X-Ray _bump.dds store normal map and specularity info on the RGBA channels of a texture.
1. Gimp (FREE) [Must have x86 version!]: Gimp.org
- Grab the normal map plugin for Gimp: Registry.gimp.org
- Place normalmap.exe and glew32.dll into C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins
- Place libgtkglext-win32-1.0-0.dll and libgdkglext-win32-1.0-0.dll into C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\bin
2. Open the diffuse image from what you want to create the bump map into two different tabs.
- Menu bar > Filters > Map > Normal Map
- Leave default settings for the purposes of this tutorial and press okay
- Menu bar > Colors > Components > Decompose as RGB
- This should create a new tab
3. Switch to the decomposed image
- Rename layer 'red' to 'a'
- Rename layer 'green' to 'b'
- Rename layer 'blue' to 'g'
4. Switch to the untouched diffuse texture. This will be the specularity map.
- Menu bar > Colors > Desaturate
- Menu bar > Levels
- Move the sliders until mainly the white shows. Don't make the image too sharp.
5. Copy the specularity image as a new layer to the decomposed image.
6. Rename this new layer to 'r'
7. Re-arrange the layers from top to bottom as red, green, blue and alpha.
8. Menu bar > Colors > Components > Compose as RGBA
9. Export image as BC3/DXT5. Most likely you will want to GenerateMipMaps (Kaiser)
You are done. You should see that the new *_bump.dds will look green and similar to other X-Ray bumps.
Notes:
_bump#.dds are created by the Image Editor panel inside of the Actor Editor or Level Editor within the SDK.
Thanks for the "compact" tutorial :)
Actually :
Red to Alpha
Green to Blue
Blue to Green
Alpha to Red
As for the specular "which will be the new red" it would be better if you edit it on a separate window, give it some more water marks, scratches, oil, finger prints, it will look way better than just brightening the diffuse.
For normal creation settings, You can edit the height, the higher the value stronger the details, but it may turn ugly ingame, I use 2 most of the time, but for a few guns I use higher, 5 is the highest I used.