Prensa

Hello MJW! "I finally found time to complete my changes to the CodeLab implementation of Normal Map Plus." Thank-you for taking time to work on this! "The goal was to fix the edge-line artifacts when the zoom level doesn't show the entire image" I've tried to reproduce that zoom-in glitch with your new version & have been unable to trigger it. You seem to have succeeded in your goal to eliminate that bug. "but I'm also interested in whether by some chance it fixes the crash." I can also confirm that your new version does not crash on first calling the effect (that Net Framework 4.7 issue). Interestingly, as well as correcting the artifacts on zoom bug, you've also managed to fix another issue NormalMapPlus had that was possibly related. Upon using NormalMapPlus previously there were slight but noticeable horizontal artifacts over the finished normal image. Old version & the artifact lines are most noticeable around the outer edge, I've circled some. Your new version has no such artifacts. Old version produced a noticeably fuzzier image, probably due to those artifact lines. I've highlighted an area to compare but you can see it over the whole image when compared to the new version image below. New version is overall sharper looking. I also noticed the normal produced is slightly to the left of the one produced by the old version, I remember you mentioning something about a pixel difference in positioning in an earlier post. Here 's the image I tested with (left) plus the normal made with the old version of NormalMapPlus (middle) & your New Update (right). Your new update produces a sharper, tidier normal. "I made quite a few changes, and I haven't had time to do a thorough test, so nothing is guaranteed." It did catch me out that updated NormalMapPlus was no longer located in the Effects - Stylize section but at the bottom of the Effects pull down. I use this plugin all the time so will test it further as well as in game & report back any significant findings but so far it looks like a serious improvement. Thank-you kindly for great work on this! Prensa

Hello MJW! "I wonder if it's a less extreme manifestation of the problem that causes the crash." I would guess not as it's a glitch that's been in NormalMapPlus ever since I first started using it, long before the recent clash with Net Framework 4.7. But I'm no coder. I've now used the plugin many times since null54's fix & the crash is totally gone. An interesting thing I did notice when recreating the artifact bug for those demo images, although I can reproduce it on any picture zoomed in on when activating NormalMapPlus, the artifacts won't form on a blank image. Run Paint.net with no loaded image, zoom in to the empty canvas & run NormalMapPlus & no artifacts form. Only forms when it's applied to an actual image. Most peculiar. Thought I'd mention it, in case it helps though it probably deepens the mystery. "I don't have time to fix it now, but I'll try to make a new CodeLab version tonight. The code could then be easily converted to the non-CodeLab version." No worries, there's an effective workaround that's painless, go out of zoom, so it's not an issue to those aware of it. I do appreciate skilled coders taking interest in this plugin though, it's an essential tool to many of us who make textures for game mods like Fallout 3. Prensa

Hello MJW! Sure, no problem! As I say in the earlier post, you can avoid these artifacts simply by not being zoomed in when applying the NormalMapPlus effect. You just need to be aware of the issue first. Here's a visual demonstration of the described artifacts & how to trigger them: Image, not zoomed into fitting the Paint.net window. Apply NormalMapPlus & result is how it should be. Start again, this time zoomed into a portion of the image Apply NormalMapPlus while zoomed in. Zoom out & you will see the artifacts (circled in red by me), two lines that match up with where the edges of the Paint.net window was when NormalMapPlus was applied. You can also get artifacts on top & bottom of the zoomed in frame. It's odd because, as you say, it is not normal behaviour for other tools that I've noticed. Still it's easily avoided once you're aware of it, don't be zoomed in when you apply NormalMapPlus. Hope this helps!

I realise Vince's post on page one, about artifacts in normal maps made by NormalMapPlus, is old but I thought it worth commenting on in case it helps others. I've seen the odd line like artifacts described when using NormalMapPlus sometimes & found that it was due to being zoomed in to a part of the image that the effect is being applied to. If you zoom into a corner for example & run NormalMapPlus you can end up with a normal height line were the edge of the zoomed in portion meets the edge of Paint.net's display. Simple solution is to ensure the image is set to "Zoom to Window", either in the View pull-down or the little screen icon at the bottom right of Paint.net. That avoids those artifacts all together. Hope this helps!

Hello AndrewDavid! Glad null54 terrific update worked for you too! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello MJW! "What this plugin does appears to be reasonably simple, but I'm not certain exactly what it does." The advantage, for me, that NormalMapPlus has over other normal map plugins for Paint.net is that it's a very simple tool to create normals from the diffuse texture in one step. Simply using the plugin on a diffuse texture can produce a basic normal. Though in practice you tend to add more detail by hand. "What's used as the effect input image? Is it it a grayscale image where brightness represents height" Darker coulours represent depth & lighter colours represent height. Black being deepest & white the highest. "My question is: in actual use, what is the source image, and what is the desired output? " I can explain my basic process of using NormalMapPlus. Firstly I'd run NormalMapPlus on the main texture, also called the diffuse texture, as the basis for the normal map. Black & white or colour seems to make no difference. Ending up with a basic normal map like: Then I'd normally add more detail by making a new layer above the diffuse & hand drawing with white the highlights that are raised & with black for bits that are deeper, like: Then I run NormalMapPlus on that & add it as a new Overlay layer to the first normal image created. Multiple layers can be added to increase the height & depth as required. I used to adjust the X,Y & Z sliders when using NormalMapPlus to increase the intensity of the heights created but I moved to adding extra overlay layers instead as a more controllable method. So I now normally just use the default slider settings. The only thing needed after this normal is made in Paint.net is to add a detailed Alpha layer, since they cannot be added by Paint.net "in house". The detailed aplha layer is added to normal maps for games like Oblivion, Fallout 3, New Vegas & Skyrim & controls specularity in game (shininess). It's basically a B&W version of the main texture with black areas being dullest & white areas being shiniest & grey levels in between. I use the excellent tiny program DXTBmp to combine the finished normal & a Bitmap B&W for its Alpha layer. While it would be handy to be able to add the Alpha layer within Paint.net, using DXTBmp to do it is only a matter of seconds. Resulting in game effect seen here: The squarish bumps on the face of the drum appear raised, as they should, due to the normal map but in reality the mesh is completely flat there. Saves on poly count of the model & is actually a better effect. It should be noted that @null54 update seems to have fixed the issue with running with Net Framework 4.7. Hope this gives you some insight!

Hello - null54! "Using the MethodImplAttribute to disable JIT optimizations for the OnRender method has fixed the crash. " Wow, that was fast work! I've tested your new version of the plugin & it works! Compared its effects to using the older version & they appear the same so this seems perfect (fingers crossed). Thank-you kindly for taking the time to fix this & sharing the results. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello - AndrewDavid! "I too am on Win 10 creators update. What I find interesting is that I have no update to 4.7 Net framework. (Yes I have auto updating on) Another app you are running must need it." It was a standard Windows Update on my Win7 OS, after I rolled back it even quickly reappeared in the updates list to install again. I was able to determine it was the change from 4.6 to 4.7 because I'd made a normal the day or so before the update yet could not run it after. Try null54's updated version of NormalMapPlus, it's working for me so hopefully will for you too. Prensa

NormalMapPlus is probably the one plugin I can't do without as it's my Normal map tool of choice. So firstly a big thank-you kindly to Simon Brown for it! I'm running Paint.net 4.0.16 on a Windows 7 64 bit OS & NormalMapPlus was working just fine, I used it all the time. Then one day it would not work & caused the error report mentioned by others above. I'd recently had a Windows update & knew the plugin had been working prior so I looked into that. Turns out that Net Framework 4.6 was updated to 4.7. On a hunch I rolled back to 4.6 & the NormalMapPlus plugin worked again. Net Framework should be backwards compatible, so it's probably something quite simple wrong within NormalMapPlus, possibly specifying 4.6 rather than any later version. I did not want to stay with the old Net Framework in permanently so as a workaround, while old 4.6 was still installed, I went to: %WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64 Or, if you're not using a 64 bit OS: %WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework I made a copy of the folder: v4.0.30319 & added OLD at the end of its name. I then updated to Net Framework 4.7 again. When I need to use NormalMapPlus I go to the Framework64 folder & rename the v4.0.30319 folder to v4.0.30319New & remove the OLD from the copy I'd made. Do the rename before opening Paint.net of course. If you have a 64 bit OS you only need to change that folder in the Framework64 folder as that's the default that's used. Making a shortcut to that Framework64/Framework folder will also save you time. I then rename the folders back again after I'm done to return to Net Framework 4.7. Obviously not ideal but it's actually pretty straight forward in practice & allows you to have the latest Net Framework for the rest of the time & only use 4.6 when wanting to use NormalMapPlus. A proper fix would be greatly appreciated! Hope this helps! Prensa