I'm terrible at Normals. Anyone care to look at these files?
I've been messing with ZBrush a bit lately trying to get a damn normal working. I don't know if I'm just dumb but I have never been able to bake a decent looking normal map. I don't know if it is the UVs on the low poly or that I may not have it set up correctly. If anyone could take a look at what I have and tell me what I can do to improve I would appreciate it.
I'm attaching a link that has the two OBJ files (high and low poly models [Warning: The high poly is like 2-3m polys I believe. I just exported it straight from ZBrush], the maps I created with xNormal and then CrazyBump).
I will say right off that I didn't bother to paint anything so the diffuse is pretty generic. My goal was to try and get the normal looking correctly before I went through the trouble of painting it.
After I get everything into UDK it doesn't look too terrible until you get near it, then it is just nauseating to view. When I apply the stuff in 3DS it looks dull and pixelated as well.
I assume my biggest problem is in my low poly mesh. I'm not sure how much of it should be manipulated to follow the high poly flow. Maybe there is a better way for me to do the UVs? I have been over the concepts a few times (on multiple projects over a few months) but I thought I'd go ahead and get feedback from a group who can point out what needs to be done.
Thanks
[PS. I'll post photos and or the actual ZBrush project if you guys want. Everything is in the .rar file, though]
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3wc3t88rhs2meha/normal.rar
I'm attaching a link that has the two OBJ files (high and low poly models [Warning: The high poly is like 2-3m polys I believe. I just exported it straight from ZBrush], the maps I created with xNormal and then CrazyBump).
I will say right off that I didn't bother to paint anything so the diffuse is pretty generic. My goal was to try and get the normal looking correctly before I went through the trouble of painting it.
After I get everything into UDK it doesn't look too terrible until you get near it, then it is just nauseating to view. When I apply the stuff in 3DS it looks dull and pixelated as well.
I assume my biggest problem is in my low poly mesh. I'm not sure how much of it should be manipulated to follow the high poly flow. Maybe there is a better way for me to do the UVs? I have been over the concepts a few times (on multiple projects over a few months) but I thought I'd go ahead and get feedback from a group who can point out what needs to be done.
Thanks
[PS. I'll post photos and or the actual ZBrush project if you guys want. Everything is in the .rar file, though]
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3wc3t88rhs2meha/normal.rar
Replies
Also, if you are using xNormal instead, you need to have proper smoothing groups set up for the normals to bake properly. You should read this thread by EarthQuake. It's pretty comprehensive and should answer a lot of your questions.
If you're using ZBrush, it seems to operate a bit differently: putting your low poly all on one smoothing group will show your ZBrush-borne normals correctly (someone correct me if I'm wrong).