Distorted normals

[Botond28262574a1rp]

So I wanted to bake a normal map from a mesh, but for some reason it distorts the normal map. It looks like the normal details are rotated. The normals are okay, the UV maps are too, I don't really know what else to do. If I turn off the average normals everything looks fine, except the details are barely visible. 

 Average normals on

Average normals off

  

[Rekan23915078uhps]

I don't know what exactly is the issue but average normals usually stretches the normals that are not in the center of the face, as a simple solution you can bake either with average normals turned on and off and blend both normal maps in photoshop or any photo editing software. place the normal map with non average normals and mask the desired areas.

[Cyril Dellenbach]

Hello @Botond28262574a1rp,

The issue you're facing is named skewing and as you pointed out, it is due to the Average Normal parameter, combined with the geometry of the mesh. I'd advise you to add bevels on the edges to avoid this kind of problem.

From Earthquake's article

If you want to learn more on the subject here is a great article on skewing and how to avoid it.

Another workaround would be to use the Normal map with the Average Normal parameter off (if this one works for you) and to add the map also in the layer stack. This way, the Normal map should be more visible.

Best regards,