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Normal baking question.

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DanCrab polycounter lvl 5
Hey guys. I have some issue with my baking results and I hope you can help me.

Here is my HP. I wanna bake this 2 lines around hp to my lp
Here is my lp
UV
Marmoset baking resultSo MV fixed (triangulated) my ngons and I discovered that triangulation affects on my baking result. First image has a pretty strong distortion and the second is almost perfect.

!QUESTION!

Can I somehow have a better result of baking normals with all of it or the last image is the best what I can get?

Thanks a lot. Have a good day / night and stay safe.


Replies

  • Obscura
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    Obscura grand marshal polycounter
    You could have a little better. The texture bending can be reduced by adding 2 extra loops. They should go where you have the lines on the highpoly. This is actually fairly common to do. Not in this exact context but in a similar one. 
  • DanCrab
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    DanCrab polycounter lvl 5
    Obscura said:
    You could have a little better. The texture bending can be reduced by adding 2 extra loops. They should go where you have the lines on the highpoly. This is actually fairly common to do. Not in this exact context but in a similar one. 

    Amazing! Thank you so much.
  • rollin
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    rollin polycounter
    I would guess the original issue was, you baked and viewed with different triangulation.
    What you did then shouldn't solved the issue but make it less visible maybe in the process you even ended up baking and viewing with the same triangulation

    Btw: I would triangulate it by connecting the corresponding horizontal points first. 
    You can add a triangulation modifier in blender before exporting + 'apply modifiers' in export settings to be on the safe side
  • DanCrab
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    DanCrab polycounter lvl 5
    rollin said:
    I would guess the original issue was, you baked and viewed with different triangulation.
    What you did then shouldn't solved the issue but make it less visible maybe in the process you even ended up baking and viewing with the same triangulation

    Btw: I would triangulate it by connecting the corresponding horizontal points first. 
    You can add a triangulation modifier in blender before exporting + 'apply modifiers' in export settings to be on the safe side
    I baked and viewed by the same programm (Marmoset Viewer) with the same triangulation.
    Obscura already helped me. Thank you anyway.

  • rollin
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    rollin polycounter
    Yea, but do you know what's causing the issue? Because if not, you're just following a rule you don't understand.

    It could also come from an uneven normal blending because of the uneven triangulation + sharp edges. But in the blender shot it looks like you have hard edges for the cap segments. This would normally lead to a clean bake as long as these hard edges are still present in Marmoset.
    If you baked without hard edges:
    - a more evenly triangulation (by hand) could lead to a good result without the need to add the extra edges. 
    - baking with hard edges should also get rid of the issue even with the original triangulation. Hard edges might or might not be what you want in the end but for testing purposes it would do the job
    But if you have baked with hard edges this issue is bit unusual. Maybe a look at your baked normal map could reveal something. Very distorted UVs and a low texture resolution could also cause this but from your screens this is very unlikely the case.

    If you want to learn something test it out. Otherwise.. follow the rules ;)

  • FrankPolygon
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    FrankPolygon grand marshal polycounter
    Both Obscura and rollin have provided valid solutions and feedback. There's often more than one way to resolve an issue and what's right for a given project will depend on finding a suitable balance between expedience and efficiency. Understanding the root causes and first principles is beneficial going forward as these issues will manifest again in different situations and specific technical constraints may require other solutions.

    To illustrate Rollin's point: the skewing can be resolved without adding additional geometry.

    Figure 1: Automatic mesh triangulation produces skewing where the low poly's horizontal edges cross diagonal elements on the high poly.
    Figure 2: Blending vertex and face normal directions with a skew map in Toolbag resolves the issue without requiring additional geometry.
    Figure 3: Adjusting the low poly triangulation to match the diagonal elements resolves the skewing without requiring additional geometry.
    Figure 4: Adding additional edge loops that match the diagonal elements resolves the skewing but increases the resource footprint.



  • DanCrab
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    DanCrab polycounter lvl 5
    rollin said:
    Yea, but do you know what's causing the issue? Because if not, you're just following a rule you don't understand.

    It could also come from an uneven normal blending because of the uneven triangulation + sharp edges. But in the blender shot it looks like you have hard edges for the cap segments. This would normally lead to a clean bake as long as these hard edges are still present in Marmoset.
    If you baked without hard edges:
    - a more evenly triangulation (by hand) could lead to a good result without the need to add the extra edges. 
    - baking with hard edges should also get rid of the issue even with the original triangulation. Hard edges might or might not be what you want in the end but for testing purposes it would do the job
    But if you have baked with hard edges this issue is bit unusual. Maybe a look at your baked normal map could reveal something. Very distorted UVs and a low texture resolution could also cause this but from your screens this is very unlikely the case.

    If you want to learn something test it out. Otherwise.. follow the rules ;)

    I got your point. Thats why Im here. To hear a variety of solutions from more experienced 3d artists. And from all of it try to understand the core of the problem.
    I baked with hard edges. One thing I didnt do is I didnt triangulated my mesh (by hands or with modifier) in blender before export. So from all of it I guess this is my problem. 
    FrankPolygon said:
    Both Obscura and rollin have provided valid solutions and feedback. There's often more than one way to resolve an issue and what's right for a given project will depend on finding a suitable balance between expedience and efficiency. Understanding the root causes and first principles is beneficial going forward as these issues will manifest again in different situations and specific technical constraints may require other solutions.

    To illustrate Rollin's point: the skewing can be resolved without adding additional geometry.

    Figure 1: Automatic mesh triangulation produces skewing where the low poly's horizontal edges cross diagonal elements on the high poly.
    Figure 2: Blending vertex and face normal directions with a skew map in Toolbag resolves the issue without requiring additional geometry.
    Figure 3: Adjusting the low poly triangulation to match the diagonal elements resolves the skewing without requiring additional geometry.
    Figure 4: Adding additional edge loops that match the diagonal elements resolves the skewing but increases the resource footprint.



    Huge ty FrankPolygon. Your images proves that the problem is a triangulation that I have on my lp.
    Yup I know about paint scew option in MV. But sometimes its not an option.
    "Adjusting the low poly triangulation to match the diagonal elements resolves the skewing without requiring additional geometry." - best answer ever. 
    Thank you guys. Such a helpful community. And sorry for my poor english)


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