If your UV map flips the normal map horizontally or vertically (flipping both is fine, since this is like a 180 degree rotation) then the normal map will not work correctly.īasically, if you could put writing into your main texture and the writing would not look mirrored, then your UV map (the way your texture is applied to your object) is fine for normal mapping. Some graphic programs (including some versions of GIMP and PhotoShop) will replace the RGB color behind a 0% alpha (transparent) area with white.įrom the above comment, the normal vector must be normalized – since white is not a legal normal map value, these white areas will have strange lighting errors.īe sure to use a program that can apply an alpha channel without destroying the RGB colors, like Graphics Converter. When using a normal map, you may have areas with 0% shininess. Therefore it is important that you not modify the RGB channel with a paint program instead use a program designed to create normal maps. If the colors in the RGB channel do not balance to create a “normalized” vector, X-Plane’s lighting will not function correctly. In practical terms, this means that the colors must balance in a certain ratio. In a normal map, the RGB colors represent a “vector” – that is, a direction that light bounces off a surface. Warnings and ProblemsĪ few special precautions when making normal maps: Normals Must Be The Correct Length The intent of this is to allow for high frequency repeating normal maps that add texture at a rate different from a low frequency albedo. Where ratio scales the normal map relative to the UV map of the parent art asset. Normal maps can be used in the draped texture of an object or in other art assets as follows: X-Plane multiplies the shiny_rat and specular level from the normal map, so it is best to use ATTR_shiny_rat 1.0 when using normal maps. In order for the specular level map to work, you must use ATTR_shiny_rat.
It should be a 24-bit RGB + 8-bit alpha texture. The normal map does not have to be the same size as the day or lit textures, but it does have to be a power of 2. To use a normal map in an object you must include a line Generally since X-Plane normal maps are uncompressed, you will get higher image quality by going back to the original materials, rather than trying to re-convert the DXT-compressed normal map. To use the normal map in X-Plane, you need the original light blue normal map from before the changes (“saving in FSX format” are made). This tutorial explains how FSX normal maps are created.
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NormalMappr is a free program for OS X that converts bump-maps to tangent-space normal maps. That means that a “flat” (blue) normal map leaves the original surface unperturbed. X-Plane’s normal maps are “tangent space” normal maps. The RGB of the texture are used for the normal map, and the alpha channel is used for the specular level. X-Plane 10 uses combined normal and specular level maps in a single texture. X-Plane supports only one UV map per OBJ – that UV map is used for all textures: the day time (albedo), night LIT (emissive) and normal map textures. Specular levels are a non-PBR X-Plane 10 concept.Ī Gloss Map defines which parts of a texture are smooth, and replace specular level maps in X-Plane 11.Ī “UV” map is the mapping of texture coordinates onto your model–that is, it is the shape of how your textures are applied to the mesh. (Specular maps are similar to ATTR_shiny_rat in their effect.). See the Creating Normal Maps section below for information on creating normal maps from bump maps.Ī Specular Level Map (or shininess map) is a texture that defines which parts of a surface are shiny, on a per-pixel basis. X-Plane does not use bump maps it only uses normal maps. Bump maps encode the height as a gray-scale image. Normal maps encode the direction of light reflections using RGB colors.Ī bump map is a texture that defines the height of bumps on a surface, on a per-pixel basis. A normal map is a texture that defines which way light bounces off a surface, on a per-pixel basis.