vBumpShadow is designed to fake a diffuse shadow, in the style of an ambient occlusion map, from a source height/bump map.

Example

Initial height map	Resulting BumpShadow map

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.