Help - Basic Normals problem

capone

Currently using Xoliul shader with 3DMax.Normals in general seem to be working but get a severe difference at the seam. Not done normals for a while but as far as I recall you only get these if you have some details in that area but I don't. Any ideas what it could be?

Bad Spleen

Try straightening the UV's on either side, so that they line up vertically. The issue isn't being helped by the UV's on the left, being at a different angle from those on the right (at the seam basically).

Also adding a detail normal map can help to ease the problem.

rollin

which version of max? 2013?
looks to me like the broken display bug-or-whatever

Farfarer

Best guess is you want to invert the green channel of your normal map.

cupsster

+1^

capone

Thanks for the feedback everyone but still fighting this.

It's 100% not the green channel issue. Tried every combination. I've tried straightening the side vertices and still get the same problem.

I'm now trying it with the standard shader with normal bump turned on and it shows in the view port but still get weird seam. I think it must be some sort of Max 13 bug as suggested above or perhaps it's always been like this but I've just had a better shader/lighting setup? Maybe this seam is ok and once I apply a diffuse to it then it will be ok?

Going crazy here!

Butthair

It looks to me like it's the normal map. There's nothing wrong with how you're baking or the shader you're using, but that the pixels near the edges aren't the same exact values.

Now, if this assumption is correct, then I don't see any quick or easy fix. There will always be a seam unless it is perfectly squared off, though there's no point in doing so. Because textures are mipmapped (meaning low res the further away it is, as well as at foreshortened angles) and because pixels are square and the UVs are organic/not square (usually).

The only way to fix this, and even then not 100%, is to tediously go into photoshoppe and clone stamp, color sample, blend, whathaveyou until the seam areas are the same pixel values.

As an alternative, you may want to figure a different place to put the seam (depending on where the user will be looking at the asset most of the time).

Ace-Angel

Disable Gamma/LUT
Change Nitrous to DX9
Invert G channel of Normal Map
Reset XForm and Bake again
Max 2013 is broken, use Xoliul's Max 2013 shader if you must
Don't move your model around after applying the shader, if you do, Reset XForm again

Try one of these

rollin

I guess it's the same problem as described here
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108442

capone

Awesome, finally worked it out. Thanks for all the advise/links! First I turned off Gamma and that really improved things, the seam was still there slightly. I flipped green channel and that make it perfect. No seam.