Need help in understanding better the preparations for texturing from Marmoset Toolbag to Painter
So I have this little guy modeled and just created a quick'n dirty normal map including each object (6 in total) in 1 texture set. See 2nd image for the actual model.
What I don't understand in terms of pipeline is when I import the low poly and normal in Painter and how to proceed further.
To apply the normal map for each of the 6 objects making up the fish means I have to load the same normal map 6 times?
Also once I am done in Painter and export the textures for rendering in Toolbag 4, do I have to create 6 different materials per each object, load the same normal map, base color, occlusion etc?
Is it possible to narrow it down to 1 map per channel instead of so many? Like joining them all together after baking in order to get 1 map per channel.
Replies
None of the processes imposed by this or that tool (here Toolbag and Substance) are to be taken as a norm, because they aren't.
Once you have your baked textures, it's up to you to combine them as needed in Photoshop if needed or to keep them separate, according to how you want the specifics of your game asset to be. Once you are past the baking stage, both toolbag and Painter because mere model viewers really.
Put differently : don't try to figure out game pipelines based on the idiosyncrasies of authoring tools. Instead get familiar with the ins and outs of a few game engines and games that accept modded content, and author your assets similarly. That's all there is to it really.
"To apply the normal map for each of the 6 objects making up the fish means I have to load the same normal map 6 times?"
With 1 texture set, you should only have to insert your imported Normal Map once. Your 6 objects should be using the same material / texture set. This is defined by your mesh's material IDs, within your DCC software pre-export. Only if you had assigned each object with its own unique material, ie. Eye_mat, Teeth_mat, Tail_mat, etc. would you need to assign your baked normal map 6 times; Each texture set uses its own layer stack.
Thank you so much, guys! @killnpc the culprit was that I had a unique material per each object, which is why Painter read them as a different texture set. Fixed that already and works like a charm. Thank you again! :)