Blender High Poly To Low Poly Normal Map
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
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Blender High Poly To Low Poly Normal Map Tutorial
Introduction
Normal maps are a great way to add detail to game models. Instead of having to create a high poly model and then manually reduce the polycount to create a lower poly version, you can use a normal map to add details to the low poly model. Blender is a great 3D modeling software that has a powerful tool for generating normal maps from high poly to low poly models. This tutorial will show you how to use this feature to generate the perfect normal maps for your models.
Before You Begin
Before you begin, it is important to understand what a normal map is and how it works. A normal map is a texture that can be used to add details to a low poly model. It works by altering the surface normals of the low poly model, giving it the appearance of having more detail. In order for this to work, you need to have two versions of your model: a high poly version and a low poly version. The high poly version will be used to generate the normal map, and the low poly version will be used as the target for the normal map.
Creating Your Models
The first step in creating your normal map is to create your high poly and low poly versions of your model. The high poly version should be as detailed as possible, while the low poly version should be as simple as possible. For example, if you are creating a character, the high poly version should have all the details such as wrinkles, folds, and other small details, while the low poly version should only have the basic shape of the character. When creating your models, make sure they are both the same size and in the same position.
Preparing Your Models
Once you have created your models, you need to prepare them for the normal map generation. This involves setting up the materials and UV unwrapping them. First, you need to assign a material to each model. For the high poly model, you should assign a white material with a roughness of 0.5. For the low poly model, you should assign a black material with a roughness of 0.5. Then, you need to UV unwrap both models. It is important to make sure that the UVs of the low poly model are identical to the UVs of the high poly model, as this will ensure the normal map is generated correctly.
Generating the Normal Map
Once your models have been prepared, you can generate the normal map. To do this, select both the high poly and low poly models, then go to the “Render” tab and select “Bake”. In the bake window, select “Normal” from the “Type” dropdown menu. The normal map will be generated and saved as a .png file. You can then apply the normal map to the low poly model by assigning it to the material of the low poly model.
Conclusion
This tutorial showed you how to generate a normal map from a high poly to a low poly model in Blender. Normal maps are a great way to add detail to low poly models without having to manually reduce the polycount. By following this tutorial, you should now be able to generate normal maps for your own models.
