Props from a noob to game art

[ScottMichaelH]

I read this over on NormalMap - Polycount Wiki :

"Typical Mirroring Workflow

Delete the mesh half that will be mirrored.
Arrange the UVs for the remaining model, filling the UV square.
Mirror the model to create a "whole" mesh, welding the mesh vertices along the seam.
Move the mirrored UVs exactly 1 unit (or any whole number) out of the 0-1 UV square.
Bake the normal map.

Sometimes an artist will decide to delete half of a symmetrical model before baking.

This is a mistake however because often the vertex normals along the hole will bend towards the hole a bit; there are no faces on the other side to average the normals with. This will create a strong lighting seam in the normal map.

It's typically best to use the complete mirrored model to bake the normal map, not just the unique half."

What do you think? In retrospect the tip of the blade...I won't model it like that again. I had to add a couple of triangulating edges to solve a strange Mudbox error when I opened the OBJ file. I was so concerned about poly count that I made a strange "shape" down there on the left. I think the error is mesh modeling related more than map related.

Thanks for your time.

Edit: also I tried laying the UVs out in one long slab but the normals extracted terribly like they were really low res so I re-unwrapped again. Not sure if it was the method or some random unrelated problem but it looked terrible. I was bewildered honestly when this turned out as well as it did because I did it the same way I did before in the first place. Most of the whole thing is smoothed together.

[NautalusX]

"It's typically best to use the complete mirrored model to bake the normal map, not just the unique half."

I agree with this statement. Ive just never had a seam by leaving it deleted because the mirror line was flat plane.

If you follow them steps I'm pretty sure u'd get a clean bake on it.

I'm not sure why it's not working then after you did that, itd be best for me to just actually have the high, low, and cage and everything and test it myself, its hard to tell from pictures it could be anything.

[ScottMichaelH]

This is the "scene" I've been working on. Do you have any issues or recommendations as to how to set up the models and unwrap? I'm thinking:

1) The "wall" in front is one object that would be repeated and flipped for the other side.
2) One tall and one short "fence piece" that would be repeated several times in UDK, also there is a dividing rectangular piece.
3) The big wall in back I'm not sure about. Should I repeat some of these elements or make it one big object with the door included? Should I overlap some UVs? There is a symmetry modifier still on it. Should I make the left half only and repeat? I'm afraid the color map would look odd that way.
4) Ground/floor one object.
5) The stairs would probably go with the door
6) Thank you

Inspiration:

[ScottMichaelH]

I am at a loss. I've lost count of how many times I've gotten to this point and never got through because I can't figure it out. I don't know how to unwrap this right. I used "flatten by smoothing group" to separate the small details around the windows but then when I put it into Mudbox I got huge errors in the mesh (shown). I checked the unwrap under a microscope and couldn't find a single thing wrong (though obviously something has to be). I'm trying to unwrap it again and struggling to figure out how. The wall itself (shown) is simple enough but the details around the windows that you can't see from the front view...I know there has to be some advice someone has because I'm fresh out of ideas. Most texture painting tutorials are still Photoshop based so how could you possibly paint it well if you separate it into hundreds of little pieces? Also how do you deal with extruded squares going toward or away from you because if you don't separate them in the unwrap the you will have stretching around the corners...but then how to you get the paint to continue along it well?

[TheChan]

I'm not sure but I know that as soon as you subdivide that, it's going to turn to mush unless you tessellate it more.

Maybe it's because you have triangles in the mesh, or because of these?

edit:I just realized that you are importing it to paint it, am I right? If that's the case, the only thing I can suggest is to try different formats, or try reconstructing parts of the mesh that are having issues.

[ScottMichaelH]

What do you mean by different format? File type? Yes it's just to paint it. The mesh looks perfect until I create the paint layer. It gives me an error message in Mudbox upon importing saying "incomplete UV set". Every time I've had that error before I had faces that were smushed into thin lines because I never saw them in the unwrapping process and were perpendicular to a surface that I planar projected. That was why I said I searched the mesh over and never found the issue.

Thanks

[TheChan]

You have any overlapping UVs?

[mmcleo11]

Personally it sounds like your trying to run before you can walk.
Dont take this into Mudbox if you are struggling with the theory behind UV unwrapping, use of textures and how to create a sud-d mesh.

If I was you I'd create the big brick wall as a seperate object from the windows and use a tiling texture on it as you will never match the texel density on the wall with the windows.
Then you can remove alot of redundant edge loops on the walls too.

It looks like you have merged verts with too high a threshold on the window object and its caused you a world of mergedness.

[BWARazor]

@ScottMichaelH:
Maybe you should look for UVW-Mapping Tutorials first, when i unwrap wood - especially woodbars, i always use "flatten" (Don't know what's the exact name, i'm not home now, but I don't use smoothing-groups), then i use "stitch-selections", to get seperated parts together.
I will post you a tutorial when i'm home (Hope i won't forget^^).

When it comes to Mudbox, the best way is to be prepared for highpoly, i don't know why you'd paint a lowpoly mesh in Mudbox, i'd prefer Photoshop for that. For creating wood-bars in Mudbox (model), you should at first learn something about subdivision-modeling (like mmcleo11 said aswell), i can post a few tuts for that as well (again, i hope i don't forget, otherwise, just send me a pn )

edit: Are these the right proportions? I know you were inspired by castleyania, but it seems kind of wrong (For a 3D model). For example the windows, i think they're much too oversized (at least compared to the Entry). I don't know if you're trying to achieve a scene that looks realistic, but if you do, you should quickly fix proportions I'd recommend you (next time), to make a basic "White-Box", just for being prepared for proportions. It's exactly the same as drawing with a pencil, you quickly draw easy forms to get proportions right, then you work on forms and detail.


As always: Tell me if anything i say is bullshit
Hope i could help, greez Razor