DCC production guide
High Poly to Low Poly Baking Maps Checklist
Direct answer: High-to-low baking is approved when the low-poly mesh captures the silhouette needed at runtime and the baked maps transfer only the detail that belongs on that surface. Map choice matters as much as bake cleanliness.
Ambient Occlusion MapCurvature MapDisplacement MapHeight MapHigh PolyLow Poly
Separate source and runtime roles
High Poly holds sculpted or CAD detail; Low Poly holds runtime shape, UVs, and engine-safe topology. If the low-poly is too crude, no normal map will rescue the silhouette. If it is too dense, the runtime savings disappear.
Pick the right baked maps
Normal Map captures directional surface detail for lighting. Ambient Occlusion Map supports cavity and grounding information. Curvature Map helps edge wear masks. Height Map or Displacement Map needs clear support in the receiving renderer or material setup. World Space Normal is useful for masks and effects, but it is not a drop-in replacement for tangent-space normal.
Preparation before baking
Freeze transforms, align names, confirm cage direction, and decide which edges should remain geometric instead of baked. Thin floating details, deep recesses, and intersecting pieces often require separate review because they produce misleading projection or aliasing.
Reviewing the result
Inspect baked seams, banding, skewed edges, and highlight flow in the target shader. The map preview is not enough; the low-poly must be viewed under moving light with the intended normal-map interpretation. Compare with and without the bake to see what information actually transfers.
Worked example
A sculpted rock may need normal, AO, and curvature maps. A cinematic floor panel might also use height or displacement. Approval should include low-poly wireframe, baked map preview, imported material result, and a note explaining why certain sharp features stayed in geometry.
Multilingual production terms
Keep these map names visible in the review note so everyone knows whether the issue belongs to sculpt transfer, bake output, or final shader usage.
| 中文 | English | 日本語 | Workflow usage note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 环境光遮蔽贴图 | Ambient Occlusion Map | アンビエントオクルージョンマップ | Baked contact and cavity shadowing for grounding and material masks. |
| 曲率贴图 | Curvature Map | 曲率マップ | Baked convexity and concavity data used for edge wear and grunge masks. |
| 置换贴图 | Displacement Map | ディスプレイスメントマップ | Per-vertex or per-texel offset along the surface normal; needs renderer support. |
| 高度图 | Height Map | ハイトマップ | Grayscale displacement data; check whether shader reads it as bumps or true displacement. |
| 高模 | High Poly | ハイポリ | Sculpted or detailed source mesh that provides bake detail. |
| 低模 | Low Poly | ローポリ | Runtime mesh with UVs and topology that receives the baked maps. |
| 法线贴图 | Normal Map | ノーマルマップ | Tangent-space or world-space directional surface detail stored as RGB. |
| 世界空间法线 | World Space Normal | ワールド空間法線 | Object-independent normal direction; useful for masks, not interchangeable with tangent-space. |
Related pages and next step
Open SEELE AI workspaceFAQ
Why is the normal map correct but the asset still looks flat?
Because silhouette, roughness variation, or AO support may still be missing on the low-poly or in the final material setup.
When should I avoid displacement maps?
Avoid them when the runtime target does not support them predictably or when the same detail can be represented more safely with geometry and normal data.
Is curvature only for texturing masks?
Mostly, but review still matters because noisy or broken curvature output often reveals bake problems before texturing starts.
What is a good bake proof set?
High and low mesh views, the chosen maps, imported shader preview, and at least one lit comparison shot against the source detail.