it in 3ds-max.

Given all that, I would recommend that you use a custom bump for the MC. I know i know, you're like "I don't want to have to do all that work!". SO: HERE's the solution. Jean-Luc released his custom bump map which is very very nice in my opinion. You can see it better by clicking my sig.

[d3StR0Y3r]

Thanks a lot. Not being able to obtain a good normal map for master chief was really frustrating.

And by the way... it was your work that inspired me to get back into 3ds max and 3d rendering again. The amount of detail you put into everything is absolutely rediculous, that must take so long to render! Anyway, I can't wait to see your music video. Keep up the good work!