how to get a normal map for my character

AdrianYahpp

Hi!
I curently finished retopology my character in 3Ds max but before that I sclupted it in zbrush. so here is my workflow
-sclupt in zbrush
-retopology in 3dsmax
-unwrap UV

my problem is I cannot use the normalmap which is from zbrush because it has a different UV.
can somebody give me any suggestion what I should do to get a normal map from zbrush(the character before I retopology in 3dsmax) for my retopologized character in 3dsmax? and what is the correct workflow?

thank you so much ^_^

note: I'm still new in 3Dsmax and Zbrush

kanga

Good apps for making a game model. You might be missing a few things tho. 
High poly detailed mesh in ZBrush. Play with the export settings in ZBrush until the model is the right size and position in the 3d app you plan to make the lowpoly in. I use a decimayed copy of the ZB high poly for this and use that for export.

Once the decimated copy is how you want it in (this case Max) use polydraw to make a lowpoly. Uv the lowpoly and export it to your disk. At this stage you can export the highpoly from ZBrush to your disk and the export settings in ZBrush will make sure both versions of the asset are in the exact same position in 3d space and at the exact correct size.

Now comes the magic! There are a number of different apps you can use to bake the textures. Ive used Max and XNormal which are great, but you have to export the lowpoly with a cage (for best results). If you use an app like substance painter you  don't need a cage, just import the lowpoly and point substance painter to the highpoly and hit bake. Your normal map (among others) is derived from the difference between the high and uved lowpoly.

Hope that helps.

Alex_J

There is a number of video tutorials that will cover this and, for me, seeing is usually the easiest way to understand on the first go around. Also, check out this websites wiki for detailed explanations and plenty of links to tutorials and further reading. Baking is something that was really troublesome for me as a beginner for awhile. Gave me quite a few headaches and rage quits. I'd recommend learning to bake with whatever apps you are currently using, but..... down the line, there is a fantastic app taht really makes the process a lot faster and easier. Marmoset Toolbag 3. Reason I don't recommend getting it right away is just that if you learn to bake with the other apps first, you'll need to understand what is happening a little more thoroughly to get good results. And having that deeper understanding will help you troubleshoot issues that arise no matter what app you are using.

About the workflow :

In short, your hi-poly sculpted model does not need UV's.

The low-poly game model needs UV's.

The UVs are a map, and when you "bake", you are transferring the details from that high-poly sculpt onto that UV map. Then, that map gets wrapped around the low poly model, so you end up with all of the high-poly model's surface details on the low-poly model.

It's actually quite simple once you get over that initial hurdle. It's a matter of transferring the data from the detailed model to the less detailed one, and you need those UV's (only on the low-modell) to tell the data where to go.

kanga

BIGTIMEMASTER said:

...

About the workflow :

In short, your hi-poly sculpted model does not need UV's.

The low-poly game model needs UV's.

The UVs are a map, and when you "bake", you are transferring the details from that high-poly sculpt onto that UV map. Then, that map gets wrapped around the low poly model, you so end up with all of the high-poly models surface details on the low-poly model.

It's actually quite simple once you get over that initial hurdle. It's a matter of transferring the data from the detailed model to the less detailed one, and you need those UV's (only on the low-modell) to tell the data where to go.

That's it.