Adding normal map to cinerender material eliminates shadows

[Anonymous]

Hi all,
I am trying to boost a little the realism in one scene by adding a normal map to a material in cinerender.
When I do so, the shadows that are casted on that surface disappear (the whole surface become much darker). I have tried changing setting by setting, removing other features as the Displacement, but I can't get the hoped result. In the images below you can see the difference between before and after adding the normal map.
Any suggestions? (scene setting is Outdoor Daylight Medium Physical)
thanks
franfef

AC22 - OSX10.13.6

[Anonymous]

Hi
Can you post the image you use as a normal map? (my guess is that you've used a b&w picture)

[Carstenem]

I dito that , normal map needs to look like this image example to make it work correctly.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Carstenem, this is indeed the type of normal map I am using. The result is the "darkening" of the surface

[Anonymous]

prot158 wrote:
Hi
Can you post the image you use as a normal map? (my guess is that you've used a b&w picture)

Hi Prot158, I am using the usual normal map image file, same size of the original shader image file

[Carstenem]

It's a hard one without looking at your AC file. I can suggest you post the 2 images here you use and I could apply them to a slab and see if I get the same result.

Cheers Carsten

[Anonymous]

Carstenem wrote:
It's a hard one without looking at your AC file. I can suggest you post the 2 images here you use and I could apply them to a slab and see if I get the same result.

Cheers Carsten

Here they are!
Thanks Carstenem

[Carstenem]

ok had a quick look, just to make sure you understand what the normal map is doing. The normal map "adds" shadow to the main texture, it's the way to "fake" 3D without using displacement or bump map.

2 options you have to check in your material:

1. The main texture should go into the diffuse channel, not the color channel
2. the normal map , make sure the strength is not too high as it really darkens the original main texture.

Added a couple of images, hope this helps.

[Carstenem]

one more image

[Anonymous]

Carstenem wrote:
ok had a quick look, just to make sure you understand what the normal map is doing. The normal map "adds" shadow to the main texture, it's the way to "fake" 3D without using displacement or bump map.

2 options you have to check in your material:

1. The main texture should go into the diffuse channel, not the color channel
2. the normal map , make sure the strength is not too high as it really darkens the original main texture.

Added a couple of images, hope this helps.

Many thanks, somehow I kept using the main texture in the color channel, which by the way it seems to work just fine, the images look clean anyway.
I guess this solves it all. Thanks again!