How do i bake out Scifi floor details?

Jhutchings · Apr 2013

Hi, i was wondering if any of you guys wouldn't mind helping me understand the workflow of baking out my Scifi floor?

i've created a high poly floor and assumed i could just bake it onto a plane but i'm not sure how this is done or if i'm even doing it right..

any help would be awesome

Here is a picture of the floor if it helps.

travisdreams · Apr 2013

here's a video that covers this:

[ame="

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYWj3zGXSjM"]Creating Normal Maps -Baking using Transfer Maps in Maya - YouTube[/ame]

In basic/general terms:

1. have a low res

2. create a high res

3.only select the low res
go to rendering and transfer maps

4.Then select the high res and add the high to the source

5. choose the map desired

6. edit the settings necessary

7. bake that "cake" away!

from experience, ive learned that meshes with a straight 90 degree downward wont bake as desired so having a small angle with that makes a big difference. hope that helps!

Jhutchings · Apr 2013

Do you use the same workflow for a plane? everytime i try this it comes out blank or just messed up

travisdreams · Apr 2013

yeah i use the same workflow for a plane, i believe it makes a difference to have the high res slightly above the plane rather than right on it. whatever it takes to get the desired results

though make sure the plane is unwrapped as desired.

show me the "messed up" results you're recieving?

Jhutchings · Apr 2013

travisdreams wrote: »

yeah i use the same workflow for a plane, i believe it makes a difference to have the high res slightly above the plane rather than right on it. whatever it takes to get the desired results though make sure the plane is unwrapped as desired.

show me the "messed up" results you're recieving?

This is what i get.. clearly gone wrong badly somewhere haha..

Heres what the envelope looks like on the high poly.

EarthQuake · Apr 2013

There shouldn't be an envelope on the highpoly, only on the plane. Have you loaded the highpoly into the lowpoly slot?

travisdreams · Apr 2013

make sure you're selecting the low res first, then clicking transfer maps, then deselect the low and select the high res followed by adding the high res to the source mesh. you might have it backwards. I can put some screens of a maya normal bake in an hour or so, but im at work atm and these PCs dont have maya =/

Jhutchings · Apr 2013

Yea i've got the low poly selected first, sorry i took a screen shot of only the enveloper so the low poly is hidden. travis that would be great if possible! i've been looking all days about this, i've no idea what i've been doing wrong haha..

travisdreams · Apr 2013

Jhutchings wrote: »

Yea i've got the low poly selected first, sorry i took a screen shot of only the enveloper so the low poly is hidden. travis that would be great if possible! i've been looking all days about this, i've no idea what i've been doing wrong haha..

ahh i see i see, i'll definitely do a quick high poly model similar to yours and bake it to a simple plane with screenshots. i'll provide the screenshots in maybe 40 minutes or less, i should be out of work in 20 mins or so

VESIUS · Apr 2013

Try baking with XNormal.. IMO it's the best program to do so.

peanut · Apr 2013

I never tried it so far, everyone mentions this at some point, does it handles AO maps also ?

travisdreams · Apr 2013

VESIUS wrote: »

Try baking with XNormal.. IMO it's the best program to do so.

i 100% agree with this from experience, but then again i havn't done alot of baking in maya/max simply because i dont want to bring such high res models into the program as it'll chug

but baking a simple beveled box to a non beveled box for some reason takes much longer in maya than in xnormals so thats why i prefer xnormals

Jhutchings · Apr 2013

travisdreams wrote: »

ahh i see i see, i'll definitely do a quick high poly model similar to yours and bake it to a simple plane with screenshots. i'll provide the screenshots in maybe 40 minutes or less, i should be out of work in 20 mins or so

that would be great! I'll actually see where i'm going wrong.

@ Vesius I tired Xnormal but got similar results. i'm wondering if I've went wrong somewhere in the modelling process..

travisdreams · Apr 2013

here's a link to my blog that i posted my steps to maya transfer maps:

http://travisdreams.blogspot.com/2013/04/maya-low-to-high-baking-process.html

if anything maybe delete the file's history and do a basic unwrap again on your low poly plane and try it again. if you really want, you can maybe upload your file to a basic file uploading website like mediafire and i can see if i can give your file a go

edit: i lowered the high res even further from the plane, as if it wasn't touching it and it gave me the strong normal map details necessary also.

Jhutchings · Apr 2013

thanks! i'll give it a go and report back how it all goes. thanks again for all the help travisdreams =]

travisdreams · Apr 2013

Jhutchings wrote: »

thanks! i'll give it a go and report back how it all goes. thanks again for all the help travisdreams =]

alrighty, no prob! hope it works now/you found the solution *fingers crossed* :P

Jhutchings · Apr 2013

travisdreams wrote: »

alrighty, no prob! hope it works now/you found the solution *fingers crossed* :P

Yes! its baking maps now =] when i used a new plane anyways :L. should i be keeping the low poly a single flat plane or should i be shaping it to high poly? i'm wondering if this was my problem to being with :L

travisdreams · Apr 2013

glad you found the problem!

well if it's specifically for a floor, you can get quite drastic and efficient results with just a flat plane

imo i'd keep it as a plane and if i need like something like a vine to pop out but only in a little portion to give it that realistic depth, i'll add a small amount of geometry popping out, sculpt it in zbrush, and let the normals do the work for details like little branches and such

How do i bake out Scifi floor details?

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