DDO for Low-Poly Model - Normal Map isn't very detailed

petey0707

I have both a high-poly and low-poly mesh, with the low-poly unwrapped and ready to go. The high-poly, however, isn't ridiculously detailed. As a result, when I try to bake onto the low-poly, nothing shows on the normal in some areas. It's essentially blank. So with this I was wondering, even though there are no details, should I keep the normal map so that Quixel can create a curvature map? Or is there a trick I can do to help pop out the edges when baking my HP onto my LP? I'm doing all this in 3ds max btw.

musashidan

Can you post some images so that people can see where you're at and have a better idea if what your issue might be?

petey0707

I can't now since I'm at work, but when baking for some areas, there are literally no changes. So it's essentially a blank canvas. I'm wondering if there's a way to capture the curvature so Quixel understands it. 

I also forgot to mention that my mesh is separated into 5 groups, each mesh group represents a texture set I wish to use.

defragger

I dont understand the question? You can put details on your normalmap by using nDo and then use the detailed normal with DDO.
Why is the highpoly mesh so similiar to the lowpoly. Doesnt make much sense to use a normalmap then.

musashidan

Not sure about QS, but in Substance you can bake curvature maps per vertex(mesh based) without the need for a NM(per pixel)

petey0707

defragger said:

I dont understand the question? You can put details on your normalmap by using nDo and then use the detailed normal with DDO.
Why is the highpoly mesh so similiar to the lowpoly. Doesnt make much sense to use a normalmap then.

Some areas are far more detailed than others and the polycount skyrockets. I'm wondering if for these areas with little to no changes if I should even bother baking and just let nDo do the work. I keep reading that Quixel needs a normal map in order to work properly.

musashidan

It doesn't need a NM. You can use a curvature map for high-poly assets. You can input one or bake it in 3DO.

petey0707

musashidan said:

It doesn't need a NM. You can use a curvature map for high-poly assets. You can input one or bake it in 3DO.

I've been looking for a tutorial or information on how to bake a curvature map for high poly assets and can't find anything. All that I read is that you either need a NM to work the AO, curvature, etc.. from. Also, would you consider 13k high poly? It's a wall/prop piece. 

Synaesthesia

Hey Petey, all you need to do is load your mesh into a new project and allow 3DO to create input maps for you. By default, it will create a curvature map, object-space normal map, and gradient map. If you need tangent normals for any reason, you'll need to bake them or create them with nDo, or combine the methods. AO maps need to be created outside of the Suite currently (unless creating AO from normals, which nDo can map convert for you) but 3DO should be baking AO again soon.  

In the future, please visit us at the Quixel Suite sub-forum and I'll be able to assist you immediately!

petey0707

Synaesthesia said:

Hey Petey, all you need to do is load your mesh into a new project and allow 3DO to create input maps for you. By default, it will create a curvature map, object-space normal map, and gradient map. If you need tangent normals for any reason, you'll need to bake them or create them with nDo, or combine the methods. AO maps need to be created outside of the Suite currently (unless creating AO from normals, which nDo can map convert for you) but 3DO should be baking AO again soon.  

In the future, please visit us at the Quixel Suite sub-forum and I'll be able to assist you immediately!

Ok, thank you!