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This is more of a general 3D material question than a Blender issue but there seems to be no Stack Exchange forum for more general 3D design questions so I'm posting this here.

I'm trying to bake a normal map from a high poly model to a low poly model so that the normal map gives the impression of high detail (as used generally for low poly game 3D objects) but I can't figure out how to get it look smooth on round shapes like in my example here ...

enter image description here

This is a simple bucket model. The hi poly model cylinder has 24 sides vertically and looks very smooth in subdivision mode. The low poly model has 12 sides. You can see that the baked round edge doesn't help anything to make the low poly model more detailed. it just looks bad. So I wonder what are some good ways to improve this without increasing the polys on the low poly mesh?

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  • $\begingroup$ A few more subs to the low poly-smooth shading. $\endgroup$
    – ruckus
    Commented Jan 10, 2015 at 16:12

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The only way to improve the look here is to increase the low-poly polycount.

The normal map looks ok, but if you will face any problems in the future, you can find a massive amounts of good info here: http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Normal_map

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    $\begingroup$ I'll say it directly in case it isn't clear: You can't use a normal map to make that part look rounder. Normal maps will do NOTHING to a silhouette (that is, the edges or shape of a model). They only allow you to give the illusion of detail, depth or roundness on the surface of a model. $\endgroup$
    – hatinacat2000
    Commented Aug 13, 2019 at 19:57
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Use Subsurface to do it. Crease the edges first by using Ctrl E and then use subsurface. Simple.

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  • $\begingroup$ Creasing edges will add those sharp edges back which are the very reason of the question. Note that using Subsurf for models which require performance like e.g. game models is usually no-go. $\endgroup$
    – Mr Zak
    Commented Aug 13, 2019 at 19:22
  • $\begingroup$ Then make the texture's outline like the UV shapes. $\endgroup$
    – BA Duggins
    Commented Aug 13, 2019 at 20:07

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