18
votes
Accepted
DirectX vs. OpenGL normal maps
Only DirectX applications use DX normal maps. And DirectX run only under Windows mainly due to license. For everything else you need to use OpenGL. For sure is good always check documentation.
On ...
- 2,122
17
votes
DirectX vs. OpenGL normal maps
Blender uses the OpenGL format.
This image shows an optimized version of normal map conversion, because it doesn't convert between number and color, so it is faster with Cycles and EEVEE:
This ...
- 562
12
votes
Accepted
when baking normals, do I have to set shading to smooth or flat for the low mesh?
A tangent space normal map is a bake of normals relative to the low poly's normals. Whenever you make a tangent space normal map, it is going to take your existing normals, whether they're flat ...
- 21k
10
votes
Accepted
Do samples affect Normal map baking?
No, samples have no effect.
A sample is a measurement done by shooting a ray into the scene. These rays scatter randomly inside the scene, so the more samples the more accurate information about the ...
- 50.8k
9
votes
Why the displacement option in the material panel is missing?
The Settings panel from your first screenshot is from the Cycles render engine. The second screenshot shows a project where Eevee is the current render engine.
The render engine can be changed in the ...
- 25.4k
9
votes
Accepted
Can you bake a normal map with the empty space around the objects transparent?
One possibility is with Workbench render and the built in check_normal+y.exr MatCap. If speed is needed, this should be very fast.
Set the render engine to ...
- 156k
7
votes
Accepted
Decimate vs. Retopology
If you do not intend to pose, animate or add subdivision to your low poly, then decimate should be fine. The topology that decimate produces is generally unsuitable for any of these tasks. Some ...
- 4,609
7
votes
Accepted
How to bake normal map if the models intersect?
To bake from an object with is slightly outer of your lowpoly mesh, you need to increase the ray distance option in the bake panel:
Blender bake using a ray casting. If the ray distance is 0, the ray ...
- 53k
7
votes
Accepted
How to draw normal map?
It is easier and more intuitive to paint a height-map, then convert it into a normal map:
There is GIMP normalmap plugin, Photoshop plugins like xNormal, apps like CrazyBump and a lot of others. ...
- 50.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Multires Normal Baking Not Baking Normal Data
Baking normal map from Multiresolution modifier data relies on the difference between the viewport number of Multires subdivisions and the highest level it was subdivided to:
The higher difference in ...
- 1,651
7
votes
Accepted
Do I use bump node or normal/map node?
A normal map and a bump map do the same ultimate thing: they change the angle of a sample, which affects how light reflects off of it. However, they use different ways to get there.
A bump map is a ...
- 21k
6
votes
Accepted
Mix normal texture with noise texture to create flat patches
You could use the following material set up to achieve the desired effect :
This is using a Bump node instead of the Displacement socket as it is more easily configurable. Using Displacement (True ...
- 44.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Trying to convert a DXT5NM Normal Map for use in my scene
Ok, first thing is to split out the channels with the separate RGB node. We'll put down a few re-routes too so we don't go nuts and mix channels up:
Next, put in a Combine XYZ node to recompile the ...
- 9,072
6
votes
Which color space should I use for 16-bit maps?
If I want to create my own displacement maps in, say, Photoshop, which color space should I use? Is 16-bit sRGB okay?
The term "sRGB" is thrown around far too frequently without an understanding as ...
- 12.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Is there a way to "clip" or "clamp" the height of a normal, so that bumps go to a certain height and then abruptly flatten, as if chopped off?
Pass the bump height through a Math > Minimum node. Set the empty value to your desired clamp height.
0.5 Clip
0.75 Clip
No Clipping
- 95
6
votes
How to generate fake Normal map from an image texture inside Blender Cycles?
I think the bump node is what you want?
Plug the BW output of the image into the hight input of the bump node. Then, feed the bump node's normal output into the normal input(s) of your shader. You ...
- 917
6
votes
Why not just normal map everything?
It depends.
When it is not going to view in detail and the geometry of vertices isn't important.
As you said, there is no extra vertices created, which mean, if there isn't a geometry, rendering ...
- 7,761
6
votes
Accepted
How can I know where the normal ring is convex and where is concave?
This is a Tangent Space normal map.
That is to say, blue (Z) represents the interpolated normal of the underlying geometry, red (X) represents a tilt towards the tangent direction, which is positive X ...
- 73.9k
6
votes
How can I know where the normal ring is convex and where is concave?
First, I try to explain it in a shorter way. Further in more detail if something is not clear.
Concave -
Convex -
- 1,033
6
votes
Accepted
How to create empty normal map?
Head over to the Texture Paint workspace, click the little plus sign + in the Draw properties on the right side (Properties Editor) and select Normal:
This way the new normal map also gets connected ...
- 12.3k
6
votes
Is there a polycount limit on normal maps?
The limit will be of how many samples you choose (affect quality/accuracy) and the resolution of the normal map you bake to. Since smoothed normals are continuous, they don't have a theoretical max ...
- 1,265
6
votes
Accepted
Weird lines on normal map
It looks like your model is what's causing this, I went in and looked at your normal maps and the bevels are present in the normal map here:
So to test I disabled the Normal map in the node editor ...
5
votes
Do samples affect Normal map baking?
Samples do affect baking -- but ONLY the anti-aliasing to a small extent. However, if you are baking things like Ambient Occlusion or the Direct/Indirect lighting options in the Diffuse pass, the ...
- 1,148
5
votes
Accepted
Why does UV orientation affect tangent space normals?
The normal map node takes the default UV map, if one exists, to generate the tangent vectors. So while your noise texture uses generated UVs, your normal map node still uses your UV map. Pick Object ...
- 690
5
votes
Accepted
Getting weird normal map where mesh is completely flat ( and how to bake normals for unity )
This happens when you have smooth shading turned on on the base mesh. Making it flat shaded or enabling autosmooth should fix the issue.
For the baking on the cube, it's not recommended to have the ...
- 637
5
votes
Accepted
Displacement map from substance painter looks WAY different
The distortion you see occurs because substance triangulates your model differently than blender does. This stands out more when you have straight uvs and curved surfaces with few loops. This is ...
- 847
5
votes
texture/normal map doesn't render correctly
You have another object that is not visible in preview but still visible in render:
- 145k
5
votes
Accepted
Any ideas why baking my normal map is failing?
Put the Extrusion at 0.1 and the Max Ray Distance at 0. Now you still can't bake anything because the ray doesn't hit any surface as the faces that need to be baked are currently either perpendicular ...
- 145k
5
votes
Accepted
How are UV based tangents calculated?
A UV tangent can't be created with nodes* other than with a tangent node, or techniques to reverse engineer the tangent from a node that uses it implicitly, like a normal map node sent a 1.0, 0.5, 0.5 ...
- 21k
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