Well to be clear, "usually" is ok for making hard edges... that's optional. But you should always split UVs where you have hard edges. This is necessary to avoid shading errors, because a contiguous uv can't represent the sudden shading change from a hard edge.
Hi, I'm at a loss for why I'm getting two artifacts in my normal map. The model is a simple chair, low poly, high poly and cage made by transforming vertex components of low poly in Maya. -Problem- Subtle splotches are appearing on seat of the chair over the slight incline of the groove, and more apparent splotches are…
In addition to Bek's post, you should also check out this thread: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107196 TL;DR: Strange banding in the seat area of your chair is due to a near-perfect match between your high and low poly, and your output file format doesn't have enough bit depth to compensate. The splotches…