The smoothing value is something I hadn't messed with before. I'm on my way in to work, so will give all of these options a whirl.
Thanks again everyone. Adam On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 8:20 AM, Tim Crowson <tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com > wrote: > I avoid Normal Maps, but when I have to use them from other apps, I've > had the best results by doing the following, which gets me usable results > from Zbrush normal maps (and Mudbox too, I think...) > > 1. select the mesh and add a Tangent Property (Property > Tangent) (to get > rid of the unsightly vertex colors in the viewport, which can kill > performance, use Display Options > Vertex Colors > Never Show) > 2. in the shader tree, add an XSINormalMap3 node and plug into the > material's Bump port > 3. in that normal map node's properties, set the 'tspaceid' to the UV map > you want to use. > 4. uncheck 'Unbiased Normal Map' > 5. under the Tangent section, select 'Tangents' > 6. keep 'Unbiased Tangents' checked on. > > In most cases, that works great. But on occastion, we still have seams > that we have to deal with. In that case, one thing you can try to is to > change the 'Smoothing' value for the mesh's tangent property (mesh > > clusters > Texture_Coordinates > Tangents > Smoothing). Also, while you're > in that property panel, might want to switch the State value to 'Only > update on topo change.' > > > Good Luck. Normal Maps are weird. > > *Tim Crowson > **Lead CG Artist* > > *Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio, Inc. > *2525 Lebanon Pike, Building C. Nashville, TN 37214 > *Ph* 615.885.6801 | *Fax* 615.889.4768 | www.magneticdreams.com > tim.crow...@magneticdreams.com > > > > > On 12/12/2012 9:54 AM, Adam Sale wrote: > > No.. the ultimapper solution is fine, its the exported maps from external > apps I'm having trouble with. > > > > > On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 7:45 AM, Stephen Davidson > <magic...@bellsouth.net>wrote: > >> does this help? >> http://vimeo.com/19399592 >> >> >> On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 10:40 AM, Adam Sale <adamfs...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> hey Wayne.. Thanks for the tips. >>> My case is for Rendering with Mental / Vray >>> >>> I just can't believe that OOTB SOftimage still doesn't have a proper >>> Normal Map. >>> >>> Its been requested a few times now, but often gets overlooked. >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 5:23 AM, Williams, Wayne < >>> wayne.willi...@xaviant.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Because Softimage doesn’t have proper cage functionality most folks I >>>> know that still use Soft have ditched baking normals with it. Xnormal >>>> (freeware) is pretty much the quasi-standard app for baking these days. 8 >>>> bit maps are fairly standard in my travels. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> If you are trying to get more “bump” to your normal you can duplicate >>>> the map in photoshop, double click it to bring up the layer dialog and set >>>> to overlay and uncheck the blue channel. Merge those together and you have >>>> a “stronger” map. Another thing to note is depending on what you will be >>>> viewing in you may need to invert the green channel of the normal map, else >>>> the normals will look flipped weird. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Also, if you are going to be viewing this in a game engine as the final >>>> result, it is typically standard workflow to check your normals there, >>>> because in the end, it doesn’t really matter what they look like in >>>> Soft/Maya/Max. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -wayne >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto: >>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Adam Sale >>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, December 12, 2012 2:15 AM >>>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >>>> *Subject:* Normal Maps in Softimage >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> So, My Softimage decided to play hardball with me and stopped working >>>> earlier this evening. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> What I had wanted to test out tonight were Normal Maps in Softimage. I >>>> don't do a whole lot of texturing , and have known the normal map to be a >>>> little strange in my past dealings with it. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> One of my students is having an issue generating normal maps out of >>>> mudbox and getting them to work in Softimage. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Is anyone having success with this, or do you generally import high res >>>> meshes into soft and use Ultimapper to create the maps. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> When creating maps, is it best to create 16 bit or float maps/ Do they >>>> always give superior results to 8 bit? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> My main issue with the normal maps out of Mudbox, is that they don't >>>> look like the correct scale or relief of the normals mesh in midbox, or >>>> even when I apply the normals to a similar mesh in Maya, and the fact the >>>> normal map 3 node doesnt allow us to scale normals is a bit perplexing. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> The workaround with mixing the normal map with a mix 2 color node set >>>> to mix with RGB at .5 and B at 1 doesn't quite cut it.. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Is there a good working solution that I am simply missing? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> A better normalMap node perhaps? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Irie.. >>>> >>>> Adam >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> >> Best Regards, >> * Stephen P. Davidson** >> **(954) 552-7956 <%28954%29%20552-7956> >> * sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com >> >> *Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic* >> >> >> - Arthur C. Clarke >> >> <http://www.3danimationmagic.com> >> >> > > -- > > >
