Normal Map Mirroring Problems

Eliteabix

Hey Guys, Having problems baking a mirrored normal map, pictures will prob explain better than I can

- ALL faces set to one smoothing group

- MirroredGeo set to different smooting groups

- Normal map in diffuse Channel

- The UVs

As you can see, when all faces are set to one smooth group I get a weird offset seam, any ideas? any help would be appreciated

joeriv

did you bake it this way:

-Mirror the mesh over, set the correct smoothing groups (in this case it seems you want it in 1 sm), offset the UV's of the mirrored part, then bake

or
-Bake 1 half, mirror after it has been baked?

Eliteabix

The second, I did try the first with similar results but didnt offset UVs, do you have any tutorials on that? not sure how to go about offsetting/what effect it as etc

Thanks for the reply man

joeriv

You need to bake it with the first method, maybe it's still another problem, but atleast you are sure that isn't causing it. (and don't forget the smoothing groups after mirroring it, and before baking)

maybe also worth mentioning what program you are using to show your normal map.


The reason you offset UV's is because else it will render to the same UV's twice, and that can cause artifacts.

For 3dsmax:
Just select the mirrored polygons (and check your model if you have the right ones), then just click the little box in the bottom left corner called "Absolute/relative typ-ins".
and in the boxes next to it, just type in 1 or -1 in either U or V, doesn't matter wich one. (and then just deselect your UV's and it will jump to it's new location).

Eliteabix

Thanks man! got it working, appreciate the help

shinobik

try invert the blue channel
http://wiki.polycount.com/NormalMap#Mirroring