Normal map downsizing

Sukotto

Hey guys, when baking normal maps(or any map for that matter) do you normally bake at the resolution for the final or do you bake up a size and downsize it? Is there any noticeable difference?

Most of the models I have done have used 2k maps and I was just wondering if you would do something like that for lower res maps?

dregoloth

I usually bake at 2x size with 0AA, as it takes less time on my PC and I get a comparable result to a smaller map baked at higher quality.

Steppenwolf

I tend to bake at double size because i get a nicer and crisper cavity map from that via ndo.

metalliandy

I normally bake normal maps at native resolution with 4xAA and AO at double res. and resize down.
I used to bake everything at double res. but noticed it sometimes caused small issues with normal maps, so I stopped using that method for those.

For things like AO though, I still bake at double res. because there isn't much that can go wrong and it's so much faster.

Just make sure you renormalise your normal maps after resizing them.

Mask_Salesman

When dealing with resizing to smaller maps such as 128 & below, you can end up with a semitransparent 1pixel line around the edge of the map with textures, so its good to duplicate the layer & merge down.

I tend to bake at double res, often texturing coinsides with filtering small details for normals, so its easier to keep it all at the same res while working on them before resizing them down and saving out.

Ace-Angel

I'm against double rez for Normal Maps, unless you have a water-proof pipeline and know what you're doing, baking them at double rez will lead to actually more headaches down the line, especially if you set the wrong padding.

Basically what Andy said.