Normal Map Seam Problem (Maya, Mudbox, Crazybump, Unreal Engine 4)

DefoNotMike

Hello, I am having a problem with seams in my normal map that I am creating for a rock. I cannot hide the seams where I cut my UVs because I want the rock to be able to be turned any way for using in an environment. 
My Current workflow is
-Model and UV rock in Maya.
-Bring model into Mudbox, and paint the diffuse using a rock texture onto it ensuring there are no seams.
-Then I have tried multiple programs for converting my diffuse to normal maps including Quixels NDO and Crazybump.
-Next I import my model, diffuse, and normal into Unreal Engine 4
-I setup my material in Unreal. I plug my Diffuse map into Base color, and everything looks fine, no seams
-Then I plug my Normal map into the Normal slot and now I have seams in my normals. 

I am wondering if anyone has any work arounds for making converting diffuse to normal without having seams. 

Diffuse Map
https://gyazo.com/7fcb4fab46effec58db84984cb1ebb8d

Normal Map
https://gyazo.com/02704cf360f3a254bf6df84653778e04

Diffuse in Unreal (No Seam)
https://gyazo.com/5eb9db8b8e6b8e69cf94a40b4722b8a0

Diffuse+Normal in Unreal (Seam)
https://gyazo.com/47c8a2a7d9e9c4013b2e0bd193e2ba4c

Thanks again friends. Cheers.

ZacD

What does your normal map look like when you put it as the base color? Do you seen any seams in the texture on the model where the seams show up when it is plugged into the normal map? 

DefoNotMike

Hello ZacD, thank you for taking the time to reply to me.

When I plug the Normal Map into the Base Color channel I still do see the seams. I'm just confused because the Normal Map is created directly from the diffuse, and the diffuse itself doesn't have a seam when I plug it in so I don't know why the normal has a seam.

Normal Map in the Base Color Channel in Unreal
https://gyazo.com/a02ba69e4f3eace7ded309d9d6bb88c6

Thanks again. Cheers.

ZacD

When Quixels NDO and Crazybump generate a texture from an image, they are assuming the image is a flat tiling texture, and they do not compensate for the direction or UV islands.

Basically if you are not using tiling textures, automatic normal generation will not work and you will always get seams like these. 

DefoNotMike

Hello ZacD, 

I was not aware those programs only worked with tileable textures, but that does make sense now. I had a base tileable texture, and I used the projection tool to paint it onto my rock mesh. If the take the base tileable texture, and convert that to a normal then use the projection tool is there any way I could get an accurate normal map, or if there's any other way I could workaround this or change my workflow? Apologies for asking so much of you my friend, I just want to learn the right way. 

Thanks again. Cheers. 

DefoNotMike

I ended up finding a different workflow to make it work! I tried out Substance Painter and was able to receive good results from there. Just for future reference I will elaborate below.
-I took my base tileable diffuse map
-Then converted it to a tileable normal map in crazy bump
-Then I imported my mesh into Substance Painter
-Then I got the base brush tool, plugged my Diffuse into the base color of the brush, and my Normal into the normal of the brush
-So now when I paint I am able to paint the diffuse and normal at the same time eliminating the seams. 

Thanks friends for you reply, have a good one.