I need to create normal maps for high poly mesh (>1millon) for decimated meshes.
I tried xnormal, but i thing i do not undrrstand something about it cuz its maps gives very strange and scatered shadows.
So i need advice wich tool to use for baking normal maps.
Maybe the Substance tools from Allegorithmic, if you don’t have a proper 3D modelling app of some sort.
What are you using to create the models(and decimate them)? I for one use Blender, and it has an integrated baker that works just fine.
My other question would be…how are you getting the decimated mesh? Depending on what you are using, the normals may not be very good(also depending on the UVs). A nice mesh with good topology that you make will usually work better than some automatic decimation method.
I making meshes with Agisoft PhotoScan, and it has built-in decimator. In perfect way i don’t want to lose some small details on the wood like cracks and bark details, so i think that normal + height maps can handle this. I am currently really unexperienced in modeling/rendering so may be i am doing something that should not to do.
Well, depending on the final use for the models(and how that decimator works), you may really need to make the low-poly version yourself. There are tool that make retopo easier(some better than others). Then, once you have a good quality lower poly version(how low-poly depends on the final usage), you can bake your highpoly model to the low-poly and get a normal map. I do this(rarely because I’m not an artist) in Blender. There is other software that can do it. The issue you are having with XNormal may be due to ugly geometry, or it may just be something with XNormal. Substance Painter can also bake normal maps.
There are several reasons you want good geometry for your low-poly models(which most automatic decimators don’t do well). You want good topology and edge flow when possible, and even more so on animated models. You want nice straight groups of edge loops in places where things bend during animation(like fingers, knees, and elbows for humans). Auto-decimated meshes won’t make that happen for you. Also, when making your own mesh, you can easily decide where to optimize, and where you actually need more faces. Generally flat areas can often get away with less polys, but everytime I’ve seen a decimator in use it doesn’t take that into account.
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Substance Design too, maybe surprisingly. Good news for people only in need of one of the two apps 
I’ve had terrible building models (ten times the polygons they should need, or worse) I tried to clean up in a few decimators, and they’re definitely more miss than hit. Sometimes they “stumble” on some part of the model and just plain ignore a whole roof full of triangles (hundreds instead of two for a flat section).
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I’d heard that Designer does the baking too, but I’ve never used it for that purpose(since I have both Designer and Painter).
About terrible models…I know the feeling. That’s kind of why I like using models as pre-renders for sprites instead of as actual models. It doesn’t matter how many polys it is(generally) as long as it is rendered ahead of time instead of real-time. And yeah, I’ve never seen a decimator do a good job either…which is why I suggest a manual retopo.
Good to know… I have the suite subscription but mostly just use painter. I generally manually retopo rather than relying on decimation and just use xnormal to bake but I’m not a professional by any stretch of the imagination and not doing anything complex or fancy.