Strange "Pinching" on Normal Map
polycounter lvl 18
Hey folks. I have a little question that I can't seem to find the answer to anywhere.. I've been trying to get back into creating normal maps and doing some new artwork and I seem to have come to something I do not recognize and none of my friends can direct me towards an answer.
Using 3D Max 9 I bake my normal maps to half of a Character's torso, boot, and arm separately. With these three objects in the scene I attach them all and use symmetry. With the full character before me I weld all the seams. And this is when things get confusing.
At every welded seam the normal map pinches and distorts the way the light is hitting the model and displaying the map. I'm really at a loss for how to fix this, so if anyone is familiar with this problem and could point me in a direction that may fix it I would be most appreciative. Thank you.
Using 3D Max 9 I bake my normal maps to half of a Character's torso, boot, and arm separately. With these three objects in the scene I attach them all and use symmetry. With the full character before me I weld all the seams. And this is when things get confusing.
At every welded seam the normal map pinches and distorts the way the light is hitting the model and displaying the map. I'm really at a loss for how to fix this, so if anyone is familiar with this problem and could point me in a direction that may fix it I would be most appreciative. Thank you.
Replies
If you use a Symmetry modifier (or edit the mesh geometry at all, really), you're changing your vertex normals and therefore the normal-map you baked will no longer match the mesh's tangent space.