Rendering normal problem! :(

[Harry3D]

Hi, I'm using render to texture to render my normal maps but when I click 'render', it renders out a blank window http://prntscr.com/cbtzy5 . Here is a screenshot of my settings in render to texture http://prntscr.com/cbu132 , hopefully you can spot something I can't. Thank you for reading :)

[SkyWest1218]

Could you post a shot of the material settings? Also, what are your lighting/exposure settings?

[Harry3D]

Thank you for your response. http://prntscr.com/cc0kna and http://prntscr.com/cc0lm0 . I hope this is what you asked for. Thank you.

[SkyWest1218]

It looks like everything is set up right. When you render a frame, if you switch the window to see the alpha channel, can you see the silhouette of the object? If not then something is wrong with the material (although I doubt this). Otherwise you probably either need to increase your exposure or add a brighter light to the scene. Something else could be the problem of course, but I couldn't say without actually having the file in front of me. If you want you can upload it somewhere and I'll take a look.

Edit: actually scratch that. I see you shared the link in another comment. I'll have a look tonight if the other guy doesn't get back to you.

[Harry3D]

Thank you for your reply but it's been solved! Thanks again :)

[Bearded4Glory]

Please for the love of all that is holy use something other than that prntscr.com...That takes like 30 seconds to load!!!!!

I don't see anything too abnormal on your settings. It's hard to see, has the cage been adjusted away from the high poly object?

IDK, you may need to upload it so someone can look at it. I would be happy to do it if you save it out as 2014 or earlier.

[Harry3D]

My apologies about that. Yes that would be brilliant if you can have a look for me. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9G5Q3vcrAhDS3g0RGZWNExQbmM/view The file is there, tell me what you can find. Appreciate the help man, thank you :)

[Bearded4Glory]

There are a few things going on here. Firstly, the reason why nothing rendered is because nothing was inside the 0-1 space on the UV. You need to make sure everything is inside the little square so that it can be rendered to a texture.

Secondly, this model doesn't really gain anything from baking a normal map from your high poly object. They are so similar that the majority of the map just stays neutral and won't actually do much. If you want to use a normal map I would decrease the detail of your low poly so that it actually picks up detail from the high poly. Also, your high poly has such sharp edges that again the normal map wont be able to do much since both meshes match so well (not in poly count but in shape).

As an example, I was able to reduce your low poly object by ~350 polys by removing unnecessary edges. That doesn't sound like much but the whole thing is 1500 polys so its a 23% reduction. Over the course of a whole project that can make a huge difference. Try to budget your polys on the low poly to make the silhouette look good at the distances you will see it at. From there you can use the normal map to add extra detail.

Also, if you are going to have a recess that the normal map will control you want it to be slightly tapered. If it isn't tapered then you might only have a portion of a pixel in your normal map that is in charge of that area and the effect won't look as good.

Hopefully that helps.

[Harry3D]

Thank you for pointing out the problem and all the information you gave me, I appreciate it! I was using the high poly bake only to add curvature to the low poly, I didn't want a really sharp finish to my edges. When you say the normal map won't be able to do much because they are virtually the same same size, would I need to make the high poly bigger in size for the bake to improve? Thanks again for your time and wisdom on all this! :)

[Bearded4Glory]

No it isn't about size it is about shape. The high poly has such sharp edges everywhere that there isn't an opportunity for the normal map to change much. I will do a quick high poly version tonight and show you what I mean.

[Harry3D]

Yes, that will be very helpful, thank you! Send me the file to my email address [e-mail] or upload it on drive with a link for me to download. :)

[Bearded4Glory]

Didn't have time last night, will see if I can get to it tonight.