It's advisable not to use the LP as the cage because it doesn't cover the HP and for a correct bake you need to cover the HP entirely.
Using your bake, there is a very slight seam, but nowhere near as bad as what you showed.
I made a tutorial a while back that goes over the basic of xNormal, including how to make a cage. Give it watch over and hopefully it will fill in the gaps that you don't quite understand http://eat3d.com/free/xnormal_overview
I used the 3D viewer to create a cage and did a global extrusion that encompasses the hp. I then saved the meshes and had xnormal apply them. The bake still resulted in a seam though.
I used the 3D viewer to create a cage and did a global extrusion that encompasses the hp. I then saved the meshes and had xnormal apply them. The bake still resulted in a seam though.
Are you sure your vertices are well welded? Do you use the ZBrush's mergeUV option / gw::obj vertex welding? If you check in the "show tangents" option with a normal map applied you can see if the vertices are duplicated because it's TB won't be equal.
Also try with other graphics driver, like the OpenGL or DX10 one.
Before exporting always try to triangulate + ResetXForm/Freeze transformations to avoid problems with the normals. Btw... which format are you using? Try with other format and see if that solves your problem.
Is there a way to find more info of the xml process to batch some baking with xNormal ?
I didn't find any useful documentation about this topic on the official xNormal website.
Are you sure your vertices are well welded? Do you use the ZBrush's mergeUV option / gw::obj vertex welding? If you check in the "show tangents" option with a normal map applied you can see if the vertices are duplicated because it's TB won't be equal.
Also try with other graphics driver, like the OpenGL or DX10 one.
Before exporting always try to triangulate + ResetXForm/Freeze transformations to avoid problems with the normals. Btw... which format are you using? Try with other format and see if that solves your problem.
All vertices are welded, this example is made purely in maya so no zbrush thing. I don't know what TB is or where to look for that, I clicked show tangents and they are fine, the normal map also seems fine by the eye when turned on.
I tried the various drivers but the seam persisted, as it does when applied within maya. Have deleted history/frozen transformations and exported triangulated but still no improvement. I'm using OBJ, all the files involved where posted for download on the previous page. I just exported as fbx and baked with those still resulting in a seam, tried the sbm format with a cage made in the 3D viewer globally extruded, and still got a seam..
I'm not sure what maya is doing to render it without the seam along the meshes mirrored edge. Its not that big of an issue, the seam isn't that visible or bothering my team, was just curious if there was a way to get a bake without it in xNormal like I could with maya.
quick question, i'm baking out a normal map for a character and for no reason whatsoever xnormal seems to be ignoring my blocker files? anyone encountered this before? i've tried just about everything, including extorting as both .obj and .fbx . The weirdest thig is it baked the exact same files perfectly only the other day??? any help would be great thanks
Just wanted to,post here, i figured out the issue, basically it was'nt ignoring the blockers. The issue was with the ray distance. Once i did the raydistance calculator and applied the ranges, i got a perfect bake :-) thanks for the help.
I have a question, why is it so freaking ugly... It looks like someone from 1994 had their way with the interface. I mean, it's a great tool, but it is graphically awful. I really wish I could have my way with it, make it all sleek looking:(
Ace-Angel, don't be daft. The interface is not optimal, and Jogshy knows it. MoP did a mockup for XN4 years ago that looked great. Looks aren't even the top priority, the problem lies mostly in the layout and resulting workflow, which can be massively improved.
Ah, in terms of layout design is something I agree that should change, I thought they were specifically talking about 'looks' only (darker hues, non-raster images, etc). My bad.
In terms of looks I'm also quite certain it's not the design many of us would have chosen. There's a reason I prefer a flat, easy to read interface over Kai's Power Tools.
I decided to make am mock in hopes he will be swayed to change it, this isnt the ideal look and I just took a few minutes, but it's clean and logical, I mean, really the close button was at the bottom? I just don't understand why he's make the UI so strange...
Its app for baking maps... its really not that important. Jogshy is working on Xn4 which will have new UI. Its really not worth wasting time on improving UI of Xn3. Its not even flawed. Yeah its not perfect and it looks bad but focusing on improving looks of an app which bakes maps ... ?
XN4 is coming (eventually), and there have been mockups before. MoP did a fairly nice one, and I believe Jogshy liked it too!
And I do believe it featured an integrated 3d viewer, which would be hugely helpful in checking meshes are aligned etc. without having to launch the fullscreen viewer.
edit: I do want to make clear that I think Jogshy's doing an awesome job with Xn! I'm very much looking forward to Xn4.
Its app for baking maps... its really not that important. Jogshy is working on Xn4 which will have new UI. Its really not worth wasting time on improving UI of Xn3. Its not even flawed. Yeah its not perfect and it looks bad but focusing on improving looks of an app which bakes maps ... ?
Just wait for Xn4.
I think it's because it was FAR more work to do what he did rather than just do a standard, easy to read UI. So that was time not spent on the baking and utility parts of the code.
Yeah maybe but now it really doesn't matter. Since jogshy i focusing on Xn4 and is probably a really busy man its really pointless to show him how Xn3 should look like ;p
Oh and Xn3s UI really isn't confusing. Looks outdated but its not confusing.
Hi! There is a strange artifact on normal map appears if model have more than one smooth group on a face. Usually I use 3ds max sbm exporter for Low poly and obj for High poly. Illustration below
Normal map achieved with 3ds max texture baking feature don't have any artifacts. So, maybe the problem with SBM exporter?
Thanks!
Does Xnormal have support for rendering custom sizes? I need to do some rectangular maps.
You can have rectangular maps as long as they are still power of two.
To change the size, use the dropdown menus under the Size filed in the Baking options. Easy!
You can have rectangular maps as long as they are still power of two.
To change the size, use the dropdown menus under the Size filed in the Baking options. Easy!
Thanks for posting bro but you missed my not so ninja edit. I need 256x384. Sounds weird but I cant go into details why I need this.
Hi, for those who has the "...face "x" has a vertex index that doesn't match..." problem and are using maya, one thing to keep in mind is that the order of the objects in the outliner must match, for example: you have three low poly objects named: "1", "2" and "3", when you duplicate that objects for making the cage, Maya duplicate them but change the order in the outliner, so your duplicated objects will be "3", "2" and "1". So, when you export them as a single obj in xnormal (even if they are the same) xnormal will show you the error screen saying "face x has a vertex index...."
The solution: go to the outliner and match the order of the low, hi and cage polys.
Ah, and for making the cage I use the "edit mesh->transform component" tool, works fine for me.
I know there is other reasons why the same error massage appears, but you should check the order just to discard one possible problem.
Hope this message will be useful. Sorry for my english.
greetings from Colombia.
chao!
in spanish:
Para quienes tienen el problema "...face "x" has a vertex index that doesn't match..." y usen maya, una de las causas es que el orden en que est
yetbog, if you get the vertex index error message and you're using external cages and you're sure the external cage's topology is exactly equal to the LP's mesh then try to disable the "use shortest diagonal" in the default triangulator plug-in.
>>Does Xnormal have support for rendering custom sizes?
Nope, it's currently restricted to pow2 sizes. I'm using a special fixed-point rasterizer and that's a requisite by design. However, this will change in xn4 for sure.
When I try to use the Simple Ambiant Occlusion Generator with some of my meshes I get always a crash of xnormal (a silent crash, not warning at all) and the result is a blank texture (the pop-up window with the time a computing never appear).
I tried to reduce my mesh, to triangulate it, etc. I didn't found any solutions.
Here is my mesh if you are curious : Mesh in obj format
Is there a log to check out somewhere for xNormal ?
I'm using the version 3.17.8.842832 in x64 (but the x86 crash too).
[EDIT]
I have done a quick test with the version 3.17.3.31709 x64 that I have on an other computer, the generator works without any problem.
My mesh is identical, so I guess it's a problem from the version 3.17.8 ?
[EDIT2] Just installed the latest version (3.17.13) and don't get any crash. Everything is fine. Yeaaaah !
1. this thread is huge, has anyone made a summary/index for problems solved?
2. in the 3d viewer I was seeing lighting artifacts on my low poly as I rotated the light. Im 90% sure that it's my modeling that's to blame, but I discovered that when I turn down the indirect lighting to 0, it looks fine, no artifacts.
Uhh, i need help guys.
Recently i'm trying this thing to produce my normal map.
But i got this problem
Is there any experts here know what causes this to happen?
Probably your projection rays are not long enough, try to tweak them in the line of your low-poly mesh (maximum and near ray distance).
You can also use the ray distance calculator in the Tools.
Uhh, i need help guys.
Recently i'm trying this thing to produce my normal map.
But i got this problem
Is there any experts here know what causes this to happen?
Just thought I'd share this amusing (read: infuriating) conversation I had with a random individual on Skype:
All feedback is welcome. Think that xn3 was designed in a few hours for INTERNAL usage ( as a tool of a game engine called X3 ) .. but the program grew too fast out of control :poly121:
xN4 is designed in an absolutely different way :poly142:
Hi PC just figuring I should ask here first since I couldnt find anything about this Xnormal problem. I get an error message when using the Optix/Cuda renderer and I have no clue what to do. I can always just use the Default bucket renderer but I would really like the extra speed.
I'm using v3.17.13.38574 [x64] release.
My system specs are Windows 7 64 bit
24GB ram
i7 3770k
ASUS 670 DirectCUII Top with latest drivers (301.42) with DX11.1 support
I hope someone might be able to help.
Edit* I should mention it gives this error when it says "generating gpu ray tracing spatial structure" when the render window comes up after clicking generate maps.
Edit* Sometimes its crashing now when loading what I believe is the maprender caustics.dll
Edit* tried using the x86 version just incase but I get the same error.
Edit* Tried running in compatibility mode for Vista still not working.
Edit* Ran as administrator still not working.
Edit* went into the Cuda renderer and tried changing between the Direct 3d 9 and 10 graphic drivers and still not working. Im all out of ideas.
Edit* It looks like my card is using Cuda 4.2.1 while xNormal uses 4.1 and im guessing maybe this is the problem?
Replies
Using your bake, there is a very slight seam, but nowhere near as bad as what you showed.
I made a tutorial a while back that goes over the basic of xNormal, including how to make a cage. Give it watch over and hopefully it will fill in the gaps that you don't quite understand
http://eat3d.com/free/xnormal_overview
Did I miss something? Or is it just my pc.
Also try with other graphics driver, like the OpenGL or DX10 one.
Before exporting always try to triangulate + ResetXForm/Freeze transformations to avoid problems with the normals. Btw... which format are you using? Try with other format and see if that solves your problem.
I didn't find any useful documentation about this topic on the official xNormal website.
All vertices are welded, this example is made purely in maya so no zbrush thing. I don't know what TB is or where to look for that, I clicked show tangents and they are fine, the normal map also seems fine by the eye when turned on.
I tried the various drivers but the seam persisted, as it does when applied within maya. Have deleted history/frozen transformations and exported triangulated but still no improvement. I'm using OBJ, all the files involved where posted for download on the previous page. I just exported as fbx and baked with those still resulting in a seam, tried the sbm format with a cage made in the 3D viewer globally extruded, and still got a seam..
I'm not sure what maya is doing to render it without the seam along the meshes mirrored edge. Its not that big of an issue, the seam isn't that visible or bothering my team, was just curious if there was a way to get a bake without it in xNormal like I could with maya.
Um, the interface is fine? Functional > Sleek, unlike Max or UVUnwrap.
Just wait for Xn4.
And I do believe it featured an integrated 3d viewer, which would be hugely helpful in checking meshes are aligned etc. without having to launch the fullscreen viewer.
edit: I do want to make clear that I think Jogshy's doing an awesome job with Xn! I'm very much looking forward to Xn4.
Oh and Xn3s UI really isn't confusing. Looks outdated but its not confusing.
Normal map achieved with 3ds max texture baking feature don't have any artifacts. So, maybe the problem with SBM exporter?
Thanks!
Nothing for your hard work quite like the gratitude of the best and brightest in the industry, eh Jogshy?
For added fun, here's a clickable link to his work:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1d-cgFozeeM/T70wQDbbEfI/AAAAAAAAAH4/TeUqqoTsIsE/s1062/ter+h+fighter.PNG
You can have rectangular maps as long as they are still power of two.
To change the size, use the dropdown menus under the Size filed in the Baking options. Easy!
Thanks for posting bro but you missed my not so ninja edit. I need 256x384. Sounds weird but I cant go into details why I need this.
The solution: go to the outliner and match the order of the low, hi and cage polys.
Ah, and for making the cage I use the "edit mesh->transform component" tool, works fine for me.
I know there is other reasons why the same error massage appears, but you should check the order just to discard one possible problem.
Hope this message will be useful. Sorry for my english.
greetings from Colombia.
chao!
in spanish:
Para quienes tienen el problema "...face "x" has a vertex index that doesn't match..." y usen maya, una de las causas es que el orden en que est
http://www.theorangeduck.com/page/scripting-xnormal-python
(not my site)
>>Does Xnormal have support for rendering custom sizes?
Nope, it's currently restricted to pow2 sizes. I'm using a special fixed-point rasterizer and that's a requisite by design. However, this will change in xn4 for sure.
When I try to use the Simple Ambiant Occlusion Generator with some of my meshes I get always a crash of xnormal (a silent crash, not warning at all) and the result is a blank texture (the pop-up window with the time a computing never appear).
I tried to reduce my mesh, to triangulate it, etc. I didn't found any solutions.
Here is my mesh if you are curious : Mesh in obj format
Is there a log to check out somewhere for xNormal ?
I'm using the version 3.17.8.842832 in x64 (but the x86 crash too).
[EDIT]
I have done a quick test with the version 3.17.3.31709 x64 that I have on an other computer, the generator works without any problem.
My mesh is identical, so I guess it's a problem from the version 3.17.8 ?
[EDIT2] Just installed the latest version (3.17.13) and don't get any crash. Everything is fine. Yeaaaah !
1. this thread is huge, has anyone made a summary/index for problems solved?
2. in the 3d viewer I was seeing lighting artifacts on my low poly as I rotated the light. Im 90% sure that it's my modeling that's to blame, but I discovered that when I turn down the indirect lighting to 0, it looks fine, no artifacts.
Recently i'm trying this thing to produce my normal map.
But i got this problem
Is there any experts here know what causes this to happen?
You can also use the ray distance calculator in the Tools.
Uhmm, can you give me a tutorial about it, please?
FYI, i'm kinda new at normal map thingy :poly139:
I always do a simple model before.
http://eat3d.com/free/xnormal_overview
xN4 is designed in an absolutely different way :poly142:
xn3 == impossible without a major redesign. xN4, yep.
Correct
Haa ! Sweet to hear !
I'm using v3.17.13.38574 [x64] release.
My system specs are Windows 7 64 bit
24GB ram
i7 3770k
ASUS 670 DirectCUII Top with latest drivers (301.42) with DX11.1 support
I hope someone might be able to help.
Edit* I should mention it gives this error when it says "generating gpu ray tracing spatial structure" when the render window comes up after clicking generate maps.
Edit* Sometimes its crashing now when loading what I believe is the maprender caustics.dll
Edit* tried using the x86 version just incase but I get the same error.
Edit* Tried running in compatibility mode for Vista still not working.
Edit* Ran as administrator still not working.
Edit* went into the Cuda renderer and tried changing between the Direct 3d 9 and 10 graphic drivers and still not working. Im all out of ideas.
Edit* It looks like my card is using Cuda 4.2.1 while xNormal uses 4.1 and im guessing maybe this is the problem?