I'm (still) busy making my next free tex/character for V3 .... takes me AGES, lol.

Anyhoo ... I work with P6, but want to really make my freebies also compatible with P4/PP.  Do I have to include bump maps?  No problem if so, but just wondered.

thanx

Sheila xx

They're still an appropriate way of producing certain details.
For P4 and PP they're the only way.

For P5, P6, and D|S can use them as displacement maps, which may give a better result in some circumstances.

thanks NR, I'll certainly bear that in mind!  It's so long since I used P4/PP I'd forgotten the requirements (several senior moments since then!)

Sheila

If you're talking about those huge .BUM files:

I think P4PP doesn't need them.

P4 basic does need them, but it will automatically generate them

if you load up the JPG files beforehand. 

For instance, set your JPG as the bump map for the GROUND,

and P4 will ask you if you want to convert it to a BUM.  Say Yes,

and it will generate a nice greeny-goldy BUM in the same folder

with the JPG.  You can then use that BUM file in your actual figure.

Propack can use jpg bump maps but for figures bump maps are not really necessary especially the ones where the colour map is changed to greyscale, that is not a real bump map.

thanks guys.  It was the greyscale thing I was thinking about.  I just make figure textures/morphs.  So - have I got this right - in addition to the colour map(s), I accompany them with a greyscale equivalent?

Sheila

Yep.