3ds Max and Mudbox (Normal Map Seams Problem)

MissOptimist

Hi guys,
I did my details in mudbox. I exported both the normal map and also the mesh from mudbox. When I put them together in 3ds Max, this is the result:


The problem is the seams are too obvious. I never had this problem in zbrush. Also, my uvs are NOT mirrored. Have any of you guys came across these issues in mudbox?

Hang10

A common problem lately seems to been the Gamma/LUT settings. Disable it under Customize > Preferences > Gamma/LUT

I personally use xNormals or Max to bake maps.

AlexLeighton

Yeah I've always gotten that using normals from Mudbox. Try it with xnormal and see what happens.

Alidium

This reminds me of all the problems I had with normal map seams. Try what Hang said and disable gamma/lut. It worked for me... most of the time.

D4V1DC

Everything Normal Map

MissOptimist

Where is the xnormal in mudbox?

Hang10

xNormals is a third party baking app that is hugely popular. Just google xNormals and it'll be the top response. There are also plenty of video tutorials if the documentation isn't enough.

Alternatively, HERE it is

MissOptimist

I would really like to solve this mudbox problem though. Im sure there is a way. wasnt kingkong detailed with mudbox?

Ace-Angel

Yes, but they didn't bake out the Normal Maps, only Displacements, which are much easier to manage in a non RT environment.

Also, invert Green or Red Channel maybe?

And also, Mudbox's Normal Maps synch perfectly with Maya's last I checked from Autodesk (I could be wrong about this though).

MissOptimist

that's interesting. When I exported the displacement instead of the normal map from mudbox, that displacement actually looked way better on my model than the normal map. Also, disabling the GAMMA/LUT correction got rid of the seams. Thanks guys, you all are a big help :thumbup:

Where did you get this info that in King Kong, they had actually just baked out the displacement? I find that real cool :thumbup:

Ace-Angel

Well, in high end movie productions, they tend to use Displacement maps, since you want all the nice cracks and details as something that actually exists in 3D environment (essentially, polies) which cast shadows and have volume vs. Normal Maps, which only have the 'faked information' of details in a compressed form, meaning they don't have the volumetric effect or shadow casting ability.

Normal Maps are usually only used for detail mapping in movies, or if you're rendering something off in the distance and want to save up on render time.

It's all situational mind you, but for Normal Maps, especially on naked characters, be prepared to deal with alot of seam issues if you're baking from one software to another, since the Math usually is different.

Sonof_Danube

Hi guys, I had the same problem last days. Whether I baked normal map in max or xnormal.. Gama/LUT correction is realy the reason. (switch it off and you will see it displayed correctly, though maybe bit darker). Now, if you don't want to switch it off, the best solution appears to be, when loading normal map into material editor of 3DsMax, there is small field downleft in the loading dialog,

called "Gamma", and it's checked as "automatic" (which means 2,2), change it to "override" (1,0) there, and mirrored normal maps will be displayed correctly. At least in my case this finaly helped.