Leadwerks Phong

[ParaToxic 29]

Hey I made a model for some tests in Cinema4D and exported it in FBX to LE.But now my problem is that LE haven't got phong angle limit ,so you can't see the corners of some parts of the model.

Is there a way to fix that or use the phong informations of the FBX file?

 

Here some facts

C4D:

LE:

 

and a test with a model where you can see a phong error:

 

I hope you can help me

[Optimus Josh 9,727]

This is an issue with your modeling program. Whatever the normals are in the exported FBX file are what Leadwerks loads.

[ParaToxic 29]

Have somebody the same problem with C4D and know how to export it correctly?

Only the Wavefront exporter of C4D works correctly with the normals

[macklebee 883]

easiest fix that should work in C4D since it works in other 3d modeling apps is to just add a small chamfered/beveled edge... but if you have uu3d then you can just select the object and use 3D Tools>AutoSmooth Faces...>Face normal

[ParaToxic 29]

The idea with the bevel works at the bottom ,but I can't bevel all edges in the model.I will test the C4D importer of UU3D

[Optimus Josh 9,727]

There might be an option like "Export vertex normals" or "Export smooth groups" you can change.

[ParaToxic 29]

There are no exporter settings to make.I have an old demo version (R11) where I can't change the export settings.I will look at the new R13 version

[ParaToxic 29]

I found a way to solf this problem ... you have to disconnect the faces which you want to get hard edges ... but of course the number of vertices expands.

 

 

 

 

A few Pictures for demonstratinon

 

 

 

[DigitalHax 25]

Hmm...

[saboteur 0]

I had same problem with Cinema4D 11, and the only way to solve it was to fix the model with Unwrap3D. Its a problem from conversion.

[Pancakes 53]

Have you tried Lord Hippos Crysis shaders? I'm not sure if that is your issue but his shader makes all the geometry in Leadwerks have lots more contrast in the way it is lit.

[ParaToxic 29]

I use the shader ,but it is a SSAO shader,which makes corners a little bit darker like in the real world.It think the problem is that the cinema4D phong tag is a kind of deformer and will not be saved in the FBX or the other formats.

 

@saboteur:

can I send you a model with the phong problem and you convert it in UU3D like you made with you models ,because I haven't UU3D and when it works well I will buy it.Would be nice

test.zip

[Benton 18]

In your modelin program is there a button or option "shade flat"?

[ParaToxic 29]

Yes but only for display ,so the model itself not going to be changed.

I only want to add phong with 32° ,nothing else

[ParaToxic 29]

I tried UU3D and it works very well.Are there any other modellingprogramms available to make that kind of normal smooth ? (Blender,Milkshape...)

[Benton 18]

Blender has a "shade smooth" and "shade solid" buttons but I dunno if it exports that. UU3D is amazing, you really should buy that. It is totally worth it.

[ParaToxic 29]

Ok I'am going to buy it

[shadmar 1,172]

I like UU3D, not sure how I would get by without (haven't tried the sdk tools yet), I'm using several engines so unwrapping and model conversions / exporting are all done in UU3D

[Nangil 17]

I had the same problem with Blender, and resolve like this:

Try to add the modificator Edge Split and apply the modificator.

This is Leadwerks result:

[SlipperyBrick 176]

I would recommend looking at what weighted vertex normals are. You can achieve weighted vertex normals in pretty much any modelling package.

As a quick explanation each vertex has a normal (some modelling programs give each face it's own smoothing group which ends up giving you triple the vertices you actually have (triple the normals too, remember every vertex has a normal), to stop this you can put every face of your model in one smoothing group). Weighted vertex normals basically uses the area (the area being referred to as the "weight") of a face to shift the normal of the vertex. This provides a more pleasing look for shading on your models faces. You can use weighted vertex normals to fake rounded edges without adding extra geometry to your model by optionally baking the results to a normal map.

There is slightly more to it than I explained above but to get the general gist of how it works the above explanation should give you a quick idea

Here is some images:

Blender:

Leadwerks:

[Nangil 17]

Add Edge Loops or Vertex it works, but could be heavy. It's not best solution.

[tjheldna 386]

This is all about smoothing groups. Edge loops aren't for the game ready model. That would be for a high poly model that you bake the normal map onto a low poly one.

I had problems with LE importing smoothing groups First in MODO 8 not importing but newer version 11 its working again. I'm also now using Akeytsu for animation in which the groups does not import into Leadwerks. I have to use the model editor calculate angle option which is bad for characters or anything other than simple shapes. Thing is the same models export and smoothing groups come across perfectly in other game engines and have always done so.

If your using Substance Designer for baking it has become really good at baking a model with a mixture of hard and soft edges. After all that work preparing, baking etc  the final result still wont appear in LE correctly because of smoothing groups.

A mainly an artist this has been a real frustrating problem. My bug post about it is buried so deep not even I can't find it. Here is an image of the comparison of smoothing groups. see how the armour has nice hard edges directly from exporting, and leadwerks does not.

[SlipperyBrick 176]

@tjheldna this might be of interested to you. Since MODO 10 they added extra tools (vertex normal toolkit) that allows you to do exactly what I mentioned above. Might be worth a shot baking the results of the weighted normals into a normal map and using that inside Leadwerks so you get those nice edges you can see in Unity into Leadwerks. 

 

 

[Optimus Josh 9,727]

On ‎2‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 4:48 AM, tjheldna said:

This is all about smoothing groups. Edge loops aren't for the game ready model. That would be for a high poly model that you bake the normal map onto a low poly one.

I had problems with LE importing smoothing groups First in MODO 8 not importing but newer version 11 its working again. I'm also now using Akeytsu for animation in which the groups does not import into Leadwerks. I have to use the model editor calculate angle option which is bad for characters or anything other than simple shapes. Thing is the same models export and smoothing groups come across perfectly in other game engines and have always done so.

If your using Substance Designer for baking it has become really good at baking a model with a mixture of hard and soft edges. After all that work preparing, baking etc  the final result still wont appear in LE correctly because of smoothing groups.

A mainly an artist this has been a real frustrating problem. My bug post about it is buried so deep not even I can't find it. Here is an image of the comparison of smoothing groups. see how the armour has nice hard edges directly from exporting, and leadwerks does not.

Please post a sample file for me to test if you would like this looked at.

[Optimus Josh 9,727]

Okay, this file gives me something concrete to work with. We load either binary or Ascii files, so I am just working with the binary file.

3ds max:

LE:

I will send this off to Brad for him to look at. Thanks!