Normal map baking - problem

omid3098

Hi.
I want to bake my normals for a weapon model.
this is highpoly model:



this is Lowpoly model:



and this one is baked model preview with xoliul shader: (baked using xNormal)



hard edge UVs are broken but as you can see I still have strange results.
I don't know why this happens but I guess strange borders near element collision places is because of cages. :poly141:?
do you think I have to bake elements separately?
what other thing should I do for hard edges (which are not really hard in Highpoly model)

this is my first try on hard surface baking, so any kind of tips are helpful..

Avanthera

did you explode the model before trying to bake the maps?
(move individual pieces away from each other?)

MainManiac

shrew81 wrote: »

did you explode the model before trying to bake the maps?
(move individual pieces away from each other?)

I read about this method but i havent tried it. It seems like it could be annoying putting the model back together precisely?

omid3098

no, I didn't.. looks like good way to test.. thank you..
now I'm trying to bake with scanline renderer and MR, results with scanline is much better than xNormal.. :poly142:

omid3098

frell wrote: »

I read about this method but i havent tried it. It seems like it could be annoying putting the model back together precisely?

you don't need to put them back together, just do this in separate backup file!

THE 5

Explode the mesh in an animation.
Make a keyframe, got to frame 100 (or whatever), move the opjects pices away and create another keyframe. Then bake the normals. When you need the model to be one pice aggain (for AO) just go back to your inital keyframe and bake there.

MR_Verkerk

I usually put an edit poly modifier over it, then use that to explode the model, and when I'm done I simply remove the modifier from the stack

vahl

^^^^^^^^
what he said, except it's better to just turn it off, as it's non destructive

MainManiac

omid3098 wrote: »

you don't need to put them back together, just do this in separate backup file!

Oh yea *facepalm the uvs stay the same

larolaro

Shouldn't your lowpoly only have one shading group? surely you can't bake normals to an object with hard edges.

omid3098

why? I have several elements with different smoothing groups.. and latest results with scanline renderer looks good.. can you explain what do you mean?

Adam L. Gray

can you explain what do you mean?

It's just a common misconception that all meshes have to be in only one smoothing-group when you bake normals. Now, you could either use one smoothing group and throw in supporting edges if needed, or split it up into different smoothing-groups. Both can give good results, depends a bit on the mesh I think.

Not sure which one is the most efficient really, but guess that comes down to the mesh as well. In fact, other than that the one smoothing-group thing can capture corners better sometimes I have no idea why there even are two methods