Texture Distortions and Ripple Effects on Low Poly Model

[jaysus]

im slowly getting frusted,

i know zbrush needs nearly perfect quads to not distort the resulting/baked textures on the low poly model but this time im really clueless as to why i get the results shown in the pic below:

[](javascript:zb_insimg(‘168109’,‘spacecraftA01.jpg’,1,0))

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my concern lays with the ripple effect on the lower part which i just cant explain to myself, the quads are neat, the sculpt looks smooth and there is basicly no difference to the upper part of the model which looks just fine

the distortion between normal and displacement map in the 2nd pic reminds me of my old problem which was solvable with a better poly distribution on the low poly (for example by using a mesh smooth before export)

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the model was created and mapped (pelt map) in 3dmax

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thanks very much in advance for any idea you can share on the problem

Attachments

[jaysus]

aight, i found the reason for the ripples, my texture size (2048x2048) was too small, the parts where those lines run just didnt offer enough pixel space to create a smooth line

the normal map distortions still riddle me though

[jaysus]

the following image shows the results after i used auvtiles instead of my custom pelt map i made in max:

[](javascript:zb_insimg(‘168131’,‘auvtiles.jpg’,1,0))

as you can see normal map and diffuse map now fit for some mysterious reason, but this cant be it as i obviously need a workable map and not a mosaic of some kind, unreasonable distortions are still there aswell

[jaysus]

lalalalatralala :lol: (can we get a dancing banana smiley plz?)

well, i guess i finally found the reason for my ugly problem of frustration and suffering

the source of all evil was simply my nasty uv-map,
no it wasnt overlapping or somin, as i mentioned i used a pelt map which due to its method of unwrapping an object distorted the outcome,
after i applied a checker texture to see how that would look i realized that my mapping distorted it horrendously
thus i remapped the thing, this time using more seams and applying alot more relax until all checker fields were kinda equal and rectangular again…

[](javascript:zb_insimg(‘168139’,‘yipiee.jpg’,1,0))

sadly ill have to resculpt the whole thing as zbrush crashes on me everytime i try to work with the model after i reimport the remapped low poly at subD level 1 (even after deleting the uvmapping before the import)

but im utterly happy to finally know what was going wrong all along

conclusion:

rippled/stepped textures: the texturesize is too small (not enough pixels)

distorted or not fitting normal and diffuse maps: the uv map is bad and distorted

[jaysus]

one should also note that if you use “adaptive” or “smooth uv” for example in the displacement map generation you will have to use it during the normal map creation process aswell or the two maps wont fit each other obviously

[Sandman79x]

there is a way that you dont have to start over.

i posted something a couple of days ago about the import crash of zbrush.

still no reply,

but the workaround i did was as follows:

append the new UV’d low res mesh - as a subtool with your hipoly sculpted version.

then just divide the geometry…and project all.

I have found that the projection is more accurate if i project with each step rather than divide 7 times then just project.

ex. divide to lvl 2…project…divide to lvl 3…project…and so on.

hope it saves you some time

[jaysus]

thanx for the tip, might come in handy eventually
this project however i have scrapped yet and am working on a new low poly to sculpt on, was getting bored with it…