Baking mesh maps

Mesh maps are textures worked out from the shape of your model: where each pixel is, which way it faces, which parts sit in corners. You do not export them. Pixel Painter uses them behind the scenes for a few features:

Map	Used for
Position	Tri-planar, Planar and Cylindrical projection; Light and Position mask effects
World Space Normal	Tri-planar, Planar and Cylindrical projection; the Light mask effect
Ambient Occlusion	The AO mask effect - dirt and shadow in the corners
Curvature	The Curvature mask effect - worn edges

If you only paint by hand and use materials with UV projection, you can skip baking entirely.

How to bake

1. Click Bake in the bar at the bottom of the window.
2. In Mesh Map Bakers, tick the maps you want. Position and World Space Normal are ticked by default.
3. Click Bake selected textures.

Small models bake in a moment. Ambient Occlusion takes the longest on a detailed mesh.

When a map is done, a small preview appears next to its name. The x next to it throws that map away.

Check the result

The drop-down in the top corner of the viewport switches between the neutral preview and each baked map. Here is Ambient Occlusion. The darker grey under the roof, inside the well ring and where the ring meets the base is where dirt would collect:

When you are happy, click Painter at the bottom to go back to painting.

When to bake again

If you swap in a changed mesh from Edit > Project Configuration…, maps that no longer match its shape are thrown away. Bake them again before you use projection or the mask effects above.