Looking for Normal Mapping Advice

Unity Engine
1

I’m pretty new at Maya, and am looking for advice with generating normal maps. I’m modeling a car for RC Laser Warrior and am having trouble getting the normal map to look how I want. Any general advice out there that can help me achieve the best results when generating normal maps in any situation?

One specific thing that I’m curious about is if I should generally expect to use Photoshop to edit the normal map, or if Maya is good enough that I shouldn’t have to bother?

Thanks in advance for any advice! :smile:

  • Matt
2

Hi Matt, I recently took a cracked clay ground texture in grayscale, converted it to geometry in bryce, then used that geometry (in Maya) to generate a normal map.

Have you sussed out how to bake normal maps via “transfer maps”? I can walk you through that if you like. However if you’ve already sussed that out, I cant really help. My situation had no overlapping UV’s so I dont know haw you’d go if your uvs were overlapping…it might not work.

Let us know what stage your at.
AC

3

Thanks Targos for the answer. I apologize for the vagueness of my post. I know how to use the “Transfer Maps” function in Maya . . . I just don’t know how to use it well, and I also know to avoid overlapping UVs. Basically, I know how to push the “Bake” button in the Transfer Maps tool :stuck_out_tongue: The specific problem I’m getting is that weird creases and heights are defined where they shouldn’t be. But that aside, I’m just looking for some general advice from anybody who has experience generating normal maps. For example:

  • Are there any quirks that Maya encounters and if so is there a workaround?
  • Any types of geometry/special instances where I may see crazy results?
  • Any of the advanced settings in the “Transfer Maps” tool worth messing around with?

Maybe it’s too general of a question . . . but I thought if anybody has some good answers its worth a post.

4

These aren’t Mac app’s, but you may find them helpful. I’ve gotten both to work on my iMac using Fusion and XP Pro:

http://crazybump.com/

5

A wonderful tutorial video on transferring normal details to low poly surfaces in Maya. Hope it helps.

As for editing the normal map in Photoshop, you can if you want to combine fine grained normal map data derived from a photo with the larger normal map data generated from your high resolution mesh.

You can go here iDevGames for some more info on Mac apps to generate normal maps form images as well as methods for deriving large scale maps from photos as well.

6

also here’s a max based tut (with normal map editing info) that’s excellent for general tips tricks:

http://www.poopinmymouth.com/tutorial/normal_workflow.htm

; )

7

Hi Matt,

Do you mind posting a small example image of the creases you’re getting in the normal map. My first guess would that your UV shells aren’t spaced out enough, but without seeing any example of just how out of whack these bakes are for you I can only guess.

Ethan