Stumped

[Charles Hera]

These days I can normally solve issues that arrise but this is a real puzzler. The bake looks fine in the preview window but HORRIBLE in the Image Editor window.

I have tried baking to another (not previously used) texture. I have applied all the modifiers as well as rotation. location and scale. I even went back to a previous saved blend file and tried baking just ONE of the side panels by itself  -- the same issue.

Ideas as to why this is happening would be appreciated.

There is a subsurf modifier on the panels. Nothing else the least bit complex going on. Not making sense to me but hopefully someone will know.

 

Thanks.

 

PS. I do have backface culling turned on so not a normals issue unless it is a "normals vertex" issues which I haven't figured out how to fix at all.  SOME of the parts that are showing black are places where I took vertexes and moved in towards the center SLIGHTLY. Seems odd there would be this much of a problem with that simple thing. Other parts haven't been moved at all with the same non-bake issue.

 

[Astrid Kaufmat]

try baking your texture at higher resolution like 4096 or if needed also 8192 if you really need a lot of details, then before you upload it you can downsize it (otherwise the uploader would anyway do it setting it to 1024x1024).

 

Hovewer that seems an ambient occlusion map or a specular map , isn't it? Generally those maps don't need many  care or details .You can also edit later your ambient occlusion map in photoshop and blend it with your diffusemap to get your details better while you paint.

[Dree Eames]

By "preview window" do you mean the Mesh Edit window?  If that is what you mean and you like the way it displays on the mesh, I'm not sure why you are unhappy with how it looks in the UV/Image Edit window.  

What I do notice is that your UV island arragement is not optiimized.  You are wasting a tremendous amount of resolution on your texture map by grouping those UV islands together at the bottom.  Try an arrangement something like this to get more detail/smoothness in your bake:

[Charles Hera]

Actually there is going to be MUCH MORE to the model and that will go in the empty spots . This is just a tiny piece of the build. So it will all be filled eventually.

In looking at this again later (I was too tired I guess) I see that the main issue is that I need to remap it now that I have applied the modifier. I don't use those often. That will give a much more even and realistic bake.

Thanks for your comments!  I may post an updated photo later just for informational purposes. I do have some weird artifacts on the nail heads but I think I know how to fix that also. We'll see. REST can do a lot.

[Charles Hera]

OK. I am posting the "fix" here in case it will help someone. I am going to trash this as not what I wanted, BUT:

 

I unwrapped it again AFTER applying the subsurf modifyer (duh) and that worked much better (of course). It was a very simple thing to do as I already had the edges marked.

That unwrapping AFTER appling the modifier was the biggest issue. The other which made things seem even worse is that somehow my standard 2048 baking graphic (a woodgrain in various colors so I can see the linear directions of each material) got saved over at 512. Hence a very marginal and spotty bake even if you overlook the stretched holes and such.

This is too far away from my typical style and not working for me so it will go down as a learning experience. Hopefully I will be more awake when something odd like this happens next time.

Thanks.

[Charles Hera]

Today was a new day and I decided to continue as it is good to work beyond your "limits" now and then. Day two went much more smoothly than day one and I completed my project. Shot of map included for those that worry about those things.

 

That is the end of the story.

[MIstahMoose]

 

 

Whipped this up real fast. (And I did it a little wrong, the posts between the legs should be 1/2)
Your object looks the same all around. I would recommend deleting 3/4ths of it and mirroring it across the axis. This way you have a lot less editing to do and a lot less texturing to do. It also helps to save texture space making your object far more efficient by using a much smaller texture for the same detail

 

[LepreKhaun]

Your sixteen nails might better be done within the texture instead of being modeled. This is generally true of all nails, brads, rivets and any other small embellishments along these lines.

 

As it is, you're not only unnecessarily upping your final LI with this unneeded geometric complication but the nails are eating up a huge amount of space of your texture. A normal map might be used if you wanted to further the illusion of protrusion drawn onto the texture, but I'd skip that on such small details.

[LepreKhaun]

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MIstahMoose wrote:

... image deleted ...

Whipped this up real fast. (And I did it a little wrong, the posts between the legs should be 1/2)

Your object looks the same all around. I would recommend deleting 3/4ths of it and mirroring it across the axis. This way you have a lot less editing to do and a lot less texturing to do. It also helps to save texture space making your object far more efficient by using a much smaller texture for the same detail

 

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Have you ever tried this technique you whipped up so quickly?

[Charles Hera]

Object is NOT the same all around. Each leg has been modeled and mapped to be different as it is supposed to be rustic - so not uniform. [Edit: and the supports overlap so that would not work.]  I don't see how mirroring would help the triangle number anyway.

Land impact is ONE with long holding LOD. I personally do not LIKE textured nails . Most of the high profile furniture designers make their own mesh nails, rivets, etc. These have minimal faces. Hard to get lower than ONE LI unless you are linking to another object.