Bumpy brightness issue

[RedSnappa]

In GIMP, I can paint the blue channel black, but I don't know how to do the rest.

[Dougy]

Am i the only one here who thinks:

Looks bloody cool as heck ?

[RedSnappa]

I gave up on this for a while, then decided to get Photoshop and Crazybump. I have now followed the tutorial up until it says "Now import the diffuse map and pick a channel with medium contrast for textures with low specularity level and high contrast." More specifics about what to do at this point would help.

[Rayne]

So you got your normal map and and your diffuse map imported in photoshop right?
Put the diffuse map layer on top, click on channel tab and then CTRL+left click on the channel with some average contrast. Now click on the icon that says "save selection as channel" when you put cursor on it.
It's in the bottom, under the channels, looks like a square with a white circle inside.
And there's your alpha channel, not hit CTRL+L to open levels editor and make the alpha channel darker or higher contrast or whatever it needs to be.

You got input and output levels. Use input levels to make some parts darker or brighter.
Use output for overall contrast control.

[RedSnappa]

Do I create a new layer first? I don't know much about working with multiple layers.

[Rayne]

Ok guys I'm gonna sound rude but this has to be said.
Learn the basics of the tools you're using before moving onto more advanced stuff.
I really don't know how much more can i simplify an already simple process.
If one layer is on top of the other, and you don't change the opacity of the top layer or the blending of it, then the bottom layers can't be seen in the channel tab.
If there was a need to create a new layer, i would have said so right away.
I'm sorry but sometimes i have to be as blunt as i can be.

CTRL+left click on one of the RGB channels, hit the alpha mask icon and that's it. I really can't simplify this step any further.

[RedSnappa]

After much fiddling, I managed to get something workable. (I was making this harder than it is supposed to be ) My RGB channels are from the normal map and my alpha channel is from the diffuse map. I may have to lower the alpha effect to get some more glare, as ice bricks should shine a bit more. Here is the current result in-map:

(The skybox in this map looks great in 4.1.1 but horrible in HD/bumpy build.)

I think my bump map may be messed up. It is supposed to be the displacement map from Crazybump, right?

[Rayne]

That looks fairly good, don't make the alpha too bright otherwise it will be a total overkill if someone uses bloom.