sorry, I never solved the problem. It seemed to be more evident in some cases and less in others. but i could never figure out a reason for why or what was the root issue.
I believe if you connect the texture to the emissive channel in the material in Maya you’ll get a better result. However, this totally removes the ability to adjust the lighting on the object. So I think I ended up using the emissive at 1/2 value which sorta allowed for a bit of re-lighting and reduced this issue somewhat.
I think what RC really needs is a way to de-light the texture. At the end of the day, you want something that looks good but can be re-lit.
It’s been a while since I’ve done any work in RC so my memory might be a little hazy.
-e