” Render To Texture – Baking Textures” by Wojtek “Buddy” Starak
I do suggest to read my UVW map tutorial first 🙂
I usually used Render To Texture to bake nice skylight shadows on my model, but from some time I also using it when texturing (thanks Robert Briscoe). When my mesh is done I uv certain parts of it separatly, in most cases each other take whole 1024 or 2048 texture, I usually end with more than 10 textures in this process, when all textures are ready I duplicate my model , apply UVWs Unwrap modifier and either manually or with help of „Pack Uvs” arrange all UV clusters so they fit on one map. I set up both models pivot on center and move them on coordinates 0,0,0. I change Ambient lighting color (Render -> Environment) to semi-gray (to have nice light shadows when baking skylight shadow map), next I put a skylight (lights->skylight) in it’s properties I set Cast Shadows and 20 Rays (quality is sufficent then).
3Dtutorials.sk recommendation:
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After this I’d Select the untextured one and use Render to Texture tool to project textures from the model with many textures into the model with one tight UVW map. This way You don’t need to make anything from scrath or redo most of UVWs map because of changes in the model. How I usually set up Render To Texture:
NOTE: Basiclly what padding does:
NOTE2: „ Use Existing channel” is to use existing UVW map (and to select channel), if You select Automatic Unwrap it will flatten all UVWs.
NOTE3: when You activate Projection Mapping a „Projection” modifier will assign to the selection. it’s used to create a cage which will be used for projection. For more details on this, take a look into 3dsmax user reference.
If You select Complete Map it will bake everything into one .TGA, I do prefer render everything to diffrent files and then simple put all toghether in PS. When Rendering is done next step is to open color map in photoshop and in the second layer put Shadows Map (You can modify it this way 🙂 ) with „multiply” blending mode (more about blending modes and simmiliar here 🙂 ).
That’s all, Texture is baked, but I also would like to show a normalmaps trick You can do with Render To Texture, as You propably noticed arleady there is a „Normal Map” output, it’s used to project hipoly model on low poly model, if You project those normal maps with diffrent bump/normal (it can be just a photoshoped normal) map assigned to low poly model in result (after projection) You’ll get normalmap from lowpoly baked toghether with normalmap from hipoly geometry model. It’s a simple trick, good when doing some props, for characters I’d still recommend Zbrush 🙂
(c) Wojtek „Buddy” Starak, buddy@blackwidowgames.com
www.blackwidowgames.com
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