Texture and normal map baker
- Thread starter Myagi
- Start date
Myagi
Active member
A new version is available with a multi-threading bugfix. Also added the ability to bake geometry onto itself without having to make a second copy and select it as BG layer.
Allthough I'm a bit doubtful this was caused by the bug I found, rather than just being the effect of all CPU resources being used for processing, it might be worth a shot to try with the new version.
Allthough I'm a bit doubtful this was caused by the bug I found, rather than just being the effect of all CPU resources being used for processing, it might be worth a shot to try with the new version.
chunderburger
Well-known member
ok will give it go, thanks for all you hard work! really appreciated 
I wanted to try your plugin (looks great from your web) but it crashes my Modeler right on when I try to activate it.
Using LW 8.0, WinXP(latest SP etc), 32bit.
I don't have such problem with any other plugin afaik.
I tryed fresh install of LW, only standard plugins etc - still crashes.
I tryed one of my nextgen objects, some simple test object (box) and empty layers - same crashes.
Google didnt give me anything about this issue so its probably not common ?
Anything I can do with it ?
Thanks
Using LW 8.0, WinXP(latest SP etc), 32bit.
I don't have such problem with any other plugin afaik.
I tryed fresh install of LW, only standard plugins etc - still crashes.
I tryed one of my nextgen objects, some simple test object (box) and empty layers - same crashes.
Google didnt give me anything about this issue so its probably not common ?
Anything I can do with it ?
Thanks
Myagi
Active member
Oh sorry, forgot that there was a 8.5 even.
It's supposed to work with LW8 as in 8.x, but not necessarily with 8.0. The plugin was initially developed on LW8, probably 8.3 and/or 8.5, but there is a chance that I accidently broke 8 support in recent updates. If that's the case I'll try to fix that.
Should it turn out to work fine in 8.5 but not 8.0 I'll of course add a note about it.
It's supposed to work with LW8 as in 8.x, but not necessarily with 8.0. The plugin was initially developed on LW8, probably 8.3 and/or 8.5, but there is a chance that I accidently broke 8 support in recent updates. If that's the case I'll try to fix that.
Should it turn out to work fine in 8.5 but not 8.0 I'll of course add a note about it.
Myagi
Active member
It's mainly intended for baking objects rather than scenes, and any object that would be loaded into layout would be created in modeler first anyway It can work nicely with multiple layers, so that can ease it up a little. Was there any particular type of "situation" you had mind?
It can work nicely with multiple layers, so that can ease it up a little. Was there any particular type of "situation" you had mind?
Myagi
Active member
Ah I see, aren't 3D-coat and ZBrush etc. better at baking their own objects than third party apps? I mean what is the benefit of not doing it in there? I'm not really up to speed on those sculpting apps. I suppose it maybe gets complicated with getting the low-poly model in them?
I have been testing this plugin and so far the result quality seems better than what I've been getting out of 3DC except that there are errors in the map that I haven't been able to work out.
I've posted some screen shots to show what I mean. I'm pretty new to laying out UV maps and baking down so there must be some things I'm missing, perhaps someone here could give me some direction?
This same object/uv map bakes down fine in 3D Coat, I just like the quality in the Texture Baker better.
In the video it looks like half the model is baked down and then mirrored? Is that what I need to do? Not sure how I would do that.
Thanks for any help!
I've posted some screen shots to show what I mean. I'm pretty new to laying out UV maps and baking down so there must be some things I'm missing, perhaps someone here could give me some direction?
This same object/uv map bakes down fine in 3D Coat, I just like the quality in the Texture Baker better.
In the video it looks like half the model is baked down and then mirrored? Is that what I need to do? Not sure how I would do that.
Thanks for any help!
Attachments
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Darkbreed_AssaultRifle_v006_lowpoly_n.jpg -
UV_layout.jpg -
Settings.jpg
Myagi
Active member
For a quick check that the artifacts aren't the result of concave/non-planar polys you can Triple the entire high resolution mesh and bake. Also double check the troubled area to see that the trace distance is large enough.
For mirroring you have to make use of the #ignore feature (4.2 in the user guide also describes it). You tell the baker to exclude the mirrored half by assigning the mirrored faces, of the low poly mesh, to a LW part named "#ignore". That way it will not overwrite/overbake the same polys twice.
Technically it would also be possible to just delete the mirrored half while baking, but smoothed normals in the seam will not match the final normals, if the final mesh has merged vertices across the seam.
For mirroring you have to make use of the #ignore feature (4.2 in the user guide also describes it). You tell the baker to exclude the mirrored half by assigning the mirrored faces, of the low poly mesh, to a LW part named "#ignore". That way it will not overwrite/overbake the same polys twice.
Technically it would also be possible to just delete the mirrored half while baking, but smoothed normals in the seam will not match the final normals, if the final mesh has merged vertices across the seam.
Myagi
Active member
Ok for some reason I can't save an edited post, so I'll have to make a new one:
Edit: I noticed a couple of white "holes" in anopther area of the normal map, those are usually the result of trace distances being too short (the ray doesn't "reach" the high poly mesh), so definitely try increasing the distance a little bit.
Edit: I noticed a couple of white "holes" in anopther area of the normal map, those are usually the result of trace distances being too short (the ray doesn't "reach" the high poly mesh), so definitely try increasing the distance a little bit.
Great, Thank you Myagi! You were right all I needed to do was triple the hi-res model.
Thank you for noticing, I'm still adjusting the ray distances. I will be purchasing a commercial license very soon!
Thank you for noticing, I'm still adjusting the ray distances. I will be purchasing a commercial license very soon!
Myagi
Active member
If the verts are merged/welded between the halves, you could try not merging the mirrored half (this requires re-baking the unmerged variant), ie. the edges along the mirror seam are open.
It's also possible that a render engine doesn't support mirrored normal maps. If you still get the inside-out effect on the mirrored half, even if it isn't merged, then that's probably the case.
You might still get a visible seam, depending on how the polys are placed, but knowing whether the mirrored half is inside out or not will answer the question if can handle mirrored normal maps or not.
It's also possible that a render engine doesn't support mirrored normal maps. If you still get the inside-out effect on the mirrored half, even if it isn't merged, then that's probably the case.
You might still get a visible seam, depending on how the polys are placed, but knowing whether the mirrored half is inside out or not will answer the question if can handle mirrored normal maps or not.
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