Xnormal vs Other Baking options
polycounter lvl 5
So i just used xnormal tu bake my normals and ambiant occlusion maps for the first time and i really liked the speed of it and the feel. And i was wondering if there are any other options out there that might be even better ??
I've been using 3ds max's render to texture till now and that usually not only seems to take longer but is more bothersome as in i have to set up cage etc etc..
Here is a comparison of both maps that i did using xnormal and 3ds max render to texture.
Here's a quick thought is setting up the cage in 3ds max then exporting it and using it in Xnormal a good way to go about things?
Xnormal:
3DS Max:
I've been using 3ds max's render to texture till now and that usually not only seems to take longer but is more bothersome as in i have to set up cage etc etc..
Here is a comparison of both maps that i did using xnormal and 3ds max render to texture.
Here's a quick thought is setting up the cage in 3ds max then exporting it and using it in Xnormal a good way to go about things?
Xnormal:
3DS Max:
Replies
Can you elaborate on that . so I'm retarded i usually export the cage and mesh seperate . Are you saying i can export the mesh with the projection modifier on top of it and then just check the use cage box in xnormal ? At it will find it ?
Maybe it's just personal preference, but I like having a non-Max/Maya baking solution.
- combine apply Projection modifier on different objects and you don't have to explode them anymore
- you can add a preset and bake all selected objects with the same settings
- you can copy/paste projection modifiers (for high poly sources) if you collapsed your low poly or made changes
- you get a clear bake preview as it renders for any missed rays
- many render settings (fast previews, high quality antialiasing, etc)
yup, I do something similar. This is funny since I'm kind of the anti-baking luddite.
If you really need to bake in max, which i didn#t need in years, don't render your mesh in viewport, and max can handle it. To do that
- set your scene to view boundingbox
- turn off all statistics
- import your model
- rightclick your model
- object properties
- Display as box
now you can bake it without having to decimate.
to set up the cage a lower level of the meshes is more than enough, you do not need all the detail to set up the cage.
Cages can't be avoided if you want to use hard edges in your low poly. They are also used to set a limit for projection, that is very useful for baking tricky geometry. You also can't avoid using cages if you bake with the method of explosion. Cages are your friends. Read stickies in Technical Talk for more info.
How does Maya's Turtle renderer stack up against it?
I recently gave Blender a shot and have been pleasantly surprised by the baking. I've been doing 2k AO maps in under a minute and the normal maps are only a few seconds. I haven't seen if there is a way to use a cage though.
http://www.handplane3d.com/
Handplane will allow you to convert an object space normal to a perfectly weighted tangent space normal. I mainly do dota workshop these days, and the handplane plugin is amazing for perfect source normals baked in xnormal. Also if you are using UDK handplane can be a life saver. This also goes back to another reason to use a cage. I can bake with different plugins in xnormal, or bake maps in max, or whatever, and the results should always sync.
I don't use xNormal for anything other than Normal maps anymore. I've found that Knald will bake out a very nice AO map (with some light tweaking), Cavity, Convexity, and Height maps all from a good normal map. It does all of that in no time. Literally a huge time saver. I should have a blog going up on GameTextures.com soon comparing xNormal, nDo and Knald baking speeds.
Cool, thanks SuperFranky for the info. Will keep this all in mind on future bakes.
@ Rurouni Strife - looking forward to that write up, sounds interesting.
Hmm. I've never had a problem with HP meshes in xNormal. I've baked ~300mb OBJs with ease. Is there a certain limit that I have yet to run into?
The original post looks like max is baking an averaged projection and xnormal isn't. Xnormal handles very high poly models better than other tools, for me that is the main reason to use it. When I have something lower polygon (not a sculpt) I like to bake in max since I can create groups for projections and skip exploding the mesh.
What really baffles me is why there is seemingly zero training on Turtle. Turtle is suppose to be one of the more prominent features of Maya LT and yet the only training company to even touch base on it is Digital Tutors. That one course is from a beginner's point of view and actually gives just a brief overview of the features that skips overs things like cages.
Turtle is a next generation texture baking utility and training companies avoid it like the plague; choosing instead to focus on its deprecated older brother, the transfer maps utility which produces worse results.
I don't get it.
I meant that with Xnormal, it's nice that you do have the ability to import super high rez meshes without having to decimate as much as you might for say Maya. I'm not sure if there is a limit, haven't run into any either.