UVW Unwrapping Isues

Rock Bottom

Hey guys i need some help with Unwrapping i cant seem to bake the Normals maps. I am unsure if i have to delete the Unwrap UVW and then make the cage ore do i leave the Unwrap UVW mod and add the Projection? also after i have done unwrapping is there something i have to add ore save the map so that when i bake it uses the already unwrapped map ore something? i might not be making any sense but i don't know any way else do explain please help.

Ben Apuna

Check out this tutorial by Ben Mathis (poopinmymouth).

Neavah

(not really what your looking for but) at some point in time you should check out xnormal. xnormal takes out all the headache, its easy and fast, and i find more realiable then maxs baking. (just my experience)

good luck

3DRyan

Yes, use XNormal. It's a lot easier on your comp when it comes to rendering power, and it's ridiculously easy to learn. Didn't even take me a day to get great results.

As for uv's, here's my workflow:

1) Model the low poly mesh

2) Layout the UV's for the low poly.

3) Make the high poly mesh using maya, or max, or zbrush, or mudbox, or whatever you prefer. If you are exporting to another program, make sure the mesh is subdivided equally so that sculpting will have high enough resolution to look good.

4) Adjust parts of the low poly to better match the high poly if necessary.

5) Duplicate the low poly mesh to make a cage, and try to barely envelope the low and high poly meshes similar to poopinmymouth's tut.

6) Save the cage, high poly, and low poly, and import them into Xnormal. The XNormal website will have a tutorial on how to use it.

The only model that has to have UVs laid out is the low poly.

This is just an overview. If you need me to go into more detail on something, lemme know.

Rock Bottom

Thanks Ben am looking into the tut
@ Neavah: i have XNormal but i have no idea how to use it lol
@ 3DRyan: yeah please i am trying like mad to bake the UV´s and nothing is working and it is seriously driving me insane.
it seems like it rearranges the UV´s and orders them in the way it feels like. hmm interesting xD

Eric Chadwick

Sounds like "Use Automatic Unwrap" is on instead of "Use Existing Channel".

The radio buttons to the left of the yellow box...
http://www.poopinmymouth.com/process/normal_workflow/normal_09.jpg

Rock Bottom

@ Eric: yeah Automatic Unwrap was on. Cant wait to try Baking with it off and see what happens thanks

Rock Bottom

hey this is whats happening to me when i Bake the image and it is so f***ing anoying

and this is how i unwrapped muy UV´s

please help i am going crazy here
this is the object i am making

Eric Chadwick

Looks like the wrong UVs are being used.
Use Automatic Unwrap is off?
Use Existing Channel is set to the same UV channel # that you created?

Rock Bottom

Automatic Unwrap is off and i put existing channel on 1 but it just renders out black and another thing i noticed is that when i select to import the Cage Mesh into Projection it does not select the object but maybe it does, i am not sure cause the objects lines don't turn blue like the projection mod. maybe it has nothing to do with it

Eric Chadwick

Simplify the setup by not using an imported cage, get that working, then import a cage mesh if you really need it.

Rock Bottom

i am such a noob sorry how can i use a Projection without the cage? i am still learning how to unwrap and it is a pain

Eric Chadwick

Follow the tut in your first reply, the one from Ben Apuna. It's an older tut, but it's full of goodies.

Rock Bottom

i think i have got it finally after days of work i think it finally works
is this fine ore are the lines to close?

3DRyan

Any experienced normal mapper will tell you that you will almost always have to do some cleaning of your normals in photoshop. You will almost never get a perfectly clean bake. If the lines are too close and you get some pixel bleeding, just paint out some of the overlap in photoshop for now and remember to keep your uvs further apart for next time. There should be an option in the baking options tab in XNormal that controls how much your pixels bleed out over the uv lines. Great to see that you're getting somewhere with your bakes! Just keep plugging away, the first couple times you learn how to normal bake will be a HUGE pain, but once you've got it down, it's smooth sailing.

Why though, are the images so grainy? Can't say i've seen that problem before in a bake. Maybe not enough samples?

Eric Chadwick

Looks like a noise bump on the high-res. Better to layer that on in Photoshop, so you can mask it off.

Rock Bottom

ok thanks guys you have all been of great help. i know this is off topic but why do people normaly use Difuse normal and specular? what is the diference?

Eric Chadwick

Diffuse, normal, and specular maps help you create a wide variety of surfaces.

diffuse map = base color
normal map = surface curvature/detail
specular map = intensity/color of the highlight

More
http://wiki.polycount.net/CategoryTexturing

Rock Bottom

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ROCK_B%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG]hey guys i finally managed to bake the damn model but now i have a problem i want to add the normal map on my model but it does not add it correctly maybe some option is not correctly put in but it is weird cause the Normal Map did fit the model correctly the map channel is 3 so they are all on the same number what should i do?


what should i do? please help

Eric Chadwick

Hard to see what is going on here.

Looks like you're applying the map to a different mesh, one that's just flat, not the same shape you baked from. What does the source mesh look like?

Also it's usually best to use UV channel 1 for most shaders.

Rock Bottom

Rock Bottom wrote: »

this is the object i am making

and this is the detail i need to fix but i have no idea how to clear it out what should i do to make it look sharp?

kdm3d

Rock Bottom wrote: »

and this is the detail i need to fix but i have no idea how to clear it out what should i do to make it look sharp?

increase your raytrace distance in your projection options in RTT, or make your cage larger if you are doing it that way. Your rivets look like they are jsut getting cut off there. Also, in your render options, try turning on MaxStar2.5 super sampling, it will be a bit smoother.

mickyg

If you're rendering with Scanline then enable the Global Supersampler in the rendering options, and use the Hammersley option. Ramp up the quality and it should fix the aliasing issues, but beware of the extra rendering times.

Also try maybe rendering out your normal map 2x bigger than intended and scale down in Photoshop?

Edit: Or Maxstar 2.5:)

kdm3d

mickyg wrote: »

If you're rendering with Scanline then enable the Global Supersampler in the rendering options, and use the Hammersley option. Ramp up the quality and it should fix the aliasing issues, but beware of the extra rendering times.

Also try maybe rendering out your normal map 2x bigger than intended and scale down in Photoshop?

Or hammersly that works too:)

Eric Chadwick

More here if it helps.
http://wiki.polycount.net/Normal_Map#AA

Rock Bottom

yeah me again i was wondering if i should make a Diifuse, normal and spec maps ore just Normal and AO?? wich is best?

Eric Chadwick

It sounds like you still don't understand the difference between the different map types.

What kind of maps you make simply depends on the results you want.

kdm3d

I think I understand, your talking about baking?

AO and normal are typically the only thing I bake, the rest can be done on the texture painting side. IF you want to easily be able to tell which parts are which and make them easily selectable in photoshop, then give your HP model parts different diffuse colors in the material editor. Then you can bake a diffuse too and you will get those laid out as well...

You are only baking the things that you want to transfer from your hi-res to your low res. If its not in your highres, theres no reason to bake it.

Eric Chadwick

These tutorials should help ...

Metal Crate Tutorial by racer445

Hard Surface Texture Painting by Stefan Morrell

Rock Bottom

hey guys i am now a pro :P just kidding. i now know how to model,UV, bake and texture only problem now is that when i try to render my model with the normals map on nothing happens not even with a textured map put in the diffuse slot works, what should i do so that i can render out the image? this is how my model looks now

Eric Chadwick

If it's for a game artist portfolio, take a screenshot from a game engine, like Marmoset or UDK. Next best thing is Max or Maya viewport. Last place is rendering in Max or Maya. If this is meant to be a game asset.