Goffskullz
07-02-2008, 11:27 PM
alright, i'm going to try and explain this as well as i can, but if this makes absolutely no sense please let me know.
recently i was working on a low poly game model that I intended to normal map and i had some 90 degree corners that the normal map was supposed to smooth out.
BUT TO MY DISMAY!!!
when the model was set to smooth surface, due to the attempt at minimizing the polycount, the shading on the model was all messed up, and it makes sense because of the geometry but i assumed the normal map would fix this, although in hindsight i dont know why....
so, is the only way to make the normal map work by getting the mesh to have generally proper shading before any maps are applied to add the detail? chamfering the 90 degree angles for example.
so my real question i guess is does a model have to have sufficient geometry whe smooth to shade the model as a whole to be effective with a normal map (or without one for that matter). it just seems weird to me because i think that could easily double the polycount of a lot of models, but hey i dont know hence the post here.
recently i was working on a low poly game model that I intended to normal map and i had some 90 degree corners that the normal map was supposed to smooth out.
BUT TO MY DISMAY!!!
when the model was set to smooth surface, due to the attempt at minimizing the polycount, the shading on the model was all messed up, and it makes sense because of the geometry but i assumed the normal map would fix this, although in hindsight i dont know why....
so, is the only way to make the normal map work by getting the mesh to have generally proper shading before any maps are applied to add the detail? chamfering the 90 degree angles for example.
so my real question i guess is does a model have to have sufficient geometry whe smooth to shade the model as a whole to be effective with a normal map (or without one for that matter). it just seems weird to me because i think that could easily double the polycount of a lot of models, but hey i dont know hence the post here.