Blender, how do I add shadows to pre-textured linked creations (shadow Baking)

[LouiseDeBlois]

Hi there, I am having issues with blender, I have watched countless tutorials on how to do shadow baking, yet it never seems to work...

On both sides, the middle object i want to be given the shadows from the other versions under, and above it ((linked together, yet the middle ones are not))

There is a light source above them, and under them as well.

How does on shadow bake this? I have tried unwrapped, UV, etc etc, with no real luck.

Thank you!

[Aquila Kytori]

Hi

Its a little bit difficult to see what you are trying to do but i"m guessing you are trying to use the outer meshes to cast shadows on the middle mesh and then bake them into a texture?.

And you didn't say if you were getting any error messeges or just baking an all black texture................ ?

The workflow  for baking is something like this :

1: Create the Middle mesh.

2: Create the Outer mesh/meshes.

3: UV Unwrap the Middle mesh.

4: Add lamp/lamps.

5: Adjust lamp (and Shadow) settings. (Try the settings shown in the image below)

6: In Edit mode select all of the Middle mesh.

7: (With the Middle mesh still selected in Edit mode) go to the UV editor and create a New Image. This will be the image that the shadows are baked to.

8: In the Bake panel > Bake Mode, select Shadows.

9: Hit the bake button. The baked texture will load up onto the Image you have just created in step 7.

In the 3d Viewport, if f you switch Viewport Shading to Texture you will see the Shadow texture now on the Middle mesh.

 

I would advise you to do some practice baking with a simpler mesh setup than the one you have shown

You can download my Test shadow bake.blend example file from here  http://www.pasteall.org/blend/32411

it may be useful to see the settings etc , Hit he bake button and it will update the texture in the UV/image editor window.

 

 

 

[Aquila Kytori]

I just realised that you are asking how to bake shadows onto a pre-existing Texture to get a combined texture.

 

You will need to have the pre-existing texture as a Material for your Middle mesh.

In the example image below: 

1: I made my "pre-existing" texture in Gimp. (the wood grain texture seen in the image below)

2: Then created a New Material for the Middle mesh.

3: Added a new texture in the Texture tab. This is where the "pre-existing " texture will be loaded up.

4: In Type choose Image or Movie.

5: In the Image panel load up that texture from where ever it is saved to on your hard drive.

6: In the Mapping panel > Coordinates choose UV

7: and Map choose the UV map for the Middle mesh.

 

Return to my previous message and continue from ........

                                                                                    4: Add lamp/lamps.

                                                                                    5: Adjust lamp settings.

                                                                                    6: ...........

                                                                                    7: ...............

                                                                                    8: In the Bake panel > Bake Mode, select FULL RENDER

                                                                                    9: Hit the bake button. The baked texture will load up onto the Image you have just created in step 7.

With a bit of luck the new baked texture will be what you want  .............

 

[LouiseDeBlois]

Ah, sorry about that, yes, all black, no real result.

 

And thanks for the guide! I shall do it when i get back to my desktop, thanks again, a guide which i understamd fully.

[LouiseDeBlois]

Quick question, is it possible to shadow back without the outter objects? Using the natural light source?

 

Also, the object contains 3 parts, the bow has

2 types of the same texture, yet on slightly darker

1 texture for the bow string.

Can i join them together, and still shadowbake in one go?

[LouiseDeBlois]

Dont worry found out myself, but now im having another issue, i got how to shadow bake down, but the shadows are not smooth, they dont blend into shadows, some areas, mainly the corners are bulky, dark black solid shades with no transition.

Thanks!

[Aquila Kytori]

 

 

Your not making this easy lol.......

You know your mesh bow intimately but i'm still guessing what type of bow it is. A ribbon bow, the kind you put in your hair or on a gift box? But you say it has a string so maybe its a bow tie or the bow from a violin or the bow from a bow and arrow ?

Your fist image was taken at a low angle AND in Perspective view which can make it even harder to understand what the picture is suppose to illustrate   When attempting to explain something it is often better to use screenshots of the Orthographic view of your mesh.

And a screenshot of your baked shadow texture and how it looks when applied to your bow would have helped answer your new question lol.

So still guessing...............From my first image Lamp tab > Shadows play around with the settings especially the Soft Size.

I was going to mention that you could add a lamp than is set to cast no shadows to lighten areas that baked to dark but best to keep the number of lamps as low as possible

One thing I should mention is you don't have to bake out these combined textures at all. Its often better and simpler to  bake out a shadow texture or an AO texture or a diffuse texture etc and save each one as a separate .png image then open them as layers in Gimp or photoshop and do the combining/blending there;

For Example in the image below I have the Shadow texture above the Wood texture layer and set the blend Mode to Multiply. Then below that I change the Opacity value to make the Shadow layer less harsh.

 

And one last thing Maybe its not shadows cast from actual lights in the scene that you want but Ambient Occlussion !

The first tbake most people do is this AO (Ambient Occlussion) Bake. its this that can bring your mesh "alive" .

And the good news is for an AO bake you don't need any lights at all ! .So if you haven't tried AO baking before then do that;  save that texture out, open it in Gimp as put it in the top layer and set Blend Mode to Multiply.

See this thread for AO bake settings http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Mesh/Need-advice-buildings-in-blender/m-p/2368791#M24858

[LouiseDeBlois]

So sorry about that! Ahah, here is a screen shot while i play with it more with the advice you have given to me.

It is also a bow, as in a weapon, for fantasy sims etc. ((Meant to look like wings when on the back))

Ill also add on the texutre, I have UV, UVMAP, then cubed, will it being cubed also effect the baking?

Thanks again!