InstaLOD features a sophisticated baker that is fully batch-able and scalable in terms of both output texture dimensions and polygon counts.
To access InstaLOD's Baker, navigate to File -> New Profile... and choose Texture Bake from the list of options on the left.
¶ Sophisticated Baker
Source meshes can be targeted by name using regular expressions to avoid baking onto the wrong target mesh. Even the trickiest bakes can easily be solved without inserting additional edges, by utilizing custom baking cages that have a different topology than the target mesh. A wide range of internally generated texture maps and the capability to transfer existing normal and texture maps make InstaLOD’s baker the go-to solution for even the most challenging bake. High-quality dilation and post-process solidification ensure that you will always get the best quality textures generated by InstaLOD.
The baker can be configured in the Bake Settings and the bake started in the Bake Outliner.
For advanced mesh operations, baking can also be accessed in a mesh operation profile when creating mesh operation chains.
¶ Targeting Meshes by Name
InstaLOD Studio targets bake meshes by name to avoid baking incorrect source geometry. When importing scenes, meshes are automatically matched by name and listed in the Bake Outliner. Additionally, viewport tabs are created to allow quick switching between source, and target meshes.
Meshes matching the Target Suffix configured in the Bake Settings are considered as target meshes. The suffix is truncated and the resulting string forms the mesh name that is used to identify matching meshes. Meshes matching the regular expression (ECMA, ignore-case) configured in the field Source Mesh RegEx Format are used as source mesh.
All source meshes that do not match the source mesh's regular expression will be baked onto every target mesh in the scene. In the image above, we can see this with the additional floaters added to the high-poly mesh.
When matching meshes by name, InstaLOD Studio automatically maps source meshes to their targets in the Bake Outliner. This allows to configure and verify the name suffixes without executing the bake, even when using complex regular expressions.