PVRGeoPOD 3ds Max Normal Bump map export

Problem:

A POD file with materials with ‘Normal Bump’ maps exported from 3ds Max with the PVRGeoPOD exporter is missing texture bump maps when importing.



Reason:

I realize there are an infinite amount of complex ways to tie maps and materials together in 3ds Max, however a simple and often used (at least here) technique is to use a Normal Bump map which has the normal map tied to the ‘Normal’ channel of the map. This gives correct results in 3ds Max and can help to compare against a runtime build with these maps.

I’m guessing the exporter discards anything that is not a ‘Bitmap’ class when exporting the standard map channels of a material instead of trying to resolve anything further.



Possible solution(s) / suggestions:

Any chance of adding support for the ‘Normal Bump’ map type and extracting the ‘Normal’ map on export so it’s available in the POD file?

Or maybe parsing non-Bitmap class maps and extracting the ‘first’ map child?

Hi,



You’re spot on, the exporter only exports ‘Bitmaps’. I’ll take a look at getting this fixed.



To save me a little time, would it be possible for you to send your scene to devtech@imgtec.com?



Cheers,



Scott

Hi Scott,



Yes, it’s not really an issue of ‘fixing’ it, as I say theres innumerable ways to combine things in Max of course so I understand the exporter takes somewhat of the median line.



I have sent you a simple scene demonstrating the normal bump maps with some implementation notes to consider.



I will update this post as the ticket progresses for anyone else that wants info.



Thanks for the attention!

Cheers for your scene.



Just to let you know, our 3.2 release of PVRGeoPOD will support the exporting of textures from Normal Bump maps.

Thanks! It’ll come in very handy.