I’ve added proper color-space conversion to Atlas, so you shouldn’t be getting any more over-saturated results.
The one remaining bug I’ve come across is the broken Reinhard ’05 mapping — please let me know if you find anything else broken or behaving unexpected!
Well, that was quick! Thanks to user feedback I was able to fix two nasty little bugs in the original release of Atlas right away.
As previously announced, here’s the first release of my new tone mapping plug-in for After Effects, Atlas.
The release is buggy and probably not fit for production, but it’s open-source so I hope to get some help to bring it up to speed! Atlas is released under the free GPL license.
This release is Windows only for now… however, the full source code is included, which means that anyone with more time on their hands than me can feel free to compile a Mac version. I didn’t try it myself, but there’s no reason why it shouldn’t run on Mac OS X.
To compile the code you will need to download and link with the After Effects SDK. For legal reasons I unfortunately cannot distribute these files with Atlas. The required pfstmo libraries are included with the download, however.
The code is not yet well documented, but the plug-in itself is just about as simple as it gets, so you should find your way around easily if you’re familiar with the SDK.
If you’re not familiar with the concept of tone mapping, Wikipedia has a good introduction that should give you an idea of the use and functionality of this versatile technique.
Please note that for obvious reasons the effect is most useful in 32-bit color mode with 32-bit source images. It will work in lower modes but the resulting effect might not be what you expect.
Please go ahead and download Atlas and then let me know in the comments if you come across any bugs or have other suggestions!
Based on users’ requests I have added some new features to my free minMatcap shader.
The latest version features support for bump mapping and lets the user choose between camera-space, object-space and world-space shading. It is also possible to offset the texturing and control the shading of backsided faces.
You can also use minMatcap as light shader. This may be useful to get a little ambiance into a scene.
After two long years of internal use and continued development I’m finally making a new version of my popular Normality software publicly available.
Normality is a free plug-in for Adobe After Effects that uses normal passes to accomplish various lighting effects such as diffuse and specular lighting, toon shading, reflections and refractions and more in real-time directly in After Effects.
In the meantime the software has matured while being in constant development and seeing heavy use over at Studio Lampion and a couple of other production houses, but I’ve been holding back on the public release for various reasons.
And now, thanks to kind and generous donations from Christopher Wiedswang and James Redmond, there’s finally a version for Mac OS X as well as Windows!
Normality 3 integrates all previously separate effects into a single plug-in to reduce clutter and the overhead of running several instances of the software at the same time.
Then there’s the new Normality 3 User Guide which should get you started with the in’s and out’s of the software and its numerous functions.
Other new features include full floating-point (32-bit) support, toon shading, rim lighting and support for depth passes besides the obligatory normal pass.
Please head over to download the free Normality 3 and let me know how it’s working for you.
Normality is a powerful plug-in that allows motion graphics artists to light 3D objects and scenes directly within the familiar Adobe After Effects environment through the use of normal passes and advanced relighting techniques.
The software is production proven and has been used on several high-end projects, including the Paraworld and Frontlines: Fuel of War trailers by Pendulum and A Night at the Cathedral by Studio Lampion.
The shading quality during previews is as high as your final render — while still being able to light single objects or even whole scenes in near real-time. Normality requires a rendered normal pass from your 3D program of choice — these are very quick to render and easy to apply to your objects or scenes.
You may also use my free plug-in Generator to create normal maps from text or shape layers directly within After Effects without the need for an external renderer.
Normality includes a number of shaders and tools as you might know them from your 3D renderer.
| Built-in Shading Functions | Features |
|---|---|
| Diffuse Shading (Lambert) | Real-time preview |
| Specular Highlights | 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit (Float) mode |
| Incidence Shading | Unlimited 3D light sources |
| Rim-lighting | Intuitively position lights in 3D-space |
| Toon-Shading | Runs on Windows and Mac OS X |
| Reflections | Free tutorials and user guide |
| Refractions | |
| Bump/Normal maps |
First you’ll need to render out a normal pass from your 3D application — please refer to its manual for more information. From then on it’s all smooth sailing:
Apply Normality to your imported normal pass layer in After Effects, add a light source to your composition and voilà — instant shading!
You can control the light’s positioning, color and intensity using AE’s built-in light sources and tune the look with Normality’s comprehensive shading parameters.
Please leave a comment below if you have a problem that’s isn’t covered in the FAQ or user guide.
Sorry, I do not offer free personal support via Email.
You may use Normality in commercial and non-commercial projects under the condition that I am named in the credits.
Download
Normality for After Effects is a free download for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X (Intel only).
Normality is a free download for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X (Intel only).
Donations
Normality has been downloaded [download#7#hits] times and 31 generous users have donated to say thanks and to support continued development of the software.
While I am grateful for every donation, that still means less than 0.1% of all downloaders have contributed.
Please chip in if you want development to continue and bugs to be fixed. I will be more likely to release cool stuff in the future if I see that my work is appreciated.
Normality is designed to work with After Effects CS3 and up on Microsoft Windows and on Mac OS X (Intel only).
