How do I remove these seems in my normal map?

AlexLegg

I've produced this normal map for an old wooden plank and would like some feedback on it please.

Specifically: It has some nasty looking seems that I would like to get rid of. But I'm not sure if I can do that by re-baking it and changing some options, or just paint it out in PS?

Any other comments are welcome too:

Overall impression? How bad is it?

How could it be improved? (in baking process or adjustments in PS)

Or anything else really.



note:

The original map size is 4096.
The map was made using xnormal, and baking from a hi poly to medium poly object. The model was made in Max and scuplted in Mudbox.

Thanks,

Alex

kodde

Isn't that were your UV shells end/begin, and what we are seeing is edge padding?

Stromberg90

Could we see the model with the normal map applied?
As we cant see the seams on the texture, unless you are talking about the padding as kodde said.

AlexLegg

Right, so it seems I am talking about edge padding then. And this is correct and perfectly normal then?

Would you expect to see this on your everyday normal map?

It just looks a bit ugly to me, and I don't recall seeing it other people's normal maps. Maybe I need to look harder!

Stromberg90

Perfectly normal and VERY usefull aswell, if you look around the edges you will see it in most normal maps

Here you have some info on it: http://wiki.polycount.com/EdgePadding?action=show&redirect=Edge+Padding

AlexLegg

Any critique on the normal map?

Can I improve it with some PS tweaking?

It just doesn't look particularly dynamic to me, and just not as strong or nice as others that I have seen posted.

Stromberg90

Well we cant tell a lot before we got to see it on the model, cause thats the only thing that matters in-game it can look horrible in photoshop, but as long as it looks good in-game you are on dry ground

AlexLegg

Here's the UVs laid out over the normla.

So i guess this confirms I am talking about padding - the ugly looking bits pertruding past the shells.

Stromberg90

-.-
(Yes it's the padding)

kodde

AlexLegg wrote: »

It just doesn't look particularly dynamic to me, and just not as strong or nice as others that I have seen posted.

Do you base this on just looking at the texture or looking at the texture in a rendering scenario where it is put to good use?

AlexLegg

Here's two quick renders, although I don't think that they are going to be too much help. The mesh is medium poly and so has quite a high count.

Maybe I should apply the map to a plane to better illustrate it?

AlexLegg

kodde, shame on me. I am bassing it purely on looks as a 2D texture. I know it should be all about how it works in 3D, but I want to show it off a little too, making sure it looks presentable and especially as its going to a client. I see a lot of great looking normal maps posted and want to approach the quality of them.

kodde

To be honest I don't see anything wrong with that normal map.

The quick renders look pretty solid to me. I mean a lambert with a diffuse and normal texture don't look all that amazing no matter what the quality of the normal texture might be. Some specularity w. a good gloss value? Some interesting ambient lighting, maybe ibl? Maybe a lighting setup with lights coming from different directions? etc.

What other render features will you use? Add those first. If you're still not happy with the normal map contribution then it's time to worry about what might be wrong.

Mark Dygert

You should view your normal map in whatever engine you're using or with a viewport shader/rendering method specifically synced to the engine you'll be using. This will teach you another important lesson everyone runs into...

"What I create in app xyz doesn't always match the final product in engine abc."

Just because it looks good when you press render or look at in the 3D app viewport, doesn't mean it will look that way in game.

More than likely when you export it will break your geometry along UV boarders, material boarders and smoothing groups, causing the normals not to match.

Image taken from here: http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/provost/byf2.html


To fix this you need break the low poly geometry along those boarders then bake. This will look broken in your 3D app but will look seamless in the engine. Which is why its important to check your normal map applied to the object, in game. You can sync the 3D app to how the engine will render using various viewport shaders, but that can't always be trusted for every engine. The true check is to import it all and see it first hand in the game.

Because it breaks the geometry at all of the UV boarders you're current unwrap layout causes more verts to be created in the engine, I suggest welding all of your shells together so you have as few seams as possible instead. This will create less padding on your 2D map and will also create less verts in the game, everybody wins.

AlexLegg

Thanks for the feedback.

Vig, you make a good point, I would normally stich the edges together. I can't remember for the life of me why I didn't now...I'm sure there was a reason....lol

Anyhow, just for interest, here is plane with the normal map on.