Baking Results
Now for the results!
The most difficult thing for me with this workflow is that it takes a while before I can get some real world feedback (in this case testing in Unreal Engine 4). After lots of practice a good 3d modeler will have a good idea what their model will look like in the end, but it is always good to get it into the engine.
Below are the results of the tangent space normal map added to a basic test material and then applied to the low polygon model. I'm happy with the bake, there are very few things on the normal map to touch up, and I do this by hand in Photoshop.
The most difficult thing for me with this workflow is that it takes a while before I can get some real world feedback (in this case testing in Unreal Engine 4). After lots of practice a good 3d modeler will have a good idea what their model will look like in the end, but it is always good to get it into the engine.
Below are the results of the tangent space normal map added to a basic test material and then applied to the low polygon model. I'm happy with the bake, there are very few things on the normal map to touch up, and I do this by hand in Photoshop.
AO
There is a lot of discussion that baking ambient occlusion is becoming unnecessary since shaders can handle it in real time. I don't agree. A good model, one that looks better than most other models but you can't quite put your finger on why, probably has some for of ambient occlusion baked.
I do AO in max in a rather old school way. It is simple. In 3ds Max I add a Skylight from Standard Lights and make sure Cast Shadows is ticked. I then bake a Lightingmap, baking the high poly weapon pieces on to the low poly mesh. I bake to the combined low polygon mesh mentioned on page 2. Make sure that Cast Shadows for the low polygon mesh is not ticked under Object Properties otherwise the low polygon mesh shadows will make a mess of things.
Below is a result of the bake in Unreal with a simple material.
I do AO in max in a rather old school way. It is simple. In 3ds Max I add a Skylight from Standard Lights and make sure Cast Shadows is ticked. I then bake a Lightingmap, baking the high poly weapon pieces on to the low poly mesh. I bake to the combined low polygon mesh mentioned on page 2. Make sure that Cast Shadows for the low polygon mesh is not ticked under Object Properties otherwise the low polygon mesh shadows will make a mess of things.
Below is a result of the bake in Unreal with a simple material.
Base Color, Metallic, Roughness, Emissive
I'm not going to go into incredible detail here. Once you have the tangent space normal map and the ambient occlusion map for a mesh, there are many tools that can be used to make the texture maps.
It is a good idea when starting out to learn as much about Photoshop as possible. This will make touching up maps that are generated in other programs easy. If you can make the maps in Photoshop you can basically do anything material wise. I also suggest using Substance Painter or one of the many great tools from Quixel.
For this gun I made the maps in Substance Painter. More and more this is becoming standard.
I made an id map by using the mask on Page 2 and coloring in the UV islands to define where I wanted different materials. I added my FBX along with the tangent space normal map, the baked AO, and the id map into a Substance Painter project. Then I let the program generate the remaining necessary maps.
Substance Painter is amazing, but you have to learn the tricks. Get very familiar with smart materials and masks.
Below is the gun rendered in Unreal Engine with a quick material I put together in Substance Painter and Photoshop. Thanks for following along!
It is a good idea when starting out to learn as much about Photoshop as possible. This will make touching up maps that are generated in other programs easy. If you can make the maps in Photoshop you can basically do anything material wise. I also suggest using Substance Painter or one of the many great tools from Quixel.
For this gun I made the maps in Substance Painter. More and more this is becoming standard.
I made an id map by using the mask on Page 2 and coloring in the UV islands to define where I wanted different materials. I added my FBX along with the tangent space normal map, the baked AO, and the id map into a Substance Painter project. Then I let the program generate the remaining necessary maps.
Substance Painter is amazing, but you have to learn the tricks. Get very familiar with smart materials and masks.
Below is the gun rendered in Unreal Engine with a quick material I put together in Substance Painter and Photoshop. Thanks for following along!
Futuristic Rifle Model
