Lightmaps similar to Penelope and the iPhone FPS Tutorial

This was posted previously but for some reason it was locked so I am reposting.

I was curious if anyone knows how the lightmaps for Penelope and the FPS tutorial were created? Is it possible to emulate the method in Blender?

I am looking for a way to have multiple objects in a scene each with it's own diffuse texture and then have just one lightmap texture shared for all the objects just like in those tutorials. Does anyone have any pointers? Days of Google and forum searching have not come up with a solution yet...

 

After a lot of playing around in Blender this weekend I came up with a partial solution that works pretty well. The problem with it is that for some reason I only get one shot at baking. If I go back in and tweak the lights, etc and rebake I get a black texture every time. Below are the steps I am using. Does anyone have a better way to do this or am I on the right track?

Code (csharp):

1. General Setup
2. - In the 'World' panel, find the 'Amb Occ' panel and click the Ambient Occlusion button
3. - Set the type to 'Approximate'
4.  
5.  
6. Blender Modelling
7. - Setup your scene and texture all objects
8. - Reset all the Scale and Rotation your objects (Select object in 'Object Mode' and press Ctrl-A)
9. - Set the material color to white in preparation to receive the lightmap ('Shading', 'Material Buttons' then in 'Material' panel set the 'Col' to white
10. - Turn off all textures ('Shading', 'Material Buttons' then in 'Texture' panel uncheck the texture).  This is necessary so we can do a Full Render on a blank canvas
11. - Backup your blend file at this point just in case
12. - Select all the objects that you want to be in the lightmap
13. - Press 'Tab' to enter Edit mode
14. - Press 'U' then choose 'Lightmap UV Pack' with the following settings:
15.     * Deselect 'Active Object' and 'Selected Faces'
16.     * Select 'Share Tex Space', 'New UV Layer' and 'New Image'
17.     * Set an appropriate image size (256 should be fine for iPhone)
18.     * Set the margin value to 0.2
19.  
20.  
21.  
22. - Open the 'Scene' panel then the 'Render' panel
23. - Locate the 'Bake' panel and choose 'Full Render' as the bake type (Note: if you are not using any tiled textures or the textures you are using will only be in this scene you can turn your textures back on and bake the shadows right on the texture so that all the objects in your scene will use the same, single material)
24. - Click the 'Bake' button to create the shadow map
25. - For each of your objects do the following:
26.     * Add a new image texture ('Shading' button then 'Texture' button then find the 'Texture' panel)
27.     * Set the image as the lightmap that you just created
28.     * Under the 'Shading' button then the 'Material' button find the 'Map Input' panel and for both textures choose 'UV'
29.     * In the same section, find the 'Map To' panel and set the second (lightmap) texture to 'Multiply' in the drop down
30. - Be sure to save your lightmap image to your Materials folder in the UV/Image Editor window under the 'Image' section
31. - To get a preview of how the scene will look in the 'Game' menu choose 'Blender GLSL Materials'.  If you deleted your light you will need to also change all your materials to 'Shadeless' in the 'Shading' then 'Material Buttons' 'Material panel.
32.  
33.  
34. Unity Import
35. - Drag and drop your blend file and Materials folder into Unity
36. - For each material you will need to give it a shader that supports a lightmap then choose the lightmap image
37. - Add your newly created object to your scene and you should have your lightmap in place
38.  

 

While I'm answering my own questions I might as well post a bit more info in case anyone else finds this thread. Below is a little Python script that will help with the process of enabling/disabling texture channels. If you run this script, you can choose which channel to enable/disable then just press the 'Set Channel' button and voila. This makes setting up the lightmap much quicker.

EDIT: script has been updated

Code (csharp):

1. #!BPY
2.  
3. # Install the script in the 'Object' menu
4. """
5. Name: 'Turn off/on all diffuse textures'
6. Blender: 249
7. Group: 'Object'
8. Tooltip: 'Sets all diffuse textures for the selected objects off/on for lightmap baking'
9. """
10.  
11. """
12. Helper for creating lightmaps.
13.  
14. Diffuse: toggles the diffuse (first) texture channel
15. Lightmap: toggles the lightmap (second) texture channel
16. Set Material to White: sets all materials to white in preparation for receiving the baked lightmap
17. """
18.  
19. import os
20. import sys
21. import struct
22. import math
23. import string
24. import Blender
25. import platform
26. import shutil
27. import syslog
28.  
29. from Blender                    import Material
30. from Blender                    import Texture
31. from Blender                    import Window
32. from Blender                    import Object
33. from Blender                    import NMesh
34. from Blender                    import Mathutils
35. from Blender.Scene              import Render
36. from Blender.Draw               import *
37. from Blender.BGL                import *
38. from Blender.Window             import *
39. from Blender.Mathutils          import *
40.  
41. # GUI variables
42. EVENT_EXIT                      = 0
43. EVENT_TOGGLE_DIFFUSE            = 1
44. EVENT_TOGGLE_LIGHTMAP           = 2
45. EVENT_TOGGLE_MATERIAL_TO_WHITE  = 3
46. EVENT_SET_CHANNELS              = 4
47.  
48. DIFFUSE_ON              = 0
49. LIGHTMAP_ON             = 0
50. MATERIAL_TO_WHITE       = 1
51.  
52.  
53. def log( t ):
54.     syslog.syslog( syslog.LOG_ALERT, t )
55.  
56.  
57. #========================================
58. # DRAW RECTANGLE
59. #========================================
60. def draw_rectangle( x, y, w, h, r, g, b, a ):
61.  
62.     glEnable( GL_BLEND )
63.     glBlendFunc( GL_SRC_ALPHA, GL_ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA )
64.  
65.     glColor4f( r,g,b,a )
66.  
67.     glBegin( GL_POLYGON )
68.  
69.     glVertex2i( x    , y     )
70.     glVertex2i( x    , y + h )
71.     glVertex2i( x + w, y + h )
72.     glVertex2i( x + w, y     )
73.  
74.     glEnd()
75.  
76.     glDisable( GL_BLEND )
77.  
78.  
79. #=========================================
80. # RENDER THE EXPORTER GUI
81. #=========================================
82. def drawGui():
83.  
84.     glClearColor( 0.74, 0.74, 0.74, 0.0 )
85.     glClear( GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT )
86.  
87.     draw_rectangle( 5, 125, 400, 20, 0.6, 0.6, 0.6, 1.0 )
88.  
89.     glColor3f( 1.0, 1.0, 1.0 )
90.     glRasterPos2i( 15, 132 )
91.  
92.     Text( "Selected Object Texture Channel Toggler" )
93.  
94.     glPolygonMode( GL_FRONT_AND_BACK, GL_LINE )
95.     draw_rectangle( 5, 7, 399, 138, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 1.0 )
96.     draw_rectangle( 5, 7, 399, 138, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 1.0 )   
97.     glPolygonMode( GL_FRONT_AND_BACK, GL_FILL )
98.  
99.     glColor3f( 0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
100.     glRasterPos2i( 15, 100 )
101.     Text( "Select the texture channels you want to enable." )
102.     glRasterPos2i( 15, 85 )
103.     Text( "This operation will only effect selected objects." )
104.  
105.     Toggle( "Diffuse", EVENT_TOGGLE_DIFFUSE, 15, 50, 45, 20, DIFFUSE_ON, "Toggle diffuse channel texture (channel 1)" )
106.     Toggle( "Lightmap", EVENT_TOGGLE_LIGHTMAP, 65, 50, 55, 20, LIGHTMAP_ON, "Toggle lightmap channel texture (channel 2)" )
107.     Toggle( "Set Material to White", EVENT_TOGGLE_MATERIAL_TO_WHITE, 125, 50, 135, 20, MATERIAL_TO_WHITE, "Set the material color to white" )
108.    
109.     Button( "Set Channels", EVENT_SET_CHANNELS, 185, 16, 100, 20 )
110.     Button( "Exit", EVENT_EXIT, 295, 16, 100, 20 )
111.  
112.  
113. #====================================
114. # GUI EVENTS CALLBACKS
115. #====================================
116. def eventGui( event ):
117.     global DIFFUSE_ON
118.     global LIGHTMAP_ON
119.     global MATERIAL_TO_WHITE
120.  
121.     if( event == EVENT_EXIT ):
122.         Exit()
123.        
124.     if( event == EVENT_SET_CHANNELS ):
125.         flipTextures()
126.        
127.     if( event == EVENT_TOGGLE_DIFFUSE ):
128.         DIFFUSE_ON = not DIFFUSE_ON
129.        
130.     if( event == EVENT_TOGGLE_LIGHTMAP ):
131.         LIGHTMAP_ON = not LIGHTMAP_ON
132.    
133.     if( event == EVENT_TOGGLE_MATERIAL_TO_WHITE ):
134.         MATERIAL_TO_WHITE = not MATERIAL_TO_WHITE
135.  
136.  
137. #====================================
138. # SETS THE PROPER TEXTURES AS ACTIVE SELECTED FROM THE GUI
139. #====================================
140. def flipTextures():
141.     global DIFFUSE_ON
142.     global LIGHTMAP_ON
143.     global MATERIAL_TO_WHITE
144.    
145.     # Grab the selected objects
146.     scn = Blender.Scene.GetCurrent()
147.    
148.     log( "---------- Starting texture channel flipper -------------" )
149.    
150.     # Loop through our selected objects
151.     for obj in scn.objects:
152.        
153.         # Make sure the object is on the first layer, it is a Mesh and it is selected
154.         if( obj.getType() == "Mesh" and obj.layers[0] == 1 and obj.isSelected() ):
155.            
156.             # Grab the mesh data
157.             mesh = obj.getData( False, True )
158.            
159.             # Make sure we have a material before proceeding
160.             if( len( mesh.materials ) ):
161.                
162.                 # Loop through all materials
163.                 for mat in mesh.materials:
164.                     if( mat == None ):
165.                         continue
166.                    
167.                     # Flip the color to white if necessary
168.                     if( MATERIAL_TO_WHITE ):   
169.                         mat.setRGBCol( 1, 1, 1 )
170.    
171.                     # Grab the textures
172.                     texChannels = mat.getTextures()
173.                    
174.                     availableTextures = []
175.                     newEnabledTextures = []
176.                    
177.                     for i in range( 0, 2 ):
178.                         if( texChannels[i] != None and texChannels[i].tex.type == Texture.Types.IMAGE ):
179.                             availableTextures.append( i )
180.                    
181.                     # Enable/disable based on the chosen settings and if we have the texture channel available
182.                     if( DIFFUSE_ON and 0 in availableTextures ):
183.                         newEnabledTextures.append( 0 )
184.                    
185.                     if( LIGHTMAP_ON and 1 in availableTextures ):
186.                         newEnabledTextures.append( 1 )
187.                    
188.                     mat.enabledTextures = newEnabledTextures
189.                     Exit()
190.  
191.  
192. #====================================
193. # MAIN
194. #====================================
195. # Prep logging
196. syslog.openlog("Blender")
197.  
198. # run script
199. Register( drawGui, None, eventGui )
200.  
201.  

 

Moving to External Tools so people can find this better. Thanks for sharing your process

 

Continuing on learning Blender and Unity here is another useful Blender script (I also updated the first one to have a new option for setting the color to white of the material). This script will do the following to the selected objects:
- Create a second texture (if there isn't already one) and name it 'Lightmap'
- Sets the second textures image to one named 'lightmap' if it exists
- Set both the first and second texture's Map Input to UV
- Set the second textures blend mode to Multiply

This should greatly speed up the previous lightmap creation steps when there are a lot of objects to deal with.

Code (csharp):

1. #!BPY
2.  
3. # Install the script in the 'Object' menu
4. """
5. Name: 'Lightmap Texture Helper'
6. Blender: 249
7. Group: 'Object'
8. Tooltip: 'Creates textures, sets blend mode and maps textures to UVs'
9. """
10.  
11. """
12. Helper for creating lightmaps.
13.  
14. Create Texture:
15.     - creates a new texture in the second channel of each selected object with a name of 'Lightmap'
16.     - if "Set Image" is on, when creating the texture if there is one named 'lightmap' it will be used
17. Map Input to UV:
18.     - sets the mapping ('Shading' -> 'Material Buttons' -> 'Map Input' panel) to UV
19.     - sets the 'Map To' to 'Multiply' for the Lightmap (second texture) channel
20. """
21.  
22. import os
23. import sys
24. import struct
25. import math
26. import string
27. import Blender
28. import platform
29. import shutil
30. import syslog
31.  
32. from Blender                    import Material
33. from Blender                    import Texture
34. from Blender                    import Image
35. from Blender                    import Window
36. from Blender                    import Object
37. from Blender                    import NMesh
38. from Blender                    import Mathutils
39. from Blender.Scene              import Render
40. from Blender.Draw               import *
41. from Blender.BGL                import *
42. from Blender.Window             import *
43. from Blender.Mathutils          import *
44.  
45. # GUI variables
46. EVENT_EXIT                  = 0
47. EVENT_CREATE_TEXTURE        = 1
48. EVENT_MAPTO_UV              = 2
49. EVENT_TOGGLE_SET_IMAGE      = 3
50.  
51. SET_IMAGE_ON = 1
52.  
53. def log( t ):
54.     syslog.syslog( syslog.LOG_ALERT, t )
55.  
56.  
57. #========================================
58. # DRAW RECTANGLE
59. #========================================
60. def draw_rectangle( x, y, w, h, r, g, b, a ):
61.  
62.     glEnable( GL_BLEND )
63.     glBlendFunc( GL_SRC_ALPHA, GL_ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA )
64.  
65.     glColor4f( r,g,b,a )
66.  
67.     glBegin( GL_POLYGON )
68.  
69.     glVertex2i( x    , y     )
70.     glVertex2i( x    , y + h )
71.     glVertex2i( x + w, y + h )
72.     glVertex2i( x + w, y     )
73.  
74.     glEnd()
75.  
76.     glDisable( GL_BLEND )
77.  
78.  
79. #=========================================
80. # RENDER THE EXPORTER GUI
81. #=========================================
82. def drawGui():
83.  
84.     glClearColor( 0.74, 0.74, 0.74, 0.0 )
85.     glClear( GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT )
86.  
87.     draw_rectangle( 5, 92, 450,  20, 0.6, 0.6, 0.6, 1.0 )
88.     draw_rectangle( 5,  6, 450,  86, 0.8, 0.8, 0.8, 1.0 )
89.  
90.     glColor3f( 1.0, 1.0, 1.0 )
91.     glRasterPos2i( 15, 98 )
92.  
93.     Text( "Lightmap Texture Helpers" )
94.  
95.     glPolygonMode( GL_FRONT_AND_BACK, GL_LINE )
96.     draw_rectangle( 5,  7, 450, 106, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 1.0 )
97.     draw_rectangle( 5,  7, 450,  86, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 1.0 )  
98.     glPolygonMode( GL_FRONT_AND_BACK, GL_FILL )
99.  
100.     glColor3f( 0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
101.     glRasterPos2i( 15, 72 )
102.     Text( "Create Texture: creates a new texture in channel 2 with the name 'Lightmap'" )
103.     glRasterPos2i( 15, 52 )
104.     Text( "Map Input UV: sets all textures to Map Input UV and sets 'Lightmap' to Multiply" )
105.  
106.     Button( "Create Texture", EVENT_CREATE_TEXTURE, 15, 16, 95, 20 )
107.     Button( "Map Input to UV", EVENT_MAPTO_UV, 115, 16, 100, 20 )
108.     Toggle( "Set Image", EVENT_TOGGLE_SET_IMAGE, 235, 16, 75, 20, SET_IMAGE_ON, "Toggle lightmap channel texture (channel 2)" )
109.     Button( "Exit", EVENT_EXIT, 370, 16, 75, 20 )
110.  
111. #====================================
112. # GUI EVENTS CALLBACKS
113. #====================================
114. def eventGui( event ):
115.     global SET_IMAGE_ON
116.  
117.     if( event == EVENT_EXIT ):
118.         Exit()
119.        
120.     if( event == EVENT_CREATE_TEXTURE ):
121.         createLightmapTexture()
122.        
123.     if( event == EVENT_MAPTO_UV ):
124.         setMapToUVs()
125.    
126.     if( event == EVENT_TOGGLE_SET_IMAGE ):
127.         SET_IMAGE_ON = not SET_IMAGE_ON
128.  
129.  
130. #====================================
131. # CREATES THE LIGHTMAP TEXTURE
132. #====================================
133. def createLightmapTexture():
134.     global SET_IMAGE_ON
135.    
136.     # Grab our selected meshes
137.     meshes = getSelectedMeshesOnFirstLayer()
138.    
139.     # Loop through all meshes
140.     for mesh in meshes:
141.         for mat in mesh.materials:
142.             if( mat == None ):
143.                 continue
144.  
145.             # Grab the textures
146.             texChannels = mat.getTextures()
147.            
148.             # Only add the image if the channel is empty
149.             if( texChannels[1] == None ):
150.                 newTexture = Texture.New( 'Lightmap' )
151.                 newTexture.setType( 'Image' )
152.                
153.                 # Attempt to set the image to one named 'lightmap' exists
154.                 if( SET_IMAGE_ON ):
155.                     try:
156.                         images = Blender.Image.Get()
157.                         for img in images:
158.                             if( img.name.lower().startswith( "lightmap." ) ):
159.                                 newTexture.image = img
160.                                 break
161.                     except:
162.                         log( "Failed to find an image named 'lightmap'" )
163.                
164.                 # Set the materials second texture to be newTexture
165.                 mat.setTexture( 1, newTexture )
166.             else:
167.                 # Note in the console that we will not be creating a new texture for this one
168.                 log( "[%s]: Texture channel is not empty so not creating texture" % mesh.name )
169.  
170.  
171. #====================================
172. # SETS THE MAP_INPUT TO UV AND MAP_TO TO MULTIPLY FOR THE LIGHTMAP
173. #====================================
174. def setMapToUVs():
175.     # Grab our selected meshes
176.     meshes = getSelectedMeshesOnFirstLayer()
177.    
178.     # Loop through all meshes
179.     for mesh in meshes:
180.         for mat in mesh.materials:
181.             if( mat == None ):
182.                 continue
183.  
184.             # Grab the textures
185.             texChannels = mat.getTextures()
186.            
187.             # Always check for empty before proceeding
188.             if( texChannels[0] != None ):
189.                 # Set MapInput to UV
190.                 texChannels[0].texco = Texture.TexCo.UV
191.            
192.             if( texChannels[1] != None ):
193.                 # Set MapInput to UV
194.                 texChannels[1].texco = Texture.TexCo.UV
195.                
196.                 # Set MapTo to Multiply
197.                 texChannels[1].blendmode = Texture.BlendModes.MULTIPLY
198.  
199.  
200. #====================================
201. # GRABS ALL THE SELECTED TEXTURES THAT HAVE AT LEAST ONE MATERIAL
202. #====================================
203. def getSelectedMeshesOnFirstLayer():
204.     outMeshes = []
205.    
206.     # Grab all objects in the scene then filter them
207.     scn = Blender.Scene.GetCurrent()
208.    
209.     # Loop through our selected objects
210.     for obj in scn.objects:
211.        
212.         # Make sure the object is on the first layer, it is a Mesh and it is selected
213.         if( obj.getType() == "Mesh" and obj.layers[0] == 1 and obj.isSelected() ):
214.            
215.             # Grab the mesh data
216.             mesh = obj.getData( False, True )
217.            
218.             # Make sure we have a material before adding this object
219.             if( len( mesh.materials ) ):
220.                 outMeshes.append( mesh )
221.        
222.     return outMeshes
223.  
224.  
225. #====================================
226. # MAIN
227. #====================================
228. # Prep logging
229. syslog.openlog("Blender")
230.  
231. # run script
232. Register( drawGui, None, eventGui )
233.  

 

uprise78:

I just wanted to say thanks for this research...

I've just started my journey into Lightmapping in Blender for the iPhone - and this thread is the top hit.

I'll be making my way slowly down this path. I'll let you know anything I find out, but please do let us know if you learn anything more!

^_^

 

Little Angel, I have this down to a science now. I have refined the process to the bare minimum and a lot of the steps from this thread aren't needed. If you want the new list of steps to get a lightmap going just PM me or respond on this thread and I'll post them when I get home.

 

Yes, please, I would also be interested.

 

uprise78:

Please,

If you could, let me know your revised pipeline. I'll hold off experimenting with what you've posted here so far, if you have a revised plan.

LA

 

I'm interested also. I'm using vertex lighting right now but will eventually want to expand to lightmaps for some of my lighting needs.

 

Thinking about this...

I assume that you need to completely assemble and place your scene in Blender to get the accurate light map you need, no? Therefore, no creating discreet assets and importing them into Unity for placement...

 

The lightmap will require all objects to be in their final locations in Blender. You can swap textures and materials in Unity but your objects size and position will need to be final.

 

The updated instructions go something like this:

Code (csharp):

1. General Setup
2. - In the 'World' panel, find the 'Amb Occ' panel and click the Ambient Occlusion button
3. - Set the type to 'Approximate'
4. - Setup appropriate ambient light in the 'Shading' -> 'World' panel (You can adjust and rebake later to get the desired ambient lighting)
5.  
6. Blender Modelling
7. - Setup your scene and texture all objects
8. - Reset all the Scale and Rotation your objects (Select object in 'Object Mode' and press Ctrl-A)
9.  
10. - Select all the objects that will be getting a lightmap
11. - Press 'Tab' to enter Edit mode
12. - Press 'U' then choose 'Lightmap UV Pack' with the following settings:
13.    * Deselect 'Active Object' and 'Selected Faces'
14.    * Select 'Share Tex Space', 'New UV Layer' and 'New Image'
15.    * Set an appropriate image size (256 should be fine for iPhone)
16.    * Set the margin value to 0.2
17.  
18. - Open the 'Scene' panel then the 'Render Buttons' panel
19. - Locate the 'Bake' panel ('Scene' then 'Render buttons') and choose 'Full Render' as the bake type
20. - Click the 'Bake' button to create the shadow map
21.  
22. - Be sure to save your lightmap image to your Textures folder in the UV/Image Editor window under the 'Image' section
23. - Before saving be sure to set the 'active' and 'rendering' UV Texture ('Editing' buttons 'Mesh' panel) to the UVTex (or first non-lightmap UV Texture)
24.  
25. Unity Import
26. - Drag and drop your blend file and Materials folder into Unity
27. - For each material you will need to give it a shader that supports a lightmap then choose the lightmap image
28. - Add your newly created object to your scene and you should have your lightmap in place

 

That's what I assumed. I think I was hoping that you might have discovered some pipeline for setting up scene in Unity, passing it to Blender for the light mapping and then returning it back to Unity once it was mapped. But, as I thought, it was wishful thinking.

I'll try to give this a try on Monday, and thank you very much for posting this!

 

Thanks a lot Uprise. This is extremely useful