Why aren't my normals displaying correctly? [3dsmax] [marmoset 3] [substance 2.5] [unreal 4]
polycounter lvl 4
Find yourself asking that age old question: 'Why aren't my normals displaying correctly?'
Spent some time today working through Marmoset 3, Substance 2.5 and Unreal 4 seeing whats different between each program when it comes to displaying normals baked in 3dsmax. I've collated some information and images below for the settings that can be easy to miss..
I've tried to keep it short and sweet so it's useful to those trying to troubleshoot display issues quickly, but feel free to reply with additional information (especially if I need to amend anything!)
[Please bear in mind I am a 3dsmax user only]
3dsmax:
Make sure that when you export you have Tangents and Binormals ticked in the settings:
Marmoset toolbag 3:
-Flip the Y channel in the material tab
-Make sure to set tangent space to '3D studio max' since this is where you baked your normals (the same idea would apply if you baked it in marmoset etc) You can do this in the Mesh tab itself if you are likely to change between methods, but you can also set the default tangent space in preferences.
Substance Painter 2.5:
-Change the project configuration to OpenGL
Unreal 4:
-Use PS to invert the green channel of you normal (select the green layer in the Channels tab and press Ctrl+i)
And below here are some examples of what things look like when they go wrong!
1) Substance: Tangent setting on export not ticked: (top is the directX setting, you can see additional UV island seams here):
2) Unreal 4: Here's the normal without the inverted Green channel
3) Marmoset: Here's a mesh using a tangent space that doesn't match the bake
Spent some time today working through Marmoset 3, Substance 2.5 and Unreal 4 seeing whats different between each program when it comes to displaying normals baked in 3dsmax. I've collated some information and images below for the settings that can be easy to miss..
I've tried to keep it short and sweet so it's useful to those trying to troubleshoot display issues quickly, but feel free to reply with additional information (especially if I need to amend anything!)
[Please bear in mind I am a 3dsmax user only]
3dsmax:
Make sure that when you export you have Tangents and Binormals ticked in the settings:
Marmoset toolbag 3:
-Flip the Y channel in the material tab
-Make sure to set tangent space to '3D studio max' since this is where you baked your normals (the same idea would apply if you baked it in marmoset etc) You can do this in the Mesh tab itself if you are likely to change between methods, but you can also set the default tangent space in preferences.
Substance Painter 2.5:
-Change the project configuration to OpenGL
Unreal 4:
-Use PS to invert the green channel of you normal (select the green layer in the Channels tab and press Ctrl+i)
And below here are some examples of what things look like when they go wrong!
1) Substance: Tangent setting on export not ticked: (top is the directX setting, you can see additional UV island seams here):
2) Unreal 4: Here's the normal without the inverted Green channel
3) Marmoset: Here's a mesh using a tangent space that doesn't match the bake