[Maya - Xnormal] Normal map baking

tom31

Hello, i'm trying to bake a simple normal map but i've some aretacts ...

See here : 


Here is the normal map : 

I created the low poly version in Maya, unfolded it, then i used the crease tool to make the high poly version of it ( with convert smooth mesh to polygon ).

I also created a cage based on the low poly model.

I don't understand where i made a mistake, here are the files if you want to quickly test and find my mistake : 

Low : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3qrqUNdYbRERVpBZnhEOEZUb0E
High : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3qrqUNdYbREMFBPY2JHVFFvNk0
Cage : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3qrqUNdYbREdTNSM1lrSmJGb1U

Thanks !

Sean_P

 Hey Tom,

Most of the artifacts are because of the hard edges or smoothing groups and there are a few random seams in the uv which will cause problems as well

I redid the uv,  cut where the brim meets the crown and then applied a hard edge to the uv seams if you want a script I have one

low poly looks like this

final result

baking can be pretty trial and error some times to get the perfect bake, any questions don't hesitate

tom31

Hello, thanks a lot for your reply, I tried on several meshes and it works .

About the random seams,I didn't notice them, it seems the "convert smooth mesh to poly" tool in Maya unsew uvs, i don't understand why ...

Sean_P

I'm glad it helped, most baking issues are because of the placement of hard edges and UV seams on the model, especially if you have a right angle, it most likely needs a hard edge to aid the normal map

Sean_P

Also if you have and problems with baking the two threads stuck to the top of technical talk: xNormal - MASTER THREAD and You're making me hard. Making sense of hard edges, uvs, normal maps and vertex counts have pretty much everything you'll ever need

tom31

I'll check it out

I still have a problem with "spikes" : 



Here are files : 

High : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3qrqUNdYbREQ2FRYWtFQzduV0E
Low : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3qrqUNdYbRENDZnY2dXRTRBLTg
Cage : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3qrqUNdYbRETkhVR0h1LW5hVXM

Do you know why ? Thanks

vertex_

I took a look at your files. The reason you're getting that nasty section at the tip of the model is because you have almost the entire model sharing soft edges, even at hard angles.

For your low poly model, apply hard edge smoothing to the following edges shown in green:



Also, you're going to want to split your UV sections wherever there is a hard edge in your model (important), like this:

Bake that and see what kind of result you get.

EDIT: updated image