Need help with normal maps.

[EvilDeadAsh34]

I'm trying to smooth out the normals for all the various faces to remove the blockiness form them and whenever i save the dds file my normal maps get compressed and they come out a much lower quality than my edited normal map is looking in photoshop. It's aggravating me because i've spent a few hours editing all these and then they get all screwed up as soon as i save them...

 

Steps im doing to edit the normals:

1. clean up extracted normal image.

2. run nvidia filter to renormalize the image

3. save the new/edited normal map as .dds . I have tried DXT1-5 and all produce the same result.

 

What i'm using:

PS CS5

Nvidia normal map filter plugin

 

Does anyone have any idea what the proper settings for the nvidia plugin should be to be able to save without my image getting compressed? Should i try a different normal map program to save?

 

Any help would be very much appreciated.

[Zalzama]

Save as 8.8.8.8 ARGB.

[EvilDeadAsh34]

Save as 8.8.8.8 ARGB.

 

Where do enter those settings? I'm not fully versed with the Nvidia filter so i'm not quite sure where and when to enter them. Either way, thank you for the info. :thumbsup:: )

 

Oh yeah i forgot to ask. Is there a preferred DXT to save them as?

 

 

Edit: Woohoo! Nevermind i found it, it was in the save dialog. Came out beautifully, Thank you so much!

Edited November 15, 2011 by EvilDeadAsh34

[Zalzama]

No problem, I think Beth forgot this too looking at their normal maps. :psyduck:

 

8.8.8.8 dds files take a lot more space though. But still a must for normal maps...

Edited November 15, 2011 by Zalzama

[arknor1050]

NDO is better for making normal maps than the nvidia one btw ;)