By reading this tut you will find out a better way to put ref maps in your releases: embedding them in the normal maps. If you don't know how to make normal maps, you'll learn how to do that too. Here's what you'll need:

vtex
Adobe Photoshop (don't ask me how to get it ;)
Normal Map Plugin

The model I'm normal/ref mapping can be found here

Before you do anything, download and install the Normal Map Plugin. After you do that, open up the model file and go to materials/models/weapons/v_models/lower and open it in Photoshop. It should look like this:



To the right, you'll have 4 toolbars. Go to the bottom bar, which should be open to "Layers." Click on the word "Channels." You will see 5 channels. The last channel is labeled "Alpha 1" and is white. This is VERY IMPORTANT!!! The Alpha Channel HAS to be white for this to work right. If you're normal mapping something and the Alpha Channel isn't white, go to Edit/Fill (Shift + F5) and make it 100% white. Once that's done, select the channel "RGB." This will select every channel but Alpha 1. Hold shift, and select Alpha 1. Now that you have every channel selected, go to Image/Mode/Grayscale and then Image/Mode/RGB Color. Your texture will look something like this:



Now go to Filter/NVIDIA Tools/NormalMapFilter. Change all the setting to these:



Note that you don't have to use "1" for the "Scale" value, that's just what I use. Play around with the value and use whatever feels right to you. The texture will now look like this:



If you're thinking that normal maps are blue, not red, you're right. However, this is how the normal map should look, because the Alpha Channel is selected. Now go to the Channels tab and select "Alpha 1." You'll see the texture as it was before the normal map, which is how it should be. From here on out it's just about the same as making regular ref maps. Fill the Alpha Channel (and ONLY the Alpha Channel) with at least 80% black, though that will probably be too light. I usually use 95%, but in some cases that's too light too. I recommend that you save the file before you create the ref map, because there's a lot of trial and error involved and it'll save you a lot of time if you need to change the value of the ref map. After you create the ref map, save the whole file as "texturename_normal". If you're using the same texture as me, it would be "lower_normal". Repeat this on every texture. The "Size" value on the Normal Map Filter does not have to be the same on every texture, so if you want to make a grip stand out more you can. However, make sure that you use the same % black on every ref map. If you don't, the gun will look horrible. After you've done this to every texture, place them in vtex/hl2/materialsrc/sprays and run tga2vtf. After that's done, go to vtex/hl2/materials/sprays and copy every file to the model's v_models folder. Now it's just a question of formatting the .vmt's. Edit them so they look like this:

VertexLitGeneric
{
"$baseTexture" "models\weapons\v_models\twinke.kimono.car15\lower"
"$bumpmap" "models\weapons\v_models\twinke.kimono.car15\lower_normal"
"$normalmapalphaenvmapmask" 1
"$envmap" "env_cubemap"
}

Do this to every .vmt, and you're done! Now go enjoy your normal and ref maps, and make some killer releases. These add a whole new level of professionalism to your releases, and look very good when done right, which if you followed the tut they will be. A huge thanks to Darkelfa, who taught me how to do these and put up with all my stupid questions. As usual, if you have any questions feel free to contact me and I'll answer them asap.