Bad Normal Mapping Issues. Advice Please

[borris]

So Im trying to do a normal map for a model im working on

I did the same process I have done for other small projects in the passed

And this came out the way it did

Here is the Render To Texture Normal Map that was generated

Any ideas why it looks like a Tie-Die Shirt??

[MRico]

What software are you using? Normal maps are usually blue...You got a lot of green going on...?

Ummmm...I dunno the specific problem but I'ma go over my fuck-ups.

Make sure you don't have overlapping pieces.

Make sure you have a cage to project the high to the low. Also, make sure you have the "use cage" box checked in the render-to-texture if you're using max.

Make sure you don't have any inverted faces.

I think that's it, hopefully that might fix something.

[JesseMoody]

Looks like local or object space and not tangent...

Maybe try resetting xform? Check the uvs again? Making sure you are baking to channel 1 and not 2. I've done that.

[borris]

Im using Max 2009

Im gonna go over the unwrap again and check everything else you mentioned

I have never seen green before this so im just really stumped

If there are any other solutions please let me know

Thanks guys for your help

[MRico]

Could you also, maybe post an image of your render to texture settings? Someone might spot an error.

[borris]

Here is the render to texture screen

Maybe Im missing something

[Aftermath]

That screenshot looks fine Brad, did you reset the xform like Jesse mentioned above?

[Anuxinamoon]

Try resetting the Xform of both objects like mentioned above, also make sure the materials on both objects are clear of any map data (unless you are specifically rendering it with and extra detail normal map)

I usually turn off sub objects and I flag the Output into Normal Bump at the bottom, but that's me nitpicking. When its all working try rendering with global supersampler Hammerslay at 1. Makes it nice and sharp ^^

[borris]

Hey guys, so I re-set x-forms and took off sub-objects.

Im pretty stumped cause i have been going over the settings again and again

I cant figure it out. Here is a screen of everything

If your wondering, Im just trying to do the normals for the tail section at this

time so thats why Im zoomed in on the tail. I think Im gonna go back to the

original file where i set up the projection and maybe find something????

This is really frustrating

[Aftermath]

Its just me but maybe its that hell of a modifier stack? Your probably confusing the shit out of max .

[Frozan]

yeah within that stack u have two UV unwraps goin on too i would say thats at least most of the problem. i agree with moody also. lake sure its tangent. also make sure you have output into normal bump checked in your render to texture.

[YdoUwant2know]

Holy hell, that is a lot of edit Polys built up.... try collapsing the stack to a single Edit Poly and single UVW.

If that still does not work for you, take a look at xNormal. It's a great stand alone program for generating normal maps that is free to use.

[Kickflipkid687]

Ya, don't work with that many modifiers. It causes issues when baking or can, but also just slows down your scene in general and causes other headaches. I know they can be helpful at times, but I usually work with just edit poly and I'll maybe add a symmetry or turbosmooth on top but that's about it.

[Buzzy]

It looks like you already have a normal map on one of the objects and that normal map is on a different UV channel. If this is the case and you don't actually need that other normal map, then try putting a fresh and clean material on both objects before baking.

By the way the texture is shredded, my guess is that you have a normal map on your hi-res but you never unwrapped the hires. So when you bake, its adding things together oddly.

Also, when you RTT something, it will automatically apply the newly created texture to your object unless you tell it not to. So maybe you baked it once, it automatically applied that normal map to the object without telling you, then you baked it again. And now everytime you try to bake again, it compounds the issue.

If you look at that first image of the tie-dye map, in the bottom right, you will see an object that has a mini version of the entire map inside of it. That suggests to me that you baked once, it applied that normal map to the model, then you baked again while that normal map was still on the model.

Long story short, try putting clean materials on everything and try again.

And maybe collapse that stack if you can. (you should never leave a huge stack anyway if you can avoid it. Max likes to corrupt big stacks)

[borris]

Hey thanks guys for your comments

Ya i do get carried away with switching between unwrap and edit poly when

making adjustments to the unwrap and what not and forget to colapse. Well

I tried the changes you guys all suggested and nothing changed. So i went

back to the original file where everything was in place and i was getting

ready to bake. Everything turned out ok. I must have done something along

the way to really F*CK things up as you can see from the normal map that

was produced. Thank you everyone for all your help. I really appreciate it and

look for my thread Environment Scene_Military Base to see the results of the

helicopter that you guys were helping me with. Thanks again.

[Shadownami92]

maybe inverting the colors in photoshop could provide some help? Although it really does look all messed up even if it were the right colors for a normal normal map

[Aftermath]

issue was resolved.