Normal map work around for flat surfaces? (examples)

[MyPeople]

i made this example at lunch today to see if someone can finally solve this problem i always have. I get the same results in softimage as i do in Xnormal (as i always have from flat surfaces like this) its like normal maps that i bake just dont see the depth or something? anyone have a work around for this or know how i get around it. i'm sure beveling edges wont do the trick...

i had to make a gasmask at work yesterday and i modeled in all this vent stuff and none of it showed up in the normal map because it had depth to it and i had to fake it in photoshop...ugh...thanks for any help btw.

[MRico]

Bevel the edges! lol, I'm just kidding...I'm not a pro...buuuut, do you have a projection cage set up? I've done this before with 3ds max+Xnormal. A high poly with holes and a flat low-poly, I just made sure I had a cage that projected a bit further than the low-poly.

Hope that helps.

[gaganjain]

Bevel the edges! lol, I'm just kidding...I'm not a pro...buuuut, do you have a projection cage set up? I've done this before with 3ds max+Xnormal. A high poly with holes and a flat low-poly, I just made sure I had a cage that projected a bit further than the low-poly.

Hope that helps.

Pardon me AutopsySoldier can explain bit more in detail
Use cage options in xnormal does same thing

[Frozan]

i take it its because the parts the baked out had curve to them. u need to put a slight angle on the other pieces for them to show up. a direct flat bake like that wont grab 90degree normals. does that make sense?

[Frump]

I know for a fact that there are better diagrams about this, but I couldn't find any quickly, so I made one.

This is why your stuff isn't showing up. It's like Frozan said, 90 degree angles don't work in normal maps because the rays don't hit anything irregular. This is also why floating shapes work.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/2392/awesomediagram.jpg

[Ace-Angel]

Um, did you try to use CrazyBump, PixelPlant or nVidia Normal mapping tools?

Usually hard surfaces like these aren't complex or require differential depths, so 2D -> Normal Maps Programs -> working.

[Buzzy]

I would just take that depth map and run it through the photoshop nVidia filter.

EDIT: Here's what it'll look like. Much better than what you had.
You can get that filter for free from nVidia's website.

[MyPeople]

thanks guys. i'm glad when i came into work today i got my answer. yeah i knew its becasue the rays hit it directly on the surface and i really like just turning my crappy b&w bump into a normal map. i'm just going to do a blend between the two. thanks everyone, super appreciate all the help-o

[Integrated]

Both Xnormal and Crazybump have tools to convert grayscale into normal maps :)