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Ep.3 UV map & Normal Baking - From AI to Game-ready — Transcript

by Stefan 3D AI · 3,983 words · 936 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00In this video series, we
0:01learn how to turn AI
0:02generated 3D model into game
0:05ready.
0:05And today we're looking into
0:06UV map and texture baking.
0:08This is relatively simple step.
0:11And today we don't need
0:12anything but blender.
0:13In our previous video, we
0:14just finished to creating retopology
0:17or optimized model.
0:18So it doesn't matter if
0:19you did optimization with AI,
0:21you did it manually, you
0:22did it with quadramesher or
0:24so.
0:24The next step is basically
0:26to get our model ready
0:28to be textured.
0:29So the easiest step basically
0:31to unwrap it.
0:33And if you're working with
0:34a non-character object, something
0:36very simple, something like just
0:38a prop in your scene,
0:39you can basically go to
0:40edit mode.
0:41You can go to UV
0:43and do like unwrap smart
0:45UV project default settings.
0:47And then if we go
0:48to UV editing, you might
0:50see something like this.
0:51And basically it took the
0:52model, it cut it in
0:54some pieces.
0:54So they are more or
0:55less flat by the angle
0:57and we can start painting.
0:59But the thing is that
1:00these pieces might be cut
1:02in unexpected places, which might
1:04result in some strange artifacts,
1:06difficulty to paint it, especially
1:08when we talk about optimized
1:10model.
1:10And if we are allowed
1:11only to use low resolution
1:13texture like 1000 or less,
1:16then it might be very
1:17visible.
1:17And we might see some
1:19artifacts in areas where this
1:21is connected.
1:22So this is how nice
1:23UV look, especially for a
1:25character.
1:25You can actually understand what's
1:27happening here.
1:28There's a tail, a body,
1:29a back, spikes, teeth, and
1:31so on.
1:32Here you can see also
1:33the cuts and the cuts
1:35are placed in the areas
1:36where it will be less
1:38noticeable.
1:39So again, you first need
1:40to understand the purpose.
1:42If you're building a character
1:43for a mobile game and
1:44you will be only allowed
1:45to use like 2K, 1K
1:47texture, you need to do
1:49a nice UV.
1:50If this is an asset
1:50for your video and you
1:52just need to texture it
1:53quickly, you can basically go
1:54and unwrap it like with
1:56smart UV projection, as I
1:57showed just now.
1:58And that might be enough.
2:00You just set 4K texture
2:01and it will eliminate all
2:03the potential artifacts.
2:04Okay.
2:04So let's get started.
2:06Our dino actually has mirror.
2:09So let's first hide eyes
2:11and teeth.
2:13Now let's go back to
2:14edit mode.
2:14And what we're going to
2:15do is we will adjust
2:17shading a little bit.
2:19So as you might see,
2:20the transition of spikes to
2:21the body is like really
2:23smooth and I don't really
2:24like how it is.
2:25I think there should be
2:26hard transition on the bottom.
2:28And so goes for clothes
2:30and stuff.
2:30So we can go in
2:32edit mode using Alt plus
2:35left mouse button or with
2:37help of shift, we can
2:38select it, press right button
2:40and press mark sharp.
2:42It will basically tell the
2:44renderer that this edge should
2:46be rendered as sharp, which
2:48result in this hard transition,
2:50which I actually want.
2:51And now you can see
2:52it looks quite logical.
2:53We can do the exactly
2:54the same for the rest
2:56of the spikes.
2:57And here you go.
2:58Look at the result right
2:59now.
2:59Okay.
3:00Now they look exactly as
3:02I want them to look.
3:03I think we'll do the
3:04same for the mouse.
3:06All right.
3:06And we'll also do the
3:08same for the clothes, right?
3:09So the clothes definitely should
3:11be distinguished.
3:12So I press Alt on
3:14the loop.
3:14And if you have right,
3:15nice topology, it will be
3:17extremely easy for you to
3:18do.
3:19Alt or shift, mark seam.
3:20Okay.
3:20You can select something here.
3:22So to get in that
3:24menu, I just simply press
3:25right mouse button while in
3:27edit mode.
3:28And to switch between object
3:30and edit mode, you just
3:32press tab is like most
3:34useful key.
3:35Okay.
3:35Go back in tab.
3:37Let's actually do this for
3:38the mouse.
3:39Control, left mouse button, mark
3:42sharp.
3:43So now this looks more
3:44logical.
3:45The mouse is sharp, spikes
3:47and close.
3:48Guys, before we continue, I
3:49just want to thank you
3:50for your support.
3:51It's really important to get
3:52your feedback.
3:53If this video are useful
3:54for you.
3:55So as usual, 200 likes
3:57and I'm start working on
3:58next episode.
3:59Now we're gonna cut our
4:01model for UV.
4:02So basically it is same
4:05as in real life.
4:06Imagine we need to paint
4:08something, use printer.
4:09And we need to flatten
4:11that into some flat surface.
4:13So we can actually print
4:14on it.
4:14Right?
4:15So here is pretty much
4:16the same.
4:16We need to take an
4:17object, try to make some
4:19cuts so we can flatten
4:21it and actually apply the
4:23texture.
4:23So let's say the texture
4:24is a 2D thing, right?
4:26And object is 3D.
4:28The important thing is that
4:29when we talk about lower
4:31texture resolution, we need to
4:33be really careful where their
4:35seams are.
4:36Because on those seams, there
4:37might be some imperfection in
4:39the texture.
4:40When we talk about extremely
4:41big texture resolution, of course,
4:43there will be less noticeable.
4:45So imagine like we take
4:46a sphere and we can
4:48not unwrap it into the
4:49flat without cutting.
4:51Right?
4:51So that's what we're gonna
4:52see if we do not
4:54do enough cuts that it
4:56will be stretching.
4:57Right?
4:57So we theoretically, we can
4:59take a sphere and collapse
5:00it into some flat surface.
5:02But some areas will be
5:03extremely stretched.
5:05And if we paint some
5:06there, it will result in
5:07painting like some lines on
5:09the sphere.
5:09So again, there is a
5:11lot of reference how to
5:12do cuts for UV.
5:14And again, if you try
5:15it one time, you'll understand
5:16exactly the logic.
5:18And this is extremely simple
5:19process for this needs.
5:21Of course, there are complex
5:22objects and it might take
5:24a lot of years to
5:25know what is the best
5:26way.
5:26There are few deems and
5:28many, many other techniques.
5:29But we're talking on a
5:30base level and we just
5:31need to cut it so
5:32we can actually paint it
5:34or bake textures.
5:35So first we'll basically select
5:37Shift plus G and we'll
5:39select all the sharp edges
5:42that we already created.
5:44So Shift G allow you
5:45to select something by common
5:47property.
5:48Okay.
5:48Now they are selected, pressing
5:50right button and do Mark
5:52Seam.
5:53Okay.
5:54So these are the seams
5:55that are used for UV.
5:57We also need to cut
5:58each spike in half because
6:00yeah, we're not only this
6:02detached them from the main
6:04body, but we also cut
6:05them in a half so
6:06we can actually flatten them.
6:08Okay.
6:09I'll do the same process
6:10for all the spikes.
6:11Now let's do the same
6:13for the arm.
6:13The first thing we'll disconnect
6:15the arm, cut the arm
6:16from the body.
6:17Now we still need to
6:19cut it into half.
6:20We can actually make a
6:22line under the arm.
6:23Again, I'm trying to make
6:24seams in the areas that
6:26are not that visible.
6:27We'll also need to connect
6:29line here between fingers.
6:32So there is a complete
6:33cut.
6:34To actually see how this
6:35will be unwrapped, we can
6:38press on the edge, press
6:40Shift L and select Seam.
6:43So we select the current
6:45area and it will select
6:46everything that within the cut,
6:49right?
6:49So you can see.
6:50Also, as you can see,
6:50I already separated the clothes
6:52because they were selected as
6:54sharp and we marked all
6:56sharp as seam.
6:58And we can do unwrap.
6:59We can press right mouse
7:00button, go unwrap angle based.
7:02Now there is a tab
7:04called UV editing, especially designed
7:06to show the UV.
7:08And we can actually see
7:10how this is unwrapped into
7:12the 2D space.
7:13So basically you can see
7:14it, we cut it under
7:16the arm and it unwrapped
7:17it in 2D.
7:19We can also go in
7:21this menu, press activate the
7:23angle and it will give
7:25us the information if there
7:27is some critical stretching.
7:29It will be red if
7:30there is like extreme stretching
7:31more than 180 degree.
7:33But here if we see
7:34blue or light blue, that's
7:35absolutely nice.
7:37Then there is no critical
7:38areas.
7:38This might help you to
7:39identify where you need to
7:41add more cuts.
7:42So to release the texture.
7:45So extremely useful thing.
7:47In my case, I think
7:48I'm really happy with the
7:49result.
7:50Okay, let's disable that setting,
7:52go back and continue.
7:53We'll also need to cut
7:55flowers.
7:56Okay, so I will go
7:57in edit mode, select these
7:59two vertices and press J
8:02to draw another edge because
8:04I want to cut them
8:06horizontally.
8:07Okay, then here I also
8:09need to add an edge.
8:11Again, I just selected two
8:12vertices.
8:13By the way, there are
8:14three modes of interaction.
8:16As you can see here,
8:17right there is vertex, there
8:19is edge and the polygon.
8:21And you can easily switch
8:22between them by pressing one,
8:24two, three on the keyboard.
8:25So to draw an edge,
8:27I basically selected with control
8:29like two vertices in the
8:31vertex mode and press G.
8:33All right, and here we
8:34also mark seam and that's
8:35it.
8:36Okay, I think our arm
8:37is perfectly ready.
8:39Okay, we'll do the same
8:40exact thing for the clothes
8:42on the leg.
8:43All right, clothes on the
8:45leg is ready.
8:46Now let's detach the head.
8:49So here is my seam.
8:51Yeah, I will do like
8:52this because I think that's
8:54the best way to cut
8:55it.
8:55We can cut it somewhere
8:56near the mouse, but I
8:59think that should be enough.
9:00And I don't really want
9:01to do a lot of
9:03seams.
9:04So basically that's the reason
9:05why Nice UV don't cut
9:07face in many pieces because
9:08that's the point of interest,
9:10right?
9:10You basically look on the
9:12character face and you don't
9:13want like to see some
9:14lines or anything or like
9:16texture disconnection and so on.
9:17So that's why it usually
9:19cuts like that.
9:20So it is stretched at
9:21some degree, but that's totally
9:23fine.
9:23So, okay, we'll draw here
9:25so we can disconnect the
9:26body from the front side.
9:28We'll also disconnect a leg.
9:31So thanks to our topology
9:33with it, it is extremely
9:34easy.
9:35So we need to disconnect
9:36the bottom of the foot.
9:39All right, so let's select
9:41it here.
9:42Again, mark seam.
9:44All right, and I think
9:45we need to cut leg
9:48into half and we'll do
9:50it here in the less
9:51noticeable area, right?
9:53So we can select it
9:54now, unwrap, angle.
9:57And we can see something
9:58is not correct here.
10:00I think I missed something.
10:03The bottom should be detached.
10:07All right, let me check.
10:08I think I missed, oh
10:09yeah, here we go.
10:10I missed the area between
10:13fingers.
10:14We also need to cut
10:16it.
10:16And yeah, you can see
10:17now it's fine.
10:19Okay, so here we go.
10:21And it's already look quite
10:23amazing.
10:23We need to draw a
10:24line on there.
10:25Well, that's it.
10:27That's pretty much it.
10:28And I think for the
10:29nose, yeah, nose, you see
10:30there's quite a lot of
10:32curvature there.
10:33So we'll cut the nose
10:35hole here and mark a
10:37seam.
10:37All right, I like to
10:38click that.
10:38We can cut it inside
10:40and a half, but I
10:41think it's fine.
10:41About the mirror modifier.
10:43Again, it will speed up
10:44your process if your work
10:46with symmetric model, but that
10:48is not necessity.
10:49So you can basically go
10:51with the object and cut
10:52it.
10:52But again, it can't be
10:53asymmetrical object and you basically
10:55do exactly the same.
10:57It's just that here, it
10:58saves us a lot of
10:59time and eliminate some errors
11:02because it's just mirror exactly
11:04what we do and it
11:05is symmetrical.
11:06So just so you know,
11:07you don't need to use
11:08mirror if you're working with
11:10asymmetrical stuff or any simple
11:12object, that's totally fine.
11:13You don't need to cut
11:15everything in half.
11:16To continue, we'll actually go
11:17and apply our modifier.
11:20And now it will be
11:21as an object.
11:23And we'll go to edit
11:24mode.
11:24We'll press A on a
11:26keyboard, right mouse button, select
11:28unwrap, angle based.
11:30And let's see if we
11:31actually did it right.
11:32Also let's enable eyes and
11:34teeth.
11:34We need to cut eyeballs
11:36in half.
11:37The exact same thing we'll
11:38do for the teeth.
11:40But before we will apply
11:42subdivision modifier that we added
11:44like in previous video, basically
11:46go arrow down, apply.
11:49And while still in mirror,
11:51let's cut all teeth in
11:53half.
11:54So there's extremely useful command
11:56slash on a keyboard.
11:57And if you press on
11:58it, it will basically isolate
12:00temporary the object.
12:02So you'll only see the
12:02object that was selected and
12:04you can press it again
12:05to go back to normal
12:06view.
12:07It helps to focus on
12:08the object you're working with.
12:09So I'll did that.
12:10Now holding shift and clicking
12:13with alt, we can select
12:15the loops and cut them
12:16in half marks.
12:17See, all right.
12:19So here we go.
12:20Now we can select everything.
12:22So again, like we can
12:23jump into edit mode while
12:25selecting all the objects.
12:27And let's do the unwrap
12:28altogether.
12:29Let's reorganize a little bit
12:32our stack.
12:33So we'll have all our
12:35meshes altogether.
12:36So now we are in
12:37the UV editing tab and
12:39we can see what's happening
12:41here.
12:41Right away we can see
12:43that eyes are enormously big
12:47compared to other parts.
12:49And that should not be
12:50like that.
12:50It should take as much
12:52space as it is in
12:53real life.
12:54And that actually happened because
12:55we didn't set correct scales.
12:58We didn't explain like what
12:59real scales are or the
13:01object.
13:01And that's very easy to
13:02fix.
13:03We will go back to
13:05object mode.
13:05Then we go to the
13:06eyes and we'll press that
13:08menu.
13:08So we'll see the item
13:10transform.
13:11And here you can see
13:12that rotations in scale are
13:14values less than one.
13:16It means that we did
13:17some changes but we didn't
13:18say that this is like
13:19the initial scale.
13:21If we scale it back
13:23to one, it will be
13:24a very, very big eye.
13:25To make this current state
13:27as a default, we'll basically
13:29press control A and select
13:32rotation and scale.
13:34Okay, so you can see
13:34object didn't change but there
13:36is like one, one, one.
13:37Now, if we select all
13:38object, do the same UV
13:40unwrapping, you can see that
13:41it looks way more logical
13:43and the sizes are correct.
13:45That's exactly what we want.
13:47Additionally, what we can do
13:48is in UV window, we
13:50can go to UV tab
13:52and we can select pack
13:54islands and it will organize
13:56things even nicer.
13:57Let's not do that right
13:58now.
13:59I think we will actually
14:01separate eyes into a separate
14:03object.
14:03It's a separate material.
14:05So to do that, like
14:06let's go to the eyes,
14:07go to edit mode, UV
14:09and pack islands.
14:12So yeah, now you can
14:13see the eyes take the
14:15whole space of the picture.
14:16But again, it means that
14:18we'll pack it on another
14:20texture.
14:21So let's go to material
14:22tab on the bottom, create
14:24a new material and let's
14:26rename it to eyes.
14:27That's enough for now, let's
14:28hide the eyes.
14:29But for teeth and body,
14:31let's select them again with
14:33the shift, UV, pack islands
14:36and here we go.
14:38Okay, so you can either
14:39extend the margin so they're
14:41packed with some spacing or
14:42I have UV packer, which
14:44is not necessary.
14:46But if you want to
14:47use it, you can use
14:48easy to install.
14:49And here we'll basically select
14:51all and set a padding
14:52instead of two to eight
14:54and press pack.
14:55It will basically reorganize the
14:58islands on the UV.
15:00All right, now let's go
15:02to our object and review
15:04the result.
15:05You know guys, I just
15:06realized that we actually missed
15:08something and we're gonna fix
15:09it right away.
15:10I think for the body,
15:11we need one more cut
15:13on here under the tail.
15:15So we're gonna draw a
15:17long line like this.
15:19All right, to disconnect the
15:21lower bottom and mark seam.
15:23All right, now we select
15:25this again, edit mode, right,
15:28press A, unwrap.
15:30All right, and we all
15:32do the exact same steps
15:33again.
15:34And now I like more
15:35how my lower body is
15:37placing.
15:38And now our model is
15:39ready for baking or texturing.
15:42We're gonna do baking.
15:43So first of all, we'll
15:45bake a normal map because
15:46that's pretty much the main
15:48reason why we have high
15:49poly model that has that
15:51geometry and stuff and small
15:52details.
15:53And as you can see,
15:54this model look very poor
15:56on details but we're gonna
15:57fix that with normal map
15:59with industry standard approach.
16:01So to do that, let's
16:02go to the shading tab.
16:03Let's select our low poly
16:05model.
16:05We can press shift A
16:07in this empty space or
16:09we can press add button.
16:11We can find texture, image
16:13texture.
16:13So we need just to
16:14create a texture.
16:16Let's press new, let's call
16:17it dyna normal.
16:19We can choose 4K texture
16:22resolution and you will need
16:23to disable alpha.
16:24Just keep the settings as
16:26mine.
16:26And create new image.
16:28Now this is basically a
16:29black image.
16:31Now let's enable our high
16:33poly model also and disable
16:36everything that we are not
16:37baking right now.
16:38So just make sure that
16:39the objects are hidden.
16:41First select our low poly
16:43model and then with shift
16:44press on the high poly.
16:46So that will basically mean
16:47that there is a selected
16:48and active model.
16:50We gonna need to change
16:52our render engine to cycles
16:54in the render tab.
16:56There we need to go
16:57scroll to the bake and
16:59here is it.
17:00We need to select bake
17:02type to normal as we're
17:04baking normals.
17:05As you can see, there's
17:05a lot of things we
17:06can bake and there is
17:07a diffuse for the color.
17:09We can also, I'll show
17:10you how to bake it
17:11right away.
17:12And as we baking from
17:14selected to active, the light
17:17yellow is active and orange
17:20is selected.
17:21It might be a lot
17:22of objects selected but in
17:23our case, it's like one
17:24is selected.
17:25So this settings is what
17:27we are gonna do for
17:28extrusion and max right distance.
17:31In our case, this setting
17:32should be enough.
17:34But again, that basically mean
17:35the distance from the geometry
17:37to look for the high
17:38poly geometry to get that
17:40information from it.
17:41We can clear the image.
17:42The margin eight pixels is
17:44okay.
17:45Now we just need to
17:46press bake button.
17:47Okay, so it will start
17:48texture baking.
17:49It might take a little
17:51bit.
17:51And here is the texture.
17:52You can see the results
17:54there.
17:54If you did everything right,
17:56you get the blue texture
17:57like this.
17:58First, save that texture to
18:00not lose it.
18:01Now let's hide the high
18:03poly model.
18:04And now let's connect normal
18:05map and see how it
18:06looks.
18:07So first of all, in
18:08color space, we'll need to
18:09select non-color.
18:11And the only thing you
18:11need to know here really
18:13is that color map remain
18:15as RGB and all maps
18:17like normal, roughness, metallic, they
18:20are non-color.
18:21Because this is normal map,
18:22select non-color, drag and
18:24drop and create another node
18:26called normal map and connect
18:28it to the normal output.
18:30And here we go.
18:31Just look at this.
18:33Let's enable I's and T's.
18:36I'll press control space bar
18:38on the viewport so we
18:40can focus and take a
18:41look on this.
18:42To exit this mode, you
18:43can also press control space.
18:45But guys, look at this.
18:47It looks just amazing.
18:50We transferred all the details,
18:52all the patterns.
18:53And this is our actual
18:55low poly model.
18:56This is an amazing base
18:58for a game asset.
18:59So you can take a
19:00look in different viewport presets
19:02and so on.
19:03You might think that it
19:04look like texture and why
19:06do we do such a
19:07long process to bake this?
19:09But that's not really it.
19:10The normal map is information
19:12about how light affect the
19:14surface.
19:15It basically imitate geometry.
19:17And you can actually see
19:19the difference between something that
19:22you paint on top if
19:23you reduce roughness and add
19:24some metallic.
19:25As you can see, it
19:26look like it's a real
19:27geometry when the light reflects
19:29it.
19:30So that's why we basically
19:32bake this information from another
19:34mesh, which has this.
19:36Okay, I will revert it.
19:37This looks really, really nice.
19:39Now let me show you
19:40how to bake color map.
19:41So I already did this.
19:43To do that, basically the
19:44process is exactly the same.
19:46We will actually need our
19:48model that we created in
19:49Hytem.
19:50Let's first take a look
19:51at it.
19:52Here it is.
19:52If we take a look,
19:54the eyes and teeth are
19:55not really there because we
19:57reworked them.
19:58So we're not gonna bake
19:59it and let's enable our
20:01low poly model.
20:02The important condition to make
20:04it happen is that they
20:06must follow or be as
20:08close as possible in the
20:10shape.
20:10Not a hundred percent, of
20:11course.
20:11You can regulate that with
20:13max right distance and extrusion.
20:15So in my case, it's
20:17pretty much okay.
20:18And we can try to
20:21bake it.
20:21We're gonna do select base
20:24low, with shift select AI
20:26model, go back here and
20:28here in the bake type,
20:29we'll select diffuse.
20:31Also the important thing I
20:33forgot to mention, the texture
20:34where we're baking, especially if
20:36in this case, we have
20:37like two texture already.
20:39The one that is selected
20:41with the white border in
20:43my case, that role will
20:44be chosen for a bake
20:45function.
20:46So if I start baking,
20:48the normal map will be
20:49selected and it will actually
20:50overwrite it.
20:51So we don't want it.
20:53And let's do that once
20:54again.
20:55Let's create new texture, let's
20:56say color.
20:57I can remove the blank.
20:59Okay, now you can see
21:00it's just a black texture
21:01and I selected it.
21:03The only thing we also
21:04need to do is that
21:05when we bake and we
21:07do not want to bake
21:08some light settings we set
21:11up in the scene because
21:11I didn't set anything.
21:14We'll need to disable the
21:15direct light contribution and only
21:17keep indirect in color.
21:18Keep selected to active clear
21:20image.
21:21All the thing is fine.
21:22And let's press bake.
21:24Okay, as you can see
21:25the baking process started.
21:26It might take a while.
21:28In my case, it takes
21:29around 30 seconds.
21:31All right, so here's our
21:32texture and it's baked.
21:34You can see that sRGB
21:35is blocked, but I mean,
21:37it's fine that it sRGB,
21:38but to enable that we
21:40need to basically save it
21:42and save it.
21:43And then all the settings
21:44are enabled, but let's disable
21:46AI model.
21:48So here is our guy
21:49and let's connect it to
21:51the base color.
21:52And here is the result.
21:54Is that bad actually?
21:55I mean, I am surprised
21:56like how good it is.
21:58Transferred some materials.
21:59There must be some artifacts
22:01as our model is a
22:04bit different, especially here.
22:05Yeah, I mean, that makes
22:06sense.
22:07But if you like the
22:08original texture, it can be
22:09a starting point for texturing.
22:12You can actually use it
22:14or you can create it
22:15from scratch and don't use
22:16it at all.
22:17And only continue with the
22:19normal map, right?
22:20So it's up to you
22:21what you want to do.
22:22And here is our final
22:24result.
22:25And I think this is
22:26an amazing job.
22:27Look how beautiful seems to
22:29look like the shading.
22:31And of course the UV
22:33map.
22:34All right, guys, I hope
22:35you enjoyed it.
22:35I hope you learned something
22:36new.
22:37Next video, we're moving to
22:38texturing.
22:39And after we're going to
22:40the rigging and animations, let
22:42me know if something is
22:43not clear, if I'm going
22:44too fast, too slow.
22:46Any feedback is welcome.
22:47Like and subscribe and see
22:49you in the next video.

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