Need Helpful Tips for High to Low Poly Baking

Shadow2Matrix

Hey Guys, I'm trying to get into High to Low Poly Baking However, I have no Idea how to approach it. There are so many settings and configurations. I do not know how to start. An example is the Sci Fi Floor tutorial for 3d Motive.

https://www.3dmotive.com/f100101
++Link Fix++

I have not watched it but I wanna make a floor that looks as good as image or better. So when I model, Should I start with a low poly version and then model high poly or Make High Poly and bake to Low such as a Plane? Also, Do I need to unwrap anything to bake or when I bake will I be able to Just Photoshop everything into place and then Planar map the texture? Ive baked before following a tutorial so I have an idea but it was a tutorial. I go to school for game design and pay all this money for them to teach bare bone basics so I gotta learn all this on my own. Any help would be great. Thanks Guys. Btw Here is a Video if youd like to see, of my latest work. The rock you see was 1 million poly's and I baked that to 1000 polys so thats how I familiarized myself with baking. Still not entire sure how it works.

http://youtu.be/NYt4JUHwB7E Leave a comment. If youre gonna bash please at least be helpful about it. I know it still needs alot of work.

arcitecht

My steps for normal maps are usually as follows (its a zbrush/3dcoat/xnormal pipeline):
1.Make hipoly mesh. This way I'm not worried about topology or anything technical.
2. Make Retopo mesh. Now I can focus on lowpoly problem solving since I've already focused on the creative aspect.
3. UV maps. Only the lowpoly meshes need UVs to work with xnormal.
4.Cut lowpoly into chunks if needed. I usually do this in zbrush with polygroups.
5. Bake maps in xNormal. May have to edit cage settings or use the ray calculate tool to get cleaner maps.
6. Use UV layouts (some people use a vertex-color-baked color mask) to cut all my normal maps together in Photoshop.

Envart

This thread would be a lot better if your first image didn't feature the logo of a piracy website.

There is a wealth of information on the Polycount wiki, from basic tutorials to the technical details behind the whole process. It's always best to search both the wiki and the forums before posting foundational questions.

http://wiki.polycount.com/NormalMap?action=show&redirect=Normal+Map

Shadow2Matrix

Thanks Arcitecht this is very useful, its a bit helpful but I should have been a bit more clearer. I was hoping there was a way I can just do it in 3ds max without having to work with enternal programs. Step # 4 is confusing. Why would I cut into chunks? If I have to set up an unwrap wouldnt that just ruin it?

Shadow2Matrix

@Walrus, True I just realized that. I apologize to anyone. To make this clear I just googled imaged a quick pic and posted so you guys can see ref. Also, I wouldnt have any questions if I pirated the video hence this post. (Just wanted toi be clear about that) But I noticed that the video doesn't tackle topology which was also a concern. I realize some of these questions are also fundamental but everywhere I searched I couldn't find the right answers. It was always diff. mixed suggestions going directly towards whatever the person asking was approaching in their project. I just want to know when making High to Low for example, this sci fi floor, when I add intricate objects such as wires and that sort, should I integrate any of that into my low poly or just bake that in? When I Bake, Do I need to have the Low poly, lets say its just a plane unwrapped before I bake?

Envart

Hey man. Learning which pieces should be baked down, and which modeled in the low poly is something that comes from experience and observation. However, the general rule of thumb is that if it doesn't affect the silhouette, then it should be baked into the normal map.

What Arcitecht is referring to with regard to "cutting into chunks", is that sometimes you have different mesh elements intersecting one another that aren't directly attached via welded vertices. This can cause issues with the quality of the normal map. Using what is known as an 'exploded bake' you can work around this problem to ensure you get the best result.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZESBJPvesA"]How to Bake a Flawless Normal Map in 3ds Max.mp4 - YouTube[/ame] - This tutorial by racer455 explains the concept. It's a great video that explains a lot.

Shadow2Matrix

Walrus I Highly appreciate the post, its very insightful. So to break it down and if you can verify for me.
Make High Poly and Low Poly Version.
Unwrap Low Poly
Explode Geomrety
Setup Cage for Low Poly to Overlap High Poly.
Bake Normal and it will render it to your UV Setup. (That was my biggest concern not sure how that was going to work out)
Then Edit in Photoshop
I can skip Height map and AO because I will have my own Diffuse setup.
Also, Would it be a Good Idea to bake my AO and Overlay My diffuse on it?
One more concern is... Can I cage With a Plane. Since it's a Plane I cannot really Overlay on a High Poly Obj. or can I?

Shadow2Matrix

By The Way Arcitecht, your Method makes alot more sense now.

Envart

Glad to be of help. For a deeper lo0k into the process and theory, along with a bucket load of answers to other questions you will undoubtedly have later, check out these threads by the inimitable Earthquake:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81154
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107196

You can cage with a plane. The best way to get to grips with this stuff is just to go ahead and experiment. Best of luck!

VeeJayZee

Well this may sound weird for everyone and I may get some flack, but I do it in reverse:

1. I model in lowres and UV it.
2. Do the Highres, based on the lowres cage.
3. Do the Baking (Normal, AO, etc...)

It works for me when I was doing hard surface work on AAA games.
Please do take note that I do have to plan what I will model first before starting the lowres cage, but for hard surfaces and props like FPS guns etc...i found this more comfortable, and the time spent doing it Highres first is just the same.

But for more organic stuff, yeah I build a highres model first.

Shadow2Matrix

Okay guys this is great insight but I've stumbled into another problem. As I model my low res, Should it be strictly one piece or should and can it contain floating geometry? If floaties are possible, Then how can I unwrap the piece into one UV or will it Have to have multiples? I tried attaching and attempted an unwrap but nothing shows up in UV View. I'm probably asking really basic questions and I really try to search but the searches are inconsistent and getting a direct answers to a direct problem is much easier. I understand how to do it in a sense but Im trying to grasp a good understand of good also.

VeeJayZee

Yes you can have floating geometry. And that floating geometry will have a separate UV shell since its not a connected geo.

Just be careful about using floating geometry in Lowres when the highres version is supposed to be a connected piece. Weird stuff happens like bloated Normal Bakes and Overprojected AO. AO weirdness can be easily fixed in Photoshop, but Normal weirdness is a bit tricky to fix in Photoshop, unless you have a clean smoothing group on your lowpoly model.

Shadow2Matrix

So I Finally Decided to Buy the 3D motive tutorial hoping it would explain where I am stuck and it skips to all the stuff I already kind of know. Money's not relatively wasted, still useful but I dont know how to setup the explosion nor how the unwrap works. Are the Objects Unwrapped Individually First? Then Attached? Then Re Unwrapped? All you have to do is re work the indivual obj.s to fit ur UV when attached? This is So Frustrating but I still ask because am going to learn this process one way or another.