updated projection map asset

Rated Rrr · Sep 2007

**updated at bottom**

So I have a question about texturing when it comes to normal map projection.

I have my high poly which is staggered in different layers projected on my low. My question is whats the best way to match up my diffuse with my normal so each pipe, texture and fence all look correct?

Heres the high

Heres the low

Marine · Sep 2007

i'd guess that you could bake the fence and pipes to transparency and use them as masks. i've not tried it, but it seems like it would work

Rated Rrr · Sep 2007

I'll def. give that a shot. You know where I could get some info on the proper way to do that (a tutorial or something). I appreciate the help.

fogmann · Sep 2007

I guess what you want to do is assign different color materials to each of your high poly elements - e.g. one color for pipes, one for fencing, one for the frame, and pick basic colors, like pure red, pure green and pure blue for that. Then you can bake the color (aka diffuse) pass and use that to separate the different texture elements when you get to work on texture. That way you should get probably black areas where the rays don't hit geometry, and that will be your alpha. You might have the option to bake the areas that the rays miss as alpha, but I'm not sure about that. You'd bake that color pass the same way you bake normal map, only pick diffuse/color (not shaded) instead of normal map, and you could also bake an occlusion map to get the shading in place, which will help you with your texture painting then. As for tutorials, it will help to know which program do you use. In Maya, you'll find all the options under Transfer maps, which used to be called Surface sampler in earlier versions.

Rated Rrr · Sep 2007

For this piece I am using max. If you happen to have a tutorial that you think might help I'd love to look over it but if not the info you posted seems easy enough to follow. I appreciate the help. Going to try it out now.

Rated Rrr · Sep 2007

Ok, so I tried that diffuse render but it came out a little wonky. Any suggestions?

oobersli · Sep 2007

i'd just say what fogmann said and make an ao map. You could actually texture your high poly pipes with what base material you want, and do the ao map. combine them and all you have to do is just add grime/scratches in ps.

Rated Rrr · Sep 2007

I tried doing an ao map (all of it together), should I do another and render each pipe/tube/fence out separate?

fritz · Sep 2007

i second the ao thing. just put the ao on the top layer in pshop...set it to a low opacity and just paint away. should be no prob

Rated Rrr · Sep 2007

So I ended up doing a diffuse pass and in process of doing ao maps for each layer. Thanks for everyone's help, heres what I have so far (in case you wanted to see it).

I was having trouble lining up the norm with the diffuse but it clicked after the second pass.

Xaltar · Sep 2007

Bake the fence and pipes seperately to two different low poly meshes (use clone to make sure UVs are identical) then bake a diffuse map for each being sure to check split alpha for the fence, that will give you a texture called A_*texture name*.tga. That texture contains the alpha for your fence and you can use it to make a transparency to overlay onto your pipes as a new layer. Be sure to save a copy of your diffuse as a PSD so it retains the layers so you can work on it easily later. Bake the pipes and fence to one mesh now. If all goes well you should have an easy to work on diffuse texture that matches your normals but it can be tricky making sure your cage is set up exactly the same for each pass. I hope this all makes sense. If you have questions just ask and I'll see if I can clarify better.

Rated Rrr · Sep 2007

I had a few minutes and worked on some more, c/c welcome

Rated Rrr · Sep 2007

lil' update

Makkon · Sep 2007

That's rad, dude. I paused when I saw that. Very impressive,although I don't think you'll want it so flat. I'd imagine you'd want the layered effect of the fence and tubes.

EDIT: at a second glance, I think it works actually quite well.

EarthQuake · Sep 2007

Yeah this would have been done better using a plane with a small tiling texture for the grate, thats alphatested, and having the rest inset so you actually get the parrallax of have real depth.

Rated Rrr · Sep 2007

Really appreciate it. I was getting close to shelving this piece but I'll try your suggestions.

Thanks again.

TheWinterLord · Sep 2007

looks really good, I gotta learn how to do that :P nice work il try this over the weekend for fun.

*updated* projection map asset

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updated projection map asset