Alright a quick update on my problem. Not sure why but I can use the cuda renderer but only in 3.17.8. All I can say is finishing a 4k AO in 8 seconds is pretty awesome
Hey there, I'm wondering if anyone could possibly please assist me. I'm getting the external cage error - I know for a fact that the topology between the low and cage are exactly the same. I literally just duplicated the low and used the move tool to move the normals and inflate the cage.
I've been reading up on possible causes - with the triangulator, unchecking Shortest Diagonal First didn't solve it.
and neither did checking or unchecking Invert Diagonal.
Take your low-poly, duplicate it and triangulate it. Then use your move tool to inflate it.
If you triangulate after, you may possibly get the wrong triangulation direction (which mean a different order of vertex and an error in xNormal).
Hi Froyok thanks for the assist, I redid my cage completely again, using your method. Though It still didn't solve the problem. The only difference is that the error is mentioning a different face number now to the last time.
I solved the issue eventually after remaking my cage about 5 times, exhausting..
Before I combined all the exploded pieces into one mesh, I selected the pieces in a different order between the low and cage.
While having supper I thought of it. I selected each piece of the low poly in a specific order, combined it. Then did the exact same for the cage, in the same order and combined it.
Exported both as OBJs, and they worked in xnormal.
I don't know if that was common knowledge, but I feel like an idiot that in the end it was something so simple. Hopefully this helps anyone else that might ever have the same problem.
Thanks for the assistance, really helped me narrow it down.
"No binary for GPU"... I think that's because the version of Optix for the 3.17.13 does not support that GPU. I'm preparing now the 3.17.14 recompiling with the latest Optix libs so this may be solved in the next release.
My workflow is generally MAX/Zbrush then into UDK. I generally use Max's render to texture to generate my normal maps. I have an older version of MAX (2009) so I have to deal with some quality issues once the model is in UDK and has its normal map applied. My models look great in MAX's viewport with the 3Point Shader and quality mode enabled. But they dont look so hot in UDK (its not a lightmap issue for sure). This thread here http://www.polycount.com/forum/showt...51#post1397151 reassures me that My workflow is not the issue. And that it is a problem between older versions of Max that cant export qualified normals and UDK.
OK sooo... I want to use xNormal to generate my maps since its compatibility with UDK is better than what I can get using Max 2009 and RTT. The problem is I am doing something wrong because my tests look like crap. I was testing with a simple cube.
All sides are separate smoothing groups and each side is its own island. here is what the the normals generated by xNormal look like.
No need to bring it into UDK yet if I cant even bake it right. I have tried having it all one Smoothing Group, baking with a cage.
- have you tried flipping your green channel?
- do you have enough padding between the uv shells?
- does it look that exact same way when viewed in xnormal's engine?
My workflow is generally MAX/Zbrush then into UDK. I generally use Max's render to texture to generate my normal maps. I have an older version of MAX (2009) so I have to deal with some quality issues once the model is in UDK and has its normal map applied. My models look great in MAX's viewport with the 3Point Shader and quality mode enabled. But they dont look so hot in UDK (its not a lightmap issue for sure). This thread here http://www.polycount.com/forum/showt...51#post1397151 reassures me that My workflow is not the issue. And that it is a problem between older versions of Max that cant export qualified normals and UDK.
OK sooo... I want to use xNormal to generate my maps since its compatibility with UDK is better than what I can get using Max 2009 and RTT. The problem is I am doing something wrong because my tests look like crap. I was testing with a simple cube.
All sides are separate smoothing groups and each side is its own island. here is what the the normals generated by xNormal look like.
No need to bring it into UDK yet if I cant even bake it right. I have tried having it all one Smoothing Group, baking with a cage.
Any help would be awesome, thanks!
Are you 100% sure that you are using a cage, rather than the uniform ray distance? Your problem looks like the seam you would get from rays misses, which doesn't happen with a cage.
Are you using a custom cage or one that xNormal makes in the 3d viewer?
Make sure that "Use Cage" is checked and "used exported normals" is selected in the Low definition meshes" slot.
Can you post your xNormal settings?
Thanks guys, It was my custom cage I was putting it in the wrong spot. I was loading it right under the Low poly, not in the cage slot on the low poly line.
Metalliandy- I used a custom cage from MAX, is that what people generally prefer or do people use XNormals cage?
Thanks guys, It was my custom cage I was putting it in the wrong spot. I was loading it right under the Low poly, not in the cage slot on the low poly line.
Metalliandy- I used a custom cage from MAX, is that what people generally prefer or do people use XNormals cage?
Ahh ok, So I assume that everything is baking ok now?
Yea, I always use a custom cage as it is easier than making one in xNormal, but either is ok. It's down to what you prefer really.
knak47: to make it even easier, you can use the sbm file export in max (an xnormal plugin for max/maya), this will export your projection modifier from max to xnormal and use it as cage.
jogshy, have you considered adding a feature to generate an averaged welded caged directly in xNormal? Having an option like this in the Low def along with an offset value would be incredibly useful.
jogshy, have you considered adding a feature to generate an averaged welded caged directly in xNormal? Having an option like this in the Low def along with an offset value would be incredibly useful.
It would be great. I recently started using Modo. It would be really cool to be able to export geometry and create cage in xNormal. I pretty sure you could do it way much better than 3ds max projection modifier which sometimes acts weird.
We switched over to the somewhat synched normals version of the unreal engine and so I started using xnormal again. I made a test model to stress test common high poly shapes. I am getting weird pinching artifacts in my normal map from xnormal now and I can't get rid of them.
Facts:
Tried Fbx 2012 AND 2013.2 export from Max 2012
Reset Xform/Triangulated Low exported as FBX with settings in UDN's guide.
Tried as 1 smoothing group AND as multiple groups seperated by uv islands.
Custom made cage imported into xnormal with proper settings checked.
High poly object using FBX or OBJ.
All objects look fine in xnormals model viewer, no pinching on the high poly model.
Deleted and recreated the offending faces with the artifacts in the low. Didn't fix.
Tried every combination of editmesh + export, turn to poly + export, etc. Didn't fix.
At one point I had these errors, but after working with it they disappeared. Then after a few more exports / imports, they came back.
Has anyone experienced this yet?
[edit] Just made a chamfered cube bake and got the same errors. Tried fbx 2013.2 and 2012. Completely new scene and reset.
I used the same xNormal build with your file and the baking was fine (using the fbx format). However, since I use maya to export the fbx, I was unable to use the cage, xNormal say it had an index error.
Does anyone have an idea what's causing this sort of artifacts and how to prevent it? Happens a lot with my bakes both with and without cage and both with default and cuda renderer.
Ah nevermind. Triangulation wasn't the problem. Looks like the problem was caused because i exported as obj. Just did a test with sbm. Exactly the same model but no such artifacts.
I used the same xNormal build with your file and the baking was fine (using the fbx format). However, since I use maya to export the fbx, I was unable to use the cage, xNormal say it had an index error.
Fixed!
Using FBX2013 it is broken. Using SBM it works.
Initial tests show that exporting the low from max as SBM -> xnormal for bake and then fbx -> udk doesn't work, the normals are jacked up.
"Added a new default tangent basis calculator made by Morten S. Mikkelsen. This should help to
solve problems with UV seams and improve the compatibility with 3rd-party programs."
does this mean that the CryTB.DLL plugin is no longer needed?
I have problem to make a good normal for round stuff
On the lowpoly section enable the use cage option, this makes xnormal do averaged projections, and if your low poly intersects with the high alot, you may actually have to make a cage to bake this down.
Guys i search so much hours for one answer.
I seprate my objects (3 high and 3 low mesh - no contact) to create clean normal maps but xnormal still catch rays from the other mesh in the list. I check batch. - no different.
Guys i search so much hours for one answer.
I seprate my objects (3 high and 3 low mesh - no contact) to create clean normal maps but xnormal still catch rays from the other mesh in the list. I check batch. - no different.
Ok, just uploaded the new xNormal v3.1.0 with quad support, floating geometry support, new LWO importer, new fine detail / 3D viewer format supports, directory restoration, multipart load as well as some minor bug corrections.
Hi guys, I'm getting incredibly frustrated. All I'm trying to do is get my polypainted hipoly to my low poly. An error similar to this popped up before, so I installed an older version of xnormal that apparently works. If anyone knows what to do, or knows another way to transfer polypaint info, please let me know.
thanks
Hey guys, I`m a bit of a noob with Xnormals (and with normals mapping in general lol) and I got something I can`t figure out... some visual issue, just can`t find the reason, take a look at the attachments.
1st pic: the issue, i get after i made my normal in xnormals
2nd pic: my uvw layout (a quick one for normal testing)
3rd pic: low poly model from the front after adding symmetry modifier, with the normal applied in marmoset that looks normal
Thanks in advance for any tips!
3DS Max and Marmoset doesn't use the same normal map direction, by default xNormal set the Y channel of the normal map in positive. Try to invert to green channel on your map to see if it fix your problem inside 3DS Max.
(Or you can set the channel to Y- in the xNormal options)
Also, be careful, from what I have read (I'm not a Max user) the max viewport and the max render doesn't display the normal maps the same way.
the weird thing is it doesnt matter if its y+ or y- in xnormal, the result will be wrong, i need to flip that channel in marmoset to get the proper settings for the green channel (yeah i know sounds like an x-files plot lol) but doesnt matter what i do the cut will be there, both in marmoset and max
Hi all, I'm going to start by saying I am very new to using xNormal, in fact I downloaded it today for the first time(v. 3.17.14). I have watched and read through multiple tutorials on baking normal maps in xNormal and It seems very straightforward.
What I am trying to do is bake the normals from a highpoly mesh onto a lowpoly mesh. I've exported each model as a .obj format and then loaded each model into xNormal. When I click on 3d viewer>launch viewer, I get this message:
"Unexpected Exception triangulating the Geometry"
I get the same message when I try to bake the normal map too.
I tried triangulating my lowpoly mesh, but it didn't seem to do anything. Then, I remembered I had some N-gons on my highpoly mesh and fixed that, but again, I got the same error message. If you have ever gotten this message with xNormal, could you please explain why It's happening and how to fix it? Thanks for any help you can give.
two shots from marmoset, and the normal itself, y+/y- doesnt fix it
What format are you exporting to marmoset, I recently had a problem with exporting a mirrored weapon to marmoset with FBX and was having issues (might be because of a newer fbx version) but as soon as I exported it as an obj everything worked fine.
What format are you exporting to marmoset, I recently had a problem with exporting a mirrored weapon to marmoset with FBX and was having issues (might be because of a newer fbx version) but as soon as I exported it as an obj everything worked fine.
I imported OBJs, might try exporting FBX then... that might be the one which works for me lol
Replies
I've been reading up on possible causes - with the triangulator, unchecking Shortest Diagonal First didn't solve it.
and neither did checking or unchecking Invert Diagonal.
Any assistance would be gladly welcomed.
If you triangulate after, you may possibly get the wrong triangulation direction (which mean a different order of vertex and an error in xNormal).
Otherwise I'm out of ideas.
I solved the issue eventually after remaking my cage about 5 times, exhausting..
Before I combined all the exploded pieces into one mesh, I selected the pieces in a different order between the low and cage.
While having supper I thought of it. I selected each piece of the low poly in a specific order, combined it. Then did the exact same for the cage, in the same order and combined it.
Exported both as OBJs, and they worked in xnormal.
I don't know if that was common knowledge, but I feel like an idiot that in the end it was something so simple. Hopefully this helps anyone else that might ever have the same problem.
Thanks for the assistance, really helped me narrow it down.
OK sooo... I want to use xNormal to generate my maps since its compatibility with UDK is better than what I can get using Max 2009 and RTT. The problem is I am doing something wrong because my tests look like crap. I was testing with a simple cube.
All sides are separate smoothing groups and each side is its own island. here is what the the normals generated by xNormal look like.
No need to bring it into UDK yet if I cant even bake it right. I have tried having it all one Smoothing Group, baking with a cage.
Any help would be awesome, thanks!
- do you have enough padding between the uv shells?
- does it look that exact same way when viewed in xnormal's engine?
Are you 100% sure that you are using a cage, rather than the uniform ray distance? Your problem looks like the seam you would get from rays misses, which doesn't happen with a cage.
Are you using a custom cage or one that xNormal makes in the 3d viewer?
Make sure that "Use Cage" is checked and "used exported normals" is selected in the Low definition meshes" slot.
Can you post your xNormal settings?
Metalliandy- I used a custom cage from MAX, is that what people generally prefer or do people use XNormals cage?
Ahh ok, So I assume that everything is baking ok now?
Yea, I always use a custom cage as it is easier than making one in xNormal, but either is ok. It's down to what you prefer really.
knak47: to make it even easier, you can use the sbm file export in max (an xnormal plugin for max/maya), this will export your projection modifier from max to xnormal and use it as cage.
It would be great. I recently started using Modo. It would be really cool to be able to export geometry and create cage in xNormal. I pretty sure you could do it way much better than 3ds max projection modifier which sometimes acts weird.
We switched over to the somewhat synched normals version of the unreal engine and so I started using xnormal again. I made a test model to stress test common high poly shapes. I am getting weird pinching artifacts in my normal map from xnormal now and I can't get rid of them.
Facts:
Tried Fbx 2012 AND 2013.2 export from Max 2012
Reset Xform/Triangulated Low exported as FBX with settings in UDN's guide.
Tried as 1 smoothing group AND as multiple groups seperated by uv islands.
Custom made cage imported into xnormal with proper settings checked.
High poly object using FBX or OBJ.
All objects look fine in xnormals model viewer, no pinching on the high poly model.
Deleted and recreated the offending faces with the artifacts in the low. Didn't fix.
Tried every combination of editmesh + export, turn to poly + export, etc. Didn't fix.
At one point I had these errors, but after working with it they disappeared. Then after a few more exports / imports, they came back.
Has anyone experienced this yet?
[edit] Just made a chamfered cube bake and got the same errors. Tried fbx 2013.2 and 2012. Completely new scene and reset.
Also, did you try setting up a cage and exporting the Low poly as an SBM, just make sure to drop a Edit Mesh under your Projection mod.
I tried it without a cage, same result.
Thanks for the help Ace, will try sbm.
Files for anyone curious. Has the high and low and cage. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2344272/crit/normalstest.zip
(pic upscaled 200% to make it better visible)
Fixed!
Using FBX2013 it is broken. Using SBM it works.
Initial tests show that exporting the low from max as SBM -> xnormal for bake and then fbx -> udk doesn't work, the normals are jacked up.
So after trouble shooting is HAS to be fbx2013.
solve problems with UV seams and improve the compatibility with 3rd-party programs."
does this mean that the CryTB.DLL plugin is no longer needed?
Can you tell what is not working?
My issue was posted on the previous page. I was getting pinching in my normal map bakes on flat surfaces.
Santiago has stated that xnormal doesn't work with 2013.2, as he hasn't recompiled xnormal with it yet.
I have problem to make a good normal for round stuff
my picture
Thank you for your answer sorry for my english
On the lowpoly section enable the use cage option, this makes xnormal do averaged projections, and if your low poly intersects with the high alot, you may actually have to make a cage to bake this down.
I seprate my objects (3 high and 3 low mesh - no contact) to create clean normal maps but xnormal still catch rays from the other mesh in the list. I check batch. - no different.
Are you using a cage?
Thanks in advance
thanks
1st pic: the issue, i get after i made my normal in xnormals
2nd pic: my uvw layout (a quick one for normal testing)
3rd pic: low poly model from the front after adding symmetry modifier, with the normal applied in marmoset that looks normal
Thanks in advance for any tips!
(Or you can set the channel to Y- in the xNormal options)
Also, be careful, from what I have read (I'm not a Max user) the max viewport and the max render doesn't display the normal maps the same way.
What I am trying to do is bake the normals from a highpoly mesh onto a lowpoly mesh. I've exported each model as a .obj format and then loaded each model into xNormal. When I click on 3d viewer>launch viewer, I get this message:
"Unexpected Exception triangulating the Geometry"
I get the same message when I try to bake the normal map too.
I tried triangulating my lowpoly mesh, but it didn't seem to do anything. Then, I remembered I had some N-gons on my highpoly mesh and fixed that, but again, I got the same error message. If you have ever gotten this message with xNormal, could you please explain why It's happening and how to fix it? Thanks for any help you can give.
What format are you exporting to marmoset, I recently had a problem with exporting a mirrored weapon to marmoset with FBX and was having issues (might be because of a newer fbx version) but as soon as I exported it as an obj everything worked fine.
I imported OBJs, might try exporting FBX then... that might be the one which works for me lol