normals fail

ducckz

hey i iam new to this and i tried making a normal map by having zbrush high poly and maya lowpoly in xnormal , loaded in but it failed horrible
please tell me what i did wrong and how to fix?



http://imgur.com/BC0rdsx

.Wiki

Post your lowpoly and Highpoly. And show how your cage looks like. Are your Smoothing Splits set up correclty? What are your xNormal settings?

In which format do you export the files? I work with softimage and FBX gave me better results in xNormal then OBJ.

When you just post a wrong normalmap its hard to find out whats wrong...

D4V1DC

It looks like you used the auto unwrap option, when putting together the texture map wire frame you should think of it like a puzzle you have to fit together and eliminating the black the best you can, but leave about 2-4 px spacing between parts.

If your having a hard time understanding the lingo or anything else use this:
http://wiki.polycount.com/

ducckz

wauw sorry for the late reply i was really busy this weekend
i have no idea what a cage is ? and neither smoothing splits haha
il post some pics you asked about :

xnormal settings : http://imgur.com/tgsZgXD

lowpoly : http://imgur.com/1kcEu0R

high poly : http://imgur.com/AMuHd2o

WarrenM

i have no idea what a cage is ? and neither smoothing splits haha

Not to be rude, but I'd say you have some reading to do.

Some of the more popular threads on the subject of normal maps:

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81154
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107196

And some helpful videos can be found here:

http://www.handplane3d.com/videos.html

But, ultimately, you may need even more basic help if you don't know what a cage is or what smoothing splits are.

Sardu

Have you tried saving your normals from within Zbrush?

ducckz

i dont think i can becuase i unwrapped in maya and not zbrush? and it needs an unwrap for a normal map doesnt it?
and thanks for the links il have a look around

and dont worry about being rude haha , it all helps me get further wich i really want so i take nothing offensive ^^

WarrenM

Awesome, that's a good attitude! Normal maps seem like black magic wizardry until you read/try enough thing and it becomes clear. Good luck!

CheeseOnToast

Also, your low poly should be much simpler. If it's intended to be seen in third person, I'd just have a simple thin cylinder for the main shape, with the thickness of the shield rim added. Also keep the outer spikes. If it's for first person, I'd add the rivets as well.

The normal map will do most of the work for areas like the wood and the design.

EarthQuake

Yeah, the way you have modeled your lowpoly will give you lots of issues. Model it as one airtight mesh, not a bunch of clipping meshes. No need to model it in the same way the high is modeled.