absolute must have plugins photoshop?

[MyPeople]

I use no plugins for photoshop, anyone out there name some really fantastic plugins to use? i texture 3d stuff all day and anything helping with that or...just great useful stuff would be really great. just curious what people use that is like 'must have'

[sinz]

Don't use plugs on this end, usually just blend options. Everything else is done by hand/wacom pretty much.

I'd also like to know if there are any helpful/useful plugs.

[MRico]

The only plugin I have is the Nvidia normal map plugin...

and the plugins that automatically install from Xnormal, although I haven't used them yet.

[xerious3d]

I have found the xnormal plugins to be quite useful, especially when texturing hard surface models, the normals 2 cavity enhances the depth for me just a little more when tossing the cavity map on another small multiply layer but it all depends on the material you are trying to simulate of course.

[jocz]

I use that cool script made buy the guy from project offset to add 2 normal maps.
Cant find the link of it :x, think it's dead link.

[FluxAmbassador]

I think xNormal is the only plugin I use. I've found that plugins break, crash, or get outdated too easily. I'm not against anything that would make my job easier. However, I'd much rather use recorded actions and blending/layer styles instead. That stuff carries over from one version to the next.

[xerious3d]

I use that cool script made buy the guy from project offset to add 2 normal maps.
Cant find the link of it :x, think it's dead link.

Add 2 normal maps? You mean overlap textured 2 Normals on top of your Baked high res normal maps?

[jocz]

Yep, not sure if this is 100% clean, but this is far more clean than the overlay method ...
This script create a folder that can be use over any other normal map layer.

[PixelGoat]

Yep, not sure if this is 100% clean, but this is far more clean than the overlay method ...
This script create a folder that can be use over any other normal map layer.

where can I get this?

[Wynn]

Rod Green did it, you can get it off his site. It's a photoshop action.

http://www.rodgreen.com/?p=4

[jocz]

thanks, this is it :thumb:

[Lamont]

Yeah, the only plugin I have for PS is for obscure geo-ref formats, other than that. I don't have any.

[BigJohn]

Yeah, I don't use any plugins either other than the normal map ones (nvidia and the xnormal one)

But since we're on the topic, anyone knows of any way to substitute the color picker? I always wished I could have a painter-style color picker.

[Chasarsis]

I have Vtools, Xnormal, and Nvidia photoshop plugin.
Vtools allows me to hit a key, and automatically save out a tga with predefined settings. I've found it to be better than making an action because it doesn't add the prefix "copy" to my files

[grimdc13]

I don't know about plugins , but I can't get along without adding customized brushes in my collection. Usually searching around Deviant Art for some foilage brushes or fractal ones . My faves are stone, pastel and brushes that leave grain behind like faux wood or like palette knife.

[BigJohn]

Funny, I was asking for a Painter-Style color wheel, and randomly stumbled upon this just now:
http://nerdchallenge.com/lenwhite/

It seems a bit slow, but looks like it can get the job done

[MyPeople]

Thanks for that big john, ive been wanting a painter wheel for almost a decade i think. what a find. thanks again.

[Buzzy]

the nvidia DDS plugin is vital if you are working in games. Alot of engines use DDS format images for textures and especially for cubemaps.
Unfortunately, I dont think there is a 64-bit version yet.

[SeanW]

I'm with grimdc13, custom brushes can bring your texturing to a whole new level.

[yoyomon]

Not necessarily a plugin, more like an app.

http://people.happycoders.org/kamih/wordpress/?page_id=46

lazymouse for photoshop (and other drawing/painting programs)!

[BrendanBax]

I do a few scripts and the nVidia plugin. Plenty of crazy brushes as well. I actually do most of my concept work in alchemy and import it to PS. I can't really think of a plug in I'd need, tho. Maybe one that gives me a back rub while I work haha

That lazy mouse was pretty cool.

[EricChadwick]

HalfWrap (http://www.btinternet.com/~cateran/simple/#hw), and LeftRightWrap & TopBottomWrap (http://www.btinternet.com/~cateran/simple/bonus.zip) filters are another must-have for me. They offset the layer exactly in half, no matter the dimensions. The regular Offset filter makes you type in numbers or mess with a slider. I use Actions to bind them to hotkeys F2 F3 F4, nice for painting tilable textures.

[MyPeople]

Thanks for those eric, really useful, always wanted something like that half wrap.

[EricChadwick]

Cool, glad they help.

The only caveat is they query the full size of a layer to figure out the 50% point. If your layer is larger than your canvas, the offset may not be in the middle of the canvas anymore. I solve this by adding a Select All to the action, then a Select None at the end.

A cool thing though is it also works on selections, so you can offset on a section inside a texture sheet, useful if you pack textures in an atlas and you tile them by splitting the geo. For example, this MAXScript (http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/texture-atlas-generator) splits the geo to make an atlas.