AO Baking Nightmare
polycounter lvl 9
I am pretty sure I understand baking. I've made countless normal maps using high, low, and cages, with exploded meshes every single time when I can. I've been making AO maps the same way for months, with exploded meshes. It just dawned on me however, that using an exploded mesh does not transfer true AO, and I am losing out on AO detail.
For AO, I've plugged in my high and low poly with no cage, and with a cage, and both get terrible results. It's as if the light rays are coming on broadside, from all 6 sides of a cube-map, and ignoring angled rays. I am getting totally black, and totally white, data where meshes don't overlap at all. None of my UVs are overlapped either.
I should be getting an even, shadowy gradient, but in the tight spots, I get hard edges of black or white cutoff.
What am I doing wrong?
This was my first version, and is is about the level of detail I am aiming for with this new one...
For AO, I've plugged in my high and low poly with no cage, and with a cage, and both get terrible results. It's as if the light rays are coming on broadside, from all 6 sides of a cube-map, and ignoring angled rays. I am getting totally black, and totally white, data where meshes don't overlap at all. None of my UVs are overlapped either.
I should be getting an even, shadowy gradient, but in the tight spots, I get hard edges of black or white cutoff.
What am I doing wrong?
This was my first version, and is is about the level of detail I am aiming for with this new one...
