I’ve been working with 3ds max and now i’m learning unreal in ArchVis area.
I try to understand how Light map resolution and UVW-map work concrete.
I downloaded a scene Realistic Rendering, to see how the objects UVW-map built. Some moments are interested in, such as a curtain, the resolution at which is 64. But it turns out that each strip with a width of one pixel, which is extremely low. How does light work? is it possible? Ore one pixel is anough?
Next. I have a very hard situation with UVW-maps, because there are a lot of complex object in my scene. It seems incredible to do individual UVW-map for every object. When I use in 3dsMax Flatten Image, it gives me picture with the smallest details. And what surprises me, there is a free area, but why Flatten Image can not use this area for example to do some details a little bigger?
What do you advise? Maybe you know some useful plugins?
Please let me know. Many thanks!
World of Level Design. While these tutorials and information is with UDK/UE3 it’s still using the same process that would be needed for creating Lightmaps for Unreal Engine 4.
With the curtain from the Realistic Rendering, The entire mesh has been stretched out to use the 0,1 UV space to get the best results. If you look at UV Channel 1 you will see that the mesh has been mapped so that there is no stretching for the texture that is applied. When it comes to the lightmap, you can adjust and stretch faces to fit the entirety for better results and to maximize the 0,1 space for the best results. The idea is also to use the lowest lightmap resolution you can to get the best results, since this will use texture memory which can be costly with higher lightmap resolutions and lots of objects. Typically those in ArchViz are not as concerned about FPS and tend to use higher lightmap resolutions though, but it still will require a good UV layout for lightmaps.
For something like your next question with something using a lot of geometry that needs to be broken up or separated it can be very difficult to get a good quality lightmap, but these are also very small pieces that when using the flat mapping method in 3Ds Max or any modeling program will not produce a good UV layout for lightmaps. With something like this, you could probably get better results by breaking the mesh into smaller pieces that are their own sections that can be reassembled. This way you can maximize the space in the Lightmap UV space.
Personally, I would look at making this a movable (dynamic) object and then in the World Settings I would increase the Volume Light Sample Placement density by using a lower value. Default value is 1.0. Try something like 0.5 to 0.1. Then in your scene use a couple of stationary lights in this area. This will then be able to cast dynamic shadows but it will also use the static lighting samples to get the indirect lighting of static without the need for a lightmap. It wouldn’t come without it’s own testing and setup to get better results, but it’s better than fighting with a UV for the lightmap on a complex piece of geometry.
