workflow question...

Yonderboy

HI...

I've been modelling an army trailer and am beginning to wonder what the best process will be for painting, baking and making game ready? (sorry, I should think this has been asked a thousand times)

For example, I've modelled the wheel in maya to a very high level of detail. Im planning on taking it into mudbox to paint it and sculpt a few dents and scratches etc. Should I bake the normals and diffuse in mudbox, take it back into maya and then rebake it back down to a lowpoly version there? This seems a little long winded.

Ive seen people take high subd sculpts in mudbox and bake bake down to the original level1 model, but I would like to bake to a totally different mesh from that I've sculpted on.

thanks for any help
Nick

AllinRisks

As I understood it you can take it on like this:

Have your high poly as one "file" then take it to a sculpt program and put dents etc in it. Then you reduce the original high poly model (the one without sculpt) to a low poly, this because its easier without the sculpt stuff on. Then you use the sculpt model to bake the details in to the low poly Im a beginner as well...but this is what I learned so far

EarthQuake

Something like a wheel should not need a sculpting pass unless it's heavily damaged. Small scratches and dents are much faster to add in 2D. It's easy to fall into a huge time sink thinking everything needs to be zbrushed.

Yonderboy

hi - perhaps that was a bad example- i know what you mean. Ill probably just be painting the wheel. But other elements like jerry can would need to be dented etc. Its my understanding that I would paint and sculpt in mudbox and then reexport the high poly back out to maya from where I would bake to the low poly mesh? (that sounds about right now i write it down)

thanks guys

Yonderboy

one thing I still don't understand.. If I do a sculpt, how do I get it into maya to bake into lowpoly? Do I have to bake the high poly normals in mudbox and then take into maya?

AllinRisks

I use 3ds max and you bake the normals in that software. This meaning that you would do it in Maya