I learned a lot of good texturing techniques from the "3D Texture Workshop" book printed by Komodo Press. In that book's method, the bump map is ESSENTIAL to the process; the texture map is based off of it, instead of the "usual" method where the bump map is just the texture grayscaled. Done with the bump-first method, they look FABULOUS together, and there is a definite quality jump when both are used.

So, a good bump map is indeed necessary. It's particularly necessary in Pro Pack and Poser 5 (whereas I don't feel it worked so well in Poser 4, which actually faked in bumps rather than using true bump mapping).

On the other hand, if you're not going to do the bump map well, just keep it. In fact, if you're not willing to do good work, just keep the entire set; we've got enough mediocre, thanks. That's not directed at anyone, and I certainly don't want to insult anyone. It's just that, frankly, the marketplaces are spilling over with texture sets of the same average quality. At this point, if an artist isn't going to do one that's exceptionally good, or exceptionally cheap, I feel they're wasting your effort. Their time is too precious to be buried in the crowd.

Message edited on: 06/15/2004 19:37