why doesn't bumpiness work properly

[Pseudoanne Bailey]

bumpiness ... has it ever worked properly? It comes and goes randomly. I can't use it in my builds because when its not working properly, the texture appears horribly fuzzed. I've read posts going back years regarding this. Its an issue in all viewers, some worse than others. Is it only me, or does most of the sl population not see bumpiness correctly? I'd be wasting my time using it in my builds if this is the case.

[Charolotte Caxton]

What's a bumpy? i have often wondered...

[Peggy Paperdoll]

It's bump mapping on textures. It's a product of your video card's capabilities.

[Charolotte Caxton]

mhm. why is it called bumpy. should i be seeing cracker textures on saltines?

[Peggy Paperdoll]

The in-world bumpiness (bump mapping) never worked all that well. It was a cheap cheat LL put into the building tools. If anyone wants the texture to have depth (what bump mapping does) then they need to incorporate it in the texture they created using their off line image editor. When the in-world tool is used it puts the bumpiness at the burden of showing the depth on the users who are viewing it video card capabilities. The people with a video card with that capability will see it just fine.......others will be hit or miss (mostly miss). It's like glow and shiney. It's graphics card dependant.

[Charolotte Caxton]

oh. what am i supposed to be seeing with bumpy, for example?

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Think of a rock. One with a flat mottled texture to look like granite. One with that same texture that has depth........little highlights and shadows to make it look like it's not smooth (bumpy ).

[Charolotte Caxton]

Oh, very descriptive. So bumpies don't work? cause for the most part everything looks smooth to me.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

It's possible if what you are looking at is a texture using the in-world bumpiness tool. I see them fine either way but I have a pretty good graphics card too.

[Charolotte Caxton]

oh, i think i do too, i just dont know what i am supposed to be seeing

[Peggy Paperdoll]

A more realistic rock The better texture artists for building will put the bump mapping in the texture to upload........that relieves the strain on the video cards so it shows "bumpy" to everyone. But a lot of builders are not texture artists so they use what they have and use the bumpiness in the building editor. That's fine but it won't show the way you want for everyone who views it..........I wish LL had not put that tool in the editor. That would have put the burden on the texture artists to make the texture look real. But, it's there and it will be used.......and as the OP has demonstrated, it will be disappointing in some cases (maybe many).

 

The same problem exists with shiney and glow.

[Charolotte Caxton]

hmmmm, now i want examples

[Peggy Paperdoll]

I was afraid of that...........let me look at some of the textures I have saved. I only have about 5000 or so..........LOL. The problem is that I probably don't have any flat versions. Maybe, I do..........in the working files I save along with the final textures before I upload them (but I name my textures so weirdly it will take me a while)

 

[Charolotte Caxton]

lol, don't worry Peggy, i think i understand, i just have always heard, bump map and shiny and stuff and i was always like, what? but i guess i get it, if not, i don't know what im missing, right?

[Peggy Paperdoll]

If you want I can log in and tp you to my platform. I think I can demonstrate bumpiness on a prim for you.

[Charolotte Caxton]

sure!

 

[Freecilla Kuhn]

Bumpy works fine for me but only on certain textures. Test them out you'll find textures with medium color difference work best, too low of a color difference and the effect can be too intence but ones with a lot of contrast will move the bumpy too far away and it could look bad.

 

[Charolotte Caxton]

ooh! the bottom ones!

[Peewee Musytari]

There are examples in the pic on the other post in this thread.

[Chic Aeon]

I have always been able to see bumpiness correctly  -- through (let me see) FIVE computers and various speeds of connection. I am guessing it may be a graphics card issue. I have always gone for high end cards and that probably helps.

 

One thing that might be "turning it on and off" is that you need to have your graphics settings high enough (with bumpiness checked) in order to see it. If the viewer is reverting you to a lower setting or if you use different viewers that are all set the same that could be it. It could possibly be your modem connection as I had a very weird texturing issue with the sixth side of a prim for a long while. It turned out to be my modem.

 

I used to make jewelry and used bump and shine in my designs a lot. I DID however end up making a large sign explaining this as folks with low end graphics cards don't have the ability to see bump and shine. So the bracelets etc. would not look as good as the vendor photos. This isn't a huge portion of the residents, but it is significant. So, if you want everyone to see your build in the same manner (and use vendors to sell) then it is good to keep in mind.

 

 

[Charolotte Caxton]

That is a very good note. I am interested in the modem aspect, does my modem affect my graphics? How I view the world? Or rather, how it is rendered for me?

[Charolotte Caxton]

yay!