Blending normal maps together in 3ds Max

[theOrzel]

Hello,
I've been playing around with normal maps and I cannot figure out how should I blend 2 normal maps together within 3ds Max.

My set-up:
Normal Map "MEDAL" - general object surface bumps
Normal Map "CRACKS" - details like cracks, scratches
Composite node - it's suppose to blend 2 input textures
CoronoaNormalTex - used as suggested to get normals working properly
CoronaMlt

set-up: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/896453/Material_setup.PNG

I would like to blend these 2 textures together in 3ds Max. Normally I would use Overlay blend mode inside PS and get final texture, but this I would like to have more control over scratches intensity and/or texture tiling.

I made 4 tests:

Composite with Overlay blend mode


Composite with Normal blend mode (50% top layer opacity)


Composite with Average blend mode


Textures from Photoshop - Overlay blend mode



Overlay Blend mode in composite node is totally wrong. Test 2 and 3 gives the same result but I don't know if it is correct.
Can somebody elaborate a little bit about this? I'm confused and don't know how should I blend normal maps


regards,
Michal

[Nik]

Hi. Did you find any solution without photoshop?

[romullus]

Most likely overly mode don't work in max, because OP has loaded normal maps with gamma 2.2. If loaded with gamma 1.0 blending works as expected, no need photoshop here.

[Nik]

Thanks man! That helps me.
I always tried with corona gamma fix option enabled.