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How to bake mesh maps | Substance 3D Painter

How to bake mesh maps

This page gives an overview of the baking process in Painter dedicated baking mode.

1 - Switch to baking mode

By default, Painter is set to the Painting mode when creating or opening a project. To be able to bake mesh maps, you need to switch to the baking mode. To do so, you can use one of the following way:

  • Use the croissant icon in the contextual toolbar at the top right of the viewport

  • Use the mode menu and select Bake mesh maps

  • Use the F8 keyboard shortcut

2 - Select Texture Sets and UV Tiles

Inside the Texture Set list, use the checkbox next to Texture Sets names (and UV Tiles number if present) to define which parts will be baked:

3 - Select bakers

Inside the Mesh Map Bakers window, enable or disable the baker you wish to use:

4 - Change common settings

You can click on the common settings to change the texture resolution, load high-poly meshes and adjust and other settings:

5 - Adjust Max Frontal Distance

If you are baking with a high-poly mesh, change the Max Frontal Distance setting in the Common settings to make sure there is no red spots visible on the mesh.

If you are not baking with a high-poly mesh, simply enable the Use Low Poly Mesh as High Poly Mesh setting instead.

6 - Start the baking process

At the bottom of the viewport, click on the Bake button to start the baking process.

7 - Inspect the Baking Log for errors

Once the baking process has finished, you can take a look at the Baking Log window to check if there are any errors reported.

If there are any, click on the little arrow next to the error message to make the relevant baker settings visible:

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