- Normalmaps depend on UVs. - Do *not* apply hard edges to all your UV shell borders - *especially* across smooth shapes like these. It's the worst place to put a hard edge at, normalmapped model or not. The rule is the exact opposite : you need a UV split IF you decide to put a hard edge somewhere. Not the other way…
@pior is correct in that it is a common misconception that you need hard edges for uv borders. The rule is you need to split your uvs for hard edges, but the opposite is not true. Thinking about how you plan to use hard edges, and how that will influence your uv layout while creating the model is great advice as well.…
Not necessarily, as the brute force approach can have its merits. My advice would be to simply always think about your future UVs and hard edges as you model. That way everything will be thought out in advance.
What every program has though, is a way to manually place hard edges/SGs. Which is what you should be ready to do, as you will need to do that for any model that has at least some very smooth shapes like this rifle stock.
Yes, you need UV seams of course. What you do NOT need, it to apply a hard edge to all UV seams. In other words, you absolutely do not need to press that Textools button. It can be handy in some models, but that is NOT the necessary and sufficient condition. This is just a very widespread myth, coming from the fact that…