CrazyBump = Better, Faster Art
01/28/2008 (4:17 pm) by Russell Fincher
This has been mentioned a couple of times in the forums, but I just wanted to put my two cents in. I'm totally in love with this program called CrazyBump. It's a free (edit: for now) utility that not only replaces the horrible old Nvidia Photoshop filter for turning color maps into normal maps, but also creates specular, "fake" ambient occlusion, and parallax maps from either a diffuse map or a normal map. Yep, you can start with either diffuse or normal maps. For instance, I created a dinosaur model in Zbrush and exported the normal map. I loaded the normal map into CrazyBump, and also loaded my model into CrazyBump to view my work, and exported a specular map, and ambient occlusion map to bake into the diffuse texture, which really helped accentuate the scales on this guy:
I will never open the Nvidia plugin again. Ever. I'm going to uninstall the Nvidia plugin today, burn in to a CD, and drive over it with my car. No art tool should ever have a preview so terrible. And CrazyBump has sliders to allow you to adjust your maps that actually have words that make sense. I love it. This is a middleware tool that fills an old art pipeline void very, very well. Sure Max and Maya can render shadow and specular maps to texture, but not with the ease of use of this thing. The preview is indispensable.
I will never open the Nvidia plugin again. Ever. I'm going to uninstall the Nvidia plugin today, burn in to a CD, and drive over it with my car. No art tool should ever have a preview so terrible. And CrazyBump has sliders to allow you to adjust your maps that actually have words that make sense. I love it. This is a middleware tool that fills an old art pipeline void very, very well. Sure Max and Maya can render shadow and specular maps to texture, but not with the ease of use of this thing. The preview is indispensable.
About the author
Primarily focused on handling art development at Sickhead Games, a Dallas-based independent game development studio; running a solid, full-time, purely self-funded indie startup since 2002. We are currently concentrated on development tools, simulations, various contract work, and prototyping games for the Torque game engines. In my spare time, I teach digital arts and sit on game technology advisory committees at several Dallas area universities. I'm an Associate Developer with Garage Games, and a moderator at GameProducer.net. I love talking shop, so if you're an indie developer using Torque, send me an email and introduce yourself. view profile »
#2
01/28/2008 (5:00 pm)
The model looks amazing, how many polys is your model? I been using crazybump for a couple of months and this is a perfect normal specular map and ambient occlusion map creator.
#3
Really, I think CrazyBump's greatest asset is the ability to easily make fake ambient occlusion maps from normal maps. It really adds to the sense of realism when added into the diffuse texture. In this model in particular, the specular map helped a great deal, too. I can't imagine how I could have made a specular map that covered only the raised portions of the scales any other way that easily.
01/28/2008 (5:11 pm)
That model has about 8,000 polys and 2048x2048 diffuse/specular and normal maps. I've been using Zbrush for a week or two and I'm amazed at how fun it is to model in once you get used to it. Also, painting diffuse maps in Zbrush (or at least to create a starting point) is another huge step in art creation for me. Saves a ton of work.Really, I think CrazyBump's greatest asset is the ability to easily make fake ambient occlusion maps from normal maps. It really adds to the sense of realism when added into the diffuse texture. In this model in particular, the specular map helped a great deal, too. I can't imagine how I could have made a specular map that covered only the raised portions of the scales any other way that easily.
#4
That dinosaur looks awsome by the way!
01/28/2008 (6:21 pm)
Crazy Bump rocks. I use it to create a Normal and Displacement map, then merge the two together in GIMP. This creates a parallax-like affect. I'm not sure how to bake specularity/occlusion into a diffuse texture, though. That dinosaur looks awsome by the way!
#5
I'm at a loss for words! :O
*Downloads and installs this*
01/28/2008 (6:28 pm)
Zbrush is amazing, TGEA is amazing, your combining them.... amazing!I'm at a loss for words! :O
*Downloads and installs this*
#6
The specular wasn't baked in, just left in the diffuse alpha channel so it can do its job in-game.
01/28/2008 (7:30 pm)
@ Taylor - for baking the ambient occlusion into the diffuse texture, I just dropped it into a layer above my diffuse texture (in Photoshop), changed its layer mode to Multiply, and pulled back the transparency on that layer. Baked-in ambient occlusion! You can tweak the color of that layer if you want your shadows a little cooler in color.The specular wasn't baked in, just left in the diffuse alpha channel so it can do its job in-game.
#7
01/28/2008 (7:39 pm)
Nice Dino Russ!
#8
01/28/2008 (9:02 pm)
@Russell - Would you mind posting the FPS for those shots? I'm not a TGEA owner and am very interested into how it performs with these newer texture types. 
#9
01/28/2008 (9:27 pm)
@Ben - This isn't meant to run on the average PC. Our target machine is a 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad with an Nvidia 8800GT. We're using an extremely early version of Torque2 with our own custom TerrainBlock renderer. With that in mind... this scene is running at 270fps for us.
#10
01/28/2008 (10:13 pm)
I just toyed with this using very, very, simple textures.....I have to say that this is a wonderful improvement to the tools list, and a must have. Only real thing I'd like to see is the ability to adjust the size of the preview window.
#11
Thanks for mentioning CrazyBump. Your dinosaur is beautiful, and I'm glad you found CrazyBump a useful tool in crafting him!
Just to avoid confusion, I wish to clarify that CrazyBump is an open beta test, free for use during the beta period. I don't want anyone caught by surprise when the beta ends and CrazyBump is released commercially.
Thanks for your help beta testing CrazyBump!
-Ryan Clark
01/29/2008 (1:16 am)
Hi Russel,Thanks for mentioning CrazyBump. Your dinosaur is beautiful, and I'm glad you found CrazyBump a useful tool in crafting him!
Just to avoid confusion, I wish to clarify that CrazyBump is an open beta test, free for use during the beta period. I don't want anyone caught by surprise when the beta ends and CrazyBump is released commercially.
Thanks for your help beta testing CrazyBump!
-Ryan Clark
#12
01/29/2008 (1:36 am)
Thanks Ryan. In my opinion, the cost of this utility (or lack thereof) is by no means its most attractive selling point. ;)
#13
01/29/2008 (3:21 pm)
so this tool generates normal, specular, and ambient occlusion maps based solely on the diffuse texture. does this mean this tool relies on shadows being initially baked into the diffuse texture? 
#14
Yep, thanks from me too Ryan for a great tool! Been using it for quite a while now too, and as Russell said; the (currently non)-cost was really not a deciding factor for doing so.
01/29/2008 (3:27 pm)
Quote:Hi Russel,
Thanks for mentioning CrazyBump. Your dinosaur is beautiful, and I'm glad you found CrazyBump a useful tool in crafting him!
Just to avoid confusion, I wish to clarify that CrazyBump is an open beta test, free for use during the beta period. I don't want anyone caught by surprise when the beta ends and CrazyBump is released commercially.
Thanks for your help beta testing CrazyBump!
-Ryan Clark
Yep, thanks from me too Ryan for a great tool! Been using it for quite a while now too, and as Russell said; the (currently non)-cost was really not a deciding factor for doing so.
#15
All that being said, the success of this whole process of creating height information from a diffuse texture greatly varies depending on the image you start with. Some will just work better than others. Its free for now, give it a shot! :)
01/29/2008 (4:17 pm)
At Sean: I'm just a humble artist with no affiliation with CrazyBump, so I'm not too sure how it does its job, but I would presume that it just uses lights and darks in the image, and the controls that you define (like focusing on broad or detail contours) to approximate an imaginary height. That produces the normal map and "fake" ambient occlusion shadows. Now, if you start with a normal map, then the height information is obviously already there. No shadows are required in your diffuse texture that I know of, and you don't have to begin solely with a diffuse, if you can also use a normal map.All that being said, the success of this whole process of creating height information from a diffuse texture greatly varies depending on the image you start with. Some will just work better than others. Its free for now, give it a shot! :)
#16
CrazyBump can use a couple of methods to get shape from a texture. It uses the lights and darks of an image, and it also uses its own shape-recognition algorithm. Of course, the best technique varies from one image to another. I recommend experimentation.
01/29/2008 (5:25 pm)
@Sean&Russel:CrazyBump can use a couple of methods to get shape from a texture. It uses the lights and darks of an image, and it also uses its own shape-recognition algorithm. Of course, the best technique varies from one image to another. I recommend experimentation.
#17
01/29/2008 (5:39 pm)
Thanks Russell. I just tried baking in the ambient occlusion. It works great.
#18
01/29/2008 (5:44 pm)
You programmers and your algorithms. What exactly are these mysterious things, and where can I get some? 
#19
01/30/2008 (1:05 am)
Awesome Dinos! I use CrazyBump too, it's freaking sweet.
#20
Fredrik S
01/30/2008 (3:52 pm)
It is indeed a sweet, sweet program. I was sad when the new beta refused to work on my vista machine. :(Fredrik S
Torque Owner Prairie Games