Elena Rossi
Baking normals in Substance Painter can be a tricky process, with users reporting issues such as blurry textures, markings pointing inwards, and uneven ridges and edges. However, there are several ways to overcome these challenges and achieve the desired results. Baking normal maps in Substance Painter allows users to add incredible detail to their 3D models by applying high-resolution mesh normals to low-detail objects. This process can be facilitated by using tools like OBJs and adjusting settings such as texture set and blending mode. By following tutorials and troubleshooting common issues, users can master the art of baking normals in Substance Painter and create stunning 3D designs.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Baking normals for a spiral substance painter | Baking a normal map using Substance Painter with tools like OBJs and baking |
| Issues with baking | Markings pointing inwards, blurry texture, squished texture, uneven ridges and edges |
| Solutions | Adjusting settings in Texture Set Settings, adding holding edge loops to avoid distortion, increasing resolution |
| Additional tips | Ability to paint over the baked normal map to hide details or fix issues, creating a new layer with blending mode set to "normal" for the normal channel |
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What You'll Learn
Troubleshooting common problems
Baking is the process of saving information from a 3D mesh to a texture file (bitmap). This process is done to improve texturing in Substance 3D Painter. While baking normals in Substance Painter, you may encounter various problems. Here are some troubleshooting tips to address common issues:
- Markings Pointing Inwards: A user reported that when they baked the Normal Map in Substance Painter, the markings were pointing inwards, while in Blender, this issue did not occur. A suggested solution is to bake two different passes of your maps within SP and combine them to fix the skew problem. However, this fix may result in seams along the corners.
- Blurry Textures: Another user experienced blurry textures when baking in Substance Painter, while the textures were crisp and tileable in Blender. Unfortunately, the user did not find a solution despite extensive research.
- Height Adjustment: A user faced an issue where raising the height of their transparent background image texture only increased the height at the border of the image. There was no solution provided for this problem.
- Shadow and Lighting: A query was raised about removing or adjusting the shadow on the bottom of an object to achieve even lighting for baked textures. No solution was offered in the source material.
- Squished Texture: A user asked how to prevent their texture from being squished into a square. There was no provided solution to this issue.
While troubleshooting, it is important to consider the specific software version, hardware configuration, and unique project settings, as these factors can influence the effectiveness of suggested solutions.
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Fixing skew correction
Baking normals in Substance Painter can sometimes result in skewing issues, where the markings on the normal map point inwards, requiring skew correction. Here are some methods and suggestions to address this problem:
Average Normals
One solution is to ensure that the "average normals" setting is disabled. While this will fix the skew problem, it may introduce seams along the corners of your model. To avoid this trade-off, consider the following alternative approaches.
Vertex Normals Script
For users with access to 3DS Max, a vertex normals script can be used to custom edit the normals of the face where the detail will be baked. This technique involves adjusting the normals of the low-resolution mesh to match the desired direction, thereby preventing skewing. However, this method may not work for complex models with details on all sides.
Objectspace Normalmaps
Another approach is to utilise objectspace normalmaps, which can be effectively employed even without Substance Painter. This method involves baking the normal maps in object space and then converting them to tangent space using a matching UV. It is important to ensure that the unwrapping of the UV is completed before triangulating the mesh. Additionally, the orientation of both low-poly meshes should match, although their positions may differ.
Smoothing Groups and Hard Edges
In some cases, the skewing issue may be caused by incorrectly set normals on the low-res mesh. To address this, ensure that the "average normals" option is unchecked, and if issues persist, properly set up smoothing groups and hard edges on the mesh. This can help correct the direction of the normals and prevent skewing during the baking process.
Multiple Passes and Combining
A workaround for the skewing issue involves baking two different passes of your maps and then combining them within Substance Painter. While this method does not directly address the root cause of the skewing, it provides a means to compensate for it by leveraging multiple passes and post-processing.
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Painting over the baked normal map
To paint over a baked normal map in Substance Painter, you must first understand the issue at hand. When baking a normal map, the markings may point inwards, which can be fixed by adding holding edge loops to avoid distortion. This issue is not present when baking in Blender.
To paint over the baked normal map, follow these steps:
- Create a new layer: This can be a regular or fill layer, depending on your preference and the specifics of your project.
- Change the blending mode: Set the blending mode of the new layer to "normal" for the normal channel.
- Paint on the normal channel: With the setup complete, you can now paint directly on the normal channel. Your artwork will automatically take over the baked normal map that resides on the layer below.
By following these steps, you can add details and make adjustments to your 3D models in Substance Painter, utilizing the power of smart materials, masks, and brushes offered by the software. Remember to experiment and adjust your workflow according to the specific requirements of your project.
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Using Blender for baking
Baking in Blender is a common practice, and it is often used in conjunction with Substance Painter. Here are some detailed steps and guidelines for using Blender for baking, specifically for normal maps.
Firstly, understand the basics of baking normals. Baking involves transferring details from a high-poly mesh to a low-poly mesh. This process adds intricate details to a low-poly model, giving it the appearance of having a higher polygon count. Blender allows you to bake normals directly within the software.
When using Blender for baking, it is important to consider the following steps. First, ensure that your high-resolution and low-resolution meshes are properly set up. You can either bake the textures directly onto a low-res mesh in Blender or export a high-res mesh to Substance Painter for rendering. However, if you are baking in Substance Painter, you will need to load both the high and low meshes into the software.
To achieve consistent results, it is recommended to export to Substance Painter as a triangulated mesh. This ensures that the UV map remains the same during triangulation, allowing you to use the textures created in Substance Painter on the untriangulated mesh in Blender. Additionally, be mindful of any artifacts that may occur during the baking process. Artifacts are common, and while you may not strive for perfection, it is important to address any significant issues. For example, you may encounter sharp edges instead of the desired bevelled edges, or the model may appear splotchy.
Another consideration when using Blender for baking is the lighting setup. Ensure that your lighting is even and that there are no unwanted shadows on the object. You can also adjust the shadow angle and distance to improve the baking results. Additionally, pay attention to the texture quality. If you encounter blurry textures in Substance Painter, try using Blender, as it offers sharper results when tiling textures.
By following these steps and guidelines, you can effectively use Blender for baking normals. Remember that baking is a common workflow, and you can always refer to tutorials and community forums for further assistance and troubleshooting.
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Applying normal maps to low-poly models
Normal maps can be applied to low-poly models to add detail and create a more realistic appearance. Baking a normal map involves transferring the surface details from a high-poly model to a low-poly model. This process is often used in game development to optimise models within memory and performance limits.
To begin the process of baking a normal map, you need to have both a high-poly model and a low-poly model. The high-poly model contains the detailed surface information that you want to transfer to the low-poly model. The low-poly model serves as the base that will receive the baked details.
In Substance Painter, you can utilise tools like baking and OBJs to bake a normal map. First, select the high-poly model in the 3D viewport and then shift-select the low-poly model. This step ensures that the high-poly model is the "selected" object and the low-poly model is the "active" object. You only need to specify the UV map for the low-poly model, which is done by selecting the UV map in the properties/object data/UV section.
It is important to note that the closer in shape the low-poly mesh is to the high-poly mesh, the better the normal map will be. Additionally, using hard edges with matching UV shells tends to yield better performance and cosmetic results than using bevels. However, if bevels are used, shading can be improved by editing the VertexNormals to force the normals to blend across the smaller bevel faces.
By following these steps and considerations, you can effectively apply normal maps to low-poly models, enhancing the visual quality of your 3D assets.
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Frequently asked questions
This issue can be fixed by adding holding edge loops to avoid distortion.
By default, Substance 3D Painter computes the normal channel and the baked normal separately, not allowing users to paint over the baked normal map. To override this, change the normal mixing setting to "replace" in the Texture Set settings.
Create a new layer and change its blending mode to "normal" for the normal channel. This will allow anything painted on the normal channel to take over the baked normal map on the layer below.
