Explanation for the normal result in these cirumstances
EDIT: I've come to realize the bake doesn't work in xNormal but it works fine in 3DS Max. I still have no idea what is going on as I've tried a different 1 island/1 smoothing group in xNormal and didn't get a good result either, but it worked when I did it in 3DS Max.
Hey guys, I have a question about the results I'm getting from a particular normal map. I have good bakes, but there is one situation where a bake just goes insane that I would like to understand the reasoning for.
Here is the model I'm working with:
This doesn't demonstrate the problem, but I wanted to show you what I'm working with just so you have a frame of reference. Both of the low poly models have 6 faces. On the far left I have each face on its own UV island and 3 smoothing groups total. The one on the right is 1 island and 3 smoothing groups total.
The one on the right has a bit of a sharp edge since there isn't really a gradient there to smooth things out. The one on the far left looks better even though it has a few more verts.
My question is why I was getting the following normal map bake when I tried to use one island and one smoothing group total.
And just for the hell of it here is the normal map with 1 island and separate smoothing groups that work correctly. (The one on the right).
I didn't bother taking any images of the one on the left on that original image since that is the one I'll use for what I'm making.
Anyway, I can't seem to find an explanation (that I understand) on why I get such a crazy result with one island and one smoothing group.
Hey guys, I have a question about the results I'm getting from a particular normal map. I have good bakes, but there is one situation where a bake just goes insane that I would like to understand the reasoning for.
Here is the model I'm working with:
This doesn't demonstrate the problem, but I wanted to show you what I'm working with just so you have a frame of reference. Both of the low poly models have 6 faces. On the far left I have each face on its own UV island and 3 smoothing groups total. The one on the right is 1 island and 3 smoothing groups total.
The one on the right has a bit of a sharp edge since there isn't really a gradient there to smooth things out. The one on the far left looks better even though it has a few more verts.
My question is why I was getting the following normal map bake when I tried to use one island and one smoothing group total.
And just for the hell of it here is the normal map with 1 island and separate smoothing groups that work correctly. (The one on the right).
I didn't bother taking any images of the one on the left on that original image since that is the one I'll use for what I'm making.
Anyway, I can't seem to find an explanation (that I understand) on why I get such a crazy result with one island and one smoothing group.
Replies
Are you using maya, xnormal?
3DS and xnormal. The mesh doesn't have any splits/overlaps/unmerged verts or edges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciXTyOOnBZQ
This was one of the best 9 minutes I've spent as an artist.
I appreciate you responding and linking the video. I don't mean for this to come out rude, but I don't think that is expected at all. I went ahead and did a bake inside 3DS instead of xNormal using 1 island and 1 smooth group and got a good bake (Image Below)
It seems its only xNormal that has that issue. I tried a fresh project and just made a cube with a inward bevel to see how it would react in xNormal and it gave me a bad bake with 1 island and 1 smoothing group. The same bake in 3DS gave me a good result.
There has to be something here that I'm missing.
(I'm using a cage when baking in xNormal and 3DS BTW. I believe that sort of bake has an specific term but I can't remember it at the moment.)
Well that normal map isn't a good bake. The gradient will cause issues especially if the tangent space normals are not synced with the baking program and the engine. If you have a 6 sided object you need to have all the edges hard, and each face needs to be a separate UV chunk.
Your original bake in xnormal looks like a problem with your cage or normals flipped somewhere.