UV Mapping for normal maps

solvalou

I was wondering on the best way to UV map models for use with normal maps. The way i've been doing it is to try to keep distortion to the minimun, which makes painting the textures harder, especially when trying to get rid off seams. It also is very wasteful for texture space.

I think i've read somewhere here that someone was mentioning that distortion for normal mapping isn't much of a concern. Is it possible to uv map the model the old way and make maximum use of texture space? Without some weird stuff happening to the normal map. Or at least straightening out the edge seams? has anyone tried this?

I haven't really dived into the new pelt mapping stuff in max8, but I think people should try DeepUV to unwrap models for use in normal mapping. It's almost a 1 button click affair to unwrap the model with minimum distortion. Once you setup where the seams are in Max just bring it over to DeepUV and hit relax.

CheeseOnToast

UV distortion isn't much of a problem...you'll have the normal map/baked lighting/ambient occlusion maps to guide you when you're painting the colour maps, not just the crappy wires. Seams are more of a concern, as its harder to get rid of a normal map seam than it its to clean up a seam on the colour map. Where possible try to minimise seams, even if this causes a bit more distortion than you might be used to.

MoP

Yep, what CheeseOnToast says is right. You can also straighten edge seams as much as you want if it helps get a better layout.
Just minimise the number of seams, don't let the maps get TOO distorted, but if it's in an area that won't be seen much, it should be fine ... since you'd be baking a highpoly mesh down to these UV maps, the computer is handling all the distortion for you, and as mentioned it's better for you to work around that, than it is worth wasting space in order to get a distortion-free layout.