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Mesh Maps (AO & Curvature)

Sanctus Bake includes two dedicated mesh map channels that extract geometric information directly from your object's topology. These are useful for adding realism, wear, and depth to your baked textures.

Ambient Occlusion (AO)

The Bake AO option calls Cycles' native ray-tracing AO engine directly, without requiring any node tree modifications.

How it works

  • The engine runs a dedicated Cycles bake pass using the AO type.
  • It operates as an independent map channel, so you can configure its render samples individually.
  • Higher sample counts eliminate noise in deep crevices without slowing down your other texture passes.

Use Cases

  • ORM Packing: When combined with the Pack ORM option, the AO map is placed in the Red channel of the ORM texture.
  • Multiply on Base Color: When instantiating a PBR setup, the AO map is automatically connected as a Multiply blend on the Base Color.
  • Dirt & Wear Masks: Use the AO map as a mask for edge wear, dirt accumulation, or weathering in your shader.

Curvature / Cavity Mask

The Bake Curvature option generates a grayscale mask that cleanly separates sharp crevices from exposed peaks.

How it works

  1. The engine temporarily subdivides the mesh (using Catmull-Clark or Simple subdivision) to calculate geometric limits.
  2. It reads the vertex paint data to extract curvature information.
  3. The result is exported as a standalone 8-bit grayscale texture.
  4. All temporary geometry is cleaned up after the bake — no footprint left in your project file.

Settings

  • Subdivision Type: Catmull-Clark (smoother) or Simple (sharper).
  • Subdivision Levels: Higher values capture finer detail but increase computation time.

Use Cases

  • Edge Wear: Drive a paint peeling or edge wear shader using the curvature mask.
  • Dirt Accumulation: Use crevices (dark areas) as a mask for dirt, dust, or moss.
  • Hand-Painted Accents: Use the curvature map as a stencil or reference in your painting software.

ORM Packing

When Pack ORM is enabled alongside AO and Curvature, the engine automatically merges three grayscale maps into a single RGB texture:

Channel Map
Red Ambient Occlusion
Green Roughness
Blue Metallic

If your queue is missing any of these channels, the backend automatically injects industry-standard PBR fallback constants so the texture never breaks.

Game Engine Ready

ORM textures are the standard format for Unreal Engine, Unity, and Godot. Enable Pack ORM to export directly without post-processing.