Hey there! Quick tip, just in case you're looking for feedback (if not, then please forgive me for the intrusion):
The normal maps that you export from Substance Painter (and, sometimes, those you generate with GIMP or Photoshop) are inverted. It's how the Materials work. So your scales end up being dips, instead of bumps:
View attachment 316047
I'm assuming that this isn't intentional - that the dark areas between the scales are not intended to be raised with the scales as depressions, and instead the scales are meant to be bumps?
If so, to fix this, all you have to do is put your normal maps into GIMP or PS, select only the red and/or green channel, and Invert the color.
Selecting only the Red channel in GIMP:
View attachment 316048
How do you know which channel/s to invert? Easy! Looking at your normal map, imagine that a
green light is shining from the
top left, and a
red light is shining from the
bottom right.
If a bump or dip is not reflecting the red or green appropriately for this, then that channel needs to be inverted. It might take some trial and error. In your case, only the green channel needs to be inverted to change this:
View attachment 316049
to this:
View attachment 316050
Check out the guide by the legendary Kemenate for a much better explanation than this!
A short guide to help you troubleshoot your Normal Maps. It assumes that you already know what a normal map is and that you have yours in the correct space (tangent vs world space and so on). Feel free to comment when you have correction...
hub.virtamate.com
I hope that's helpful! I love your creativity, keep up the good work.
.