Normal map and low to highpoly questions

Shatterize

Hi polycount,

i'm kinda new to 3d modeling and have been learning by myself for the past year and i got a couple of questions

1. In low poly to high poly modeling for games, i first created the low poly model then turbosmooth it twice (two stacks), with the first one according to the smoothing group and the second one without the smoothing group. Is this one of the correct way to create a high poly out of a low poly ?

i tried it on a cube which resulted in this :


2. My 2nd question involves normal map baking, this picture explains the problem that i'm having





i have read some of the thread on polycount about normal maps, and from what i can gather there are three(? not sure) ways to solve this, first is to add more edges, second is to use extruding edges, and third is to use unwelded/welded cages. i have no idea how to do the second or third one.

3. My 3rd question also involves normal map baking, in this picture :



there is a bit of a gap between the handle and the handleguard, both have different smoothing group
i have no idea how to solve this one.

My UV:

My duplicated uv are located in v-1 space

My normal map

Thanks for reading

ivanzu

Add more geo to solve the problem on first image or modify the H-poly to fit L-poly.

EarthQuake

A. Generally the workflow is create highpoly first using a variety of modeling techniques, then reduce or recreate bits (I usually do both depend on complexity of the area I'm working on) to get the lowpoly. There isn't really a standardized method for turning a lowpoly into a highpoly, and its sort of a backwards way to work.

B. Read: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81154

Shatterize

ivanzu wrote: »

Add more geo to solve the problem on first image or modify the H-poly to fit L-poly.

EarthQuake wrote: »

A. Generally the workflow is create highpoly first using a variety of modeling techniques, then reduce or recreate bits (I usually do both depend on complexity of the area I'm working on) to get the lowpoly. There isn't really a standardized method for turning a lowpoly into a highpoly, and its sort of a backwards way to work.

B. Read: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81154

Thanks for the reply, ill try adding more geo into the low poly