What
it does
vBumpShadow
is
designed to fake a diffuse shadow, in the style of an ambient occlusion
map, from a source height/bump map.
Example
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Initial
height map
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Resulting
BumpShadow map
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Getting
Started
Before
running vBumpShadow you must have an image open that you
wish to generate shadows from. It is recommended that this image
already be saved, although the script should make no changes to
your source image. Ideally the source image should be a greyscale
height/bump map, although using other images can result an interesting
line drawing look. The best results will be attained from maps with
shaper changes in value, although any map will suffice.
Once you have
an image you can run the script from Photoshop's File/Scripts
menu. You
can also set up a keyboard shortcut for the script through the
Edit/Keyboard Shortcuts... menu.
Options
The following
options are available from the vBumpShadow
interface:
Shadow
Distance
Sets
the maximum distance the shadow will be cast. The maximum distance
will only be reached outside large white areas, or inside large
black areas.
Sharpness
Sets
how much the shadow will fade before reaching its maximum distance.
0 will fade out before the maximum, while 126 will mean the shadow
remains solid up to it's edge.
Gamma
The
gamma level sets the ballance of the sharpness. Lower values mean
a longer falloff, while higher values will give the shadow a sharper
falloff.
Brightness
The
brightness level sets how dark the darkest possible shadow will
be. 0 sets the level to black, while 255 will result in no shadow
at all as it's darkest level will be white.
Preview
The
preview is intended to give a very rough example of how the current
settings will affect the image. Initially the preview will show
the image that the settings will be applied to - a white and black
box on a grey background.
Refresh
Clicking
refresh will apply the current settings to the clean base image.
Reset
Clicking
reset will remove any settings from the preview, and once again
show the original clean base image.
Actions
Go
This will run the current settings on a clone
of the selected image. This will also store the current settings
so that they are available the next time the script is run. The
original image should be unaffected by this action.
Cancel
Exits the interface without runnign the script
on the image. The current settings will not be stored.
Presets
Presets allow you to store usefull settings for recalling in the
future. To change prests simply select the name of the preset you
want from the dropdown list. The script will always begin with the
Last Used preset, while the Default preset will always return the
values to the state they were when the script was first run.
Add
Clicking this button will prompt you to enter a name for the preset.
Once a name is entered the current settings are stored in the preset
and you may return to them at any time by selecting the presets
name from the dropdown list.
Remove
Removes the currently selected preset from the dropdown list. The
Last Used and Default presets are protected and cannot be removed.
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