Thanks for the concise tutorial! I'll be starting to use lightmaps tomorrow in UE4, and knowing that it's very similar to UVing textures is quite relieving.
Incredibly helpful. I just wanted to throw in this little bit of information though. When you are setting up your UV grid size in Maya to match your lightmap resolution to UE4, all you need to do is Divide 1 by X (Where X is your meshes Lightmap Resolution in UE4) This will give you the number that you need to plug into the value in the video. I think this is important to mention just so that you don't have to remember values, and just in case you are trying to go lower than 128 or 64.
Holy carp Tim, I actually watched one of your tutorials and it was useful! :) It might be nice to see how to up the bounced lighting in a scene though, as there's some shenanigans to be had with UE4 lightmass.
Hi Tim and thanks for the video! I'm new to UE4 and I do Architectural rendering/animations using Modo and Blender at the moment. I am learning UE4 for the real time capabilities. I build my geometry for buildings in Sketchup and then import to UE4. So far I have not made light maps for my interior scene that I am using to learn the engine. Do I need lightmaps, why and on what assets, e.g. furniture models, wall, cabinets etc.? Maybe you can clear that confusion up for me? Thanks!
+Pulse2AM Light maps are used to reduce the power needed to calculate shadows for better FPS in real time rendered scenes. You should use light maps on all objects that are static in the scene (so yes, furnitures, walls, cabinets and so on, everything that will never move within your scene should use a lightmap).
I have a little problem with UV sets in UE4. When I create 2 UV sets in Maya and import the model in UE4, UE seems to create and additional third UV Set which I do not want to have. If I import a model with just one UV Set, it doesn't create no additional UV sets. Anyone have the same issue?
Hi! Thank you for the tutorial it was a great help. I was wondering, why do i need to weld together the modular pieces where it meets or just hide it with a pillar?
+sazberry i believe the reason to create the grid the same size as your light map density and snap the uvs is because lightmass doesn't properly calculate between pixels. if you set the uv grid to the same number as your light map density (done by dividing 1 by X(light map density i.e 128) = 0.0078125) each grid square is then equal to 1 pixel on your lightmap. then because each uv shell is snapped to the grid it will then be on the edge of the pixel which can often eliminate weird black shading errors or seams that show up on your model once you have built your lighting.
so would it be best to make sure vertices is selected to snap to grid and make sure all UV vertices are equally snapped as well? like say you take a rectangle shape, and you snap to grid even if it deforms the UV a bit, but making sure all verts are in corners of the grid (aligned) and obvious edges of the UVs are straightened, that should work? because no matter what i do even from this tutorial its still having bleeding shadow problems. :( i use 3DS Max and not a huge fan of maya or wanting to learn it just for this purpose so im wondering if this same principle is used in 3DS Max, would what i asked work fine?
If you are still having bleeding shadow problems make sure of two things. 1. Your light map resolution is set correctly for the size of the object you are trying to map. 2. Padding is crucial! If you are not giving 2 - 4 Pixel padding you will encounter light and shadow bleeding. Hope that helps.
how do you know if the shadow map resolution is the right size for what you make? do you set that up in the UV map grid? like say 1 divided by say 128 = etc etc, set up the UV Map grid accordingly as you lightmap? and then just have the model lightmap resolution in UE4 match this on the model settings after import? thats one of the parts im not sure of. i also heard that if you snap UV islands to the grid it prevents bleeding, but not all islands will be able to snap properly from what ive tried, be it a circle like shape, etc. I also tend to get past the degenerate tanget bases error when importing my FBX files but sometimes the shadows themselves even at high resolution dont act right? like straight shadows seem to be wavy or shadows under say a barrel tipped over, tends to not reflect a proper shadow underneath, or some crates lets say....do not have proper shadows in crevices, or spanning behind the crate itself. hope this all made sense lol
Great video, just a question - why do you need to snap the objects onto the grid lines exact? Will there be any difference in the light mapping if you don't?
Any way you may be willing to do this for 3DS Max users? I'm not familiar with Maya and do not intend on learning a new program to just do Light Maps lol. Really wish I could find a good tutorial like this for 3DS Max thats why i ask. thanks! :P
Thanks for the concise tutorial! I'll be starting to use lightmaps tomorrow in UE4, and knowing that it's very similar to UVing textures is quite relieving.
Incredibly helpful. I just wanted to throw in this little bit of information though. When you are setting up your UV grid size in Maya to match your lightmap resolution to UE4, all you need to do is Divide 1 by X (Where X is your meshes Lightmap Resolution in UE4) This will give you the number that you need to plug into the value in the video. I think this is important to mention just so that you don't have to remember values, and just in case you are trying to go lower than 128 or 64.
Thank you, amazing voice, amazing in depth explanation and examples. This is teaching.
+starscream2092 Thank you very much
Holy carp Tim, I actually watched one of your tutorials and it was useful! :) It might be nice to see how to up the bounced lighting in a scene though, as there's some shenanigans to be had with UE4 lightmass.
Hi Tim and thanks for the video! I'm new to UE4 and I do Architectural rendering/animations using Modo and Blender at the moment. I am learning UE4 for the real time capabilities. I build my geometry for buildings in Sketchup and then import to UE4. So far I have not made light maps for my interior scene that I am using to learn the engine. Do I need lightmaps, why and on what assets, e.g. furniture models, wall, cabinets etc.? Maybe you can clear that confusion up for me?
Thanks!
+Pulse2AM Light maps are used to reduce the power needed to calculate shadows for better FPS in real time rendered scenes. You should use light maps on all objects that are static in the scene (so yes, furnitures, walls, cabinets and so on, everything that will never move within your scene should use a lightmap).
Thanks! I appreciate it.
where can i get the rules and guidelines?
Where can i get the rules and guidelines Power Point file? The link don't work(
very cool thx! The snap to grid is to avoid bleeding effect?
+Tobias Hartmann Yep :)
I have a little problem with UV sets in UE4. When I create 2 UV sets in Maya and import the model in UE4, UE seems to create and additional third UV Set which I do not want to have. If I import a model with just one UV Set, it doesn't create no additional UV sets. Anyone have the same issue?
Hi! Thank you for the tutorial it was a great help. I was wondering, why do i need to weld together the modular pieces where it meets or just hide it with a pillar?
Is there a reason to snap to grid, or is it just about keeping the UVs spaced out enough and a decent amount of space from the edge?
+sazberry i believe the reason to create the grid the same size as your light map density and snap the uvs is because lightmass doesn't properly calculate between pixels. if you set the uv grid to the same number as your light map density (done by dividing 1 by X(light map density i.e 128) = 0.0078125) each grid square is then equal to 1 pixel on your lightmap. then because each uv shell is snapped to the grid it will then be on the edge of the pixel which can often eliminate weird black shading errors or seams that show up on your model once you have built your lighting.
so would it be best to make sure vertices is selected to snap to grid and make sure all UV vertices are equally snapped as well? like say you take a rectangle shape, and you snap to grid even if it deforms the UV a bit, but making sure all verts are in corners of the grid (aligned) and obvious edges of the UVs are straightened, that should work? because no matter what i do even from this tutorial its still having bleeding shadow problems. :( i use 3DS Max and not a huge fan of maya or wanting to learn it just for this purpose so im wondering if this same principle is used in 3DS Max, would what i asked work fine?
If you are still having bleeding shadow problems make sure of two things.
1. Your light map resolution is set correctly for the size of the object you are trying to map.
2. Padding is crucial! If you are not giving 2 - 4 Pixel padding you will encounter light and shadow bleeding.
Hope that helps.
how do you know if the shadow map resolution is the right size for what you make? do you set that up in the UV map grid? like say 1 divided by say 128 = etc etc, set up the UV Map grid accordingly as you lightmap? and then just have the model lightmap resolution in UE4 match this on the model settings after import? thats one of the parts im not sure of. i also heard that if you snap UV islands to the grid it prevents bleeding, but not all islands will be able to snap properly from what ive tried, be it a circle like shape, etc. I also tend to get past the degenerate tanget bases error when importing my FBX files but sometimes the shadows themselves even at high resolution dont act right? like straight shadows seem to be wavy or shadows under say a barrel tipped over, tends to not reflect a proper shadow underneath, or some crates lets say....do not have proper shadows in crevices, or spanning behind the crate itself. hope this all made sense lol
i also make sure i have enough padding. i do at least 4 pixels on the boarding of the UV map field and between islands. ty for your input!
Hey. Great video. Thank you very much.
thank you for doing this.
Great video, just a question - why do you need to snap the objects onto the grid lines exact? Will there be any difference in the light mapping if you don't?
+vefge The snap to grid is to avoid bleeding effect
where did you get the slides? shown for lightmapping?
is there a way you could make the powerpoints available please?
Sir,Can I do the process using blender??
Any way you may be willing to do this for 3DS Max users? I'm not familiar with Maya and do not intend on learning a new program to just do Light Maps lol. Really wish I could find a good tutorial like this for 3DS Max thats why i ask. thanks! :P
Hi! Thank you for the tutoria,can you share your PPT,it will be very nice!thanks again!!!
Thanks a lot!
Thanks!