rendering real time for portfolio
How do I render a low poly mesh so it looks exactly like it will when I use if in a game?
Maya is not doing a very good job with normal maps.. the object and its textures look very different than what I get in Unity or UDK, even in hardware rendering.
How can I get a nice render to put in my portfolio?
Maya is not doing a very good job with normal maps.. the object and its textures look very different than what I get in Unity or UDK, even in hardware rendering.
How can I get a nice render to put in my portfolio?
Replies
Put it in a game?
It seems you're already able to export things to udk, so you might as well use it. But I'm guessing you're after a quicker and simpler solution, in which case I'd recommend using a DX Shader, like Xoliuls hlsl shader. You should be able to find it both on Polycount and his portfolio, as well as a lot of different places
A few things to note. They're simple but effective, apologies if you've tried these already.
Firstly, are you using high-quality mode in the Maya viewport? I've always found Maya displays normal maps just fine, admittedly not to the same level of quality as a dedicated realtime shader but definitely a fair representation.
Secondly, lighting. Regardless of what engine/shader you use, lighting will be the difference between an ok render and a great one. Spend some time lighting your assets and the results will turn out much better. Play with light hue, intensity, shadow density and position, as well as the number of lights.
Lastly, if you want ultra crisp renders from UDK, bring up the console from the play-in-editor and type 'tiledshot 4' (4 will determine the size and can be adjusted but 4 should suffice for a portfolio shot).
This will save out a huge shot of your UDK scene usually somewhere in your UDK/Game/Screenshots folder.
There is a boolean (possibly, coding isn't my thing) setting in the 'engine.ini' file that's called something like
'bEnableHighQuality' and setting that to =true will force the highest texture res and other performance crushing alterations. Remember to turn it back if you want to make anything playable.