Cineversity

Hello.

I’ve been trying to search the forums for an answer, but I’m getting no hits on even the simple term ‘bake’. I also can’t seem to find a tutorial on the following.

I wish to bake the attached scene, for Unity.

I’d like the baking to include everything, from the GI to the shadows.

I know this is a very simple thing, but boy, is seems to be a difficult thing to find in Cineversity.

Thanks for any and all help!

Tom

Hi Tom,

Sorry about the trouble with the search. Perhaps use the Cineversity-Site-Issues forum to report the problem:
https://www.cineversity.com/forums/viewforum/104/

Please feel free to use the Suggest Tutorial option here:
https://www.cineversity.com/forums/viewforum/96/

Baking a material is pretty straight forward:
https://help.maxon.net/us/#TBAKETEXTURE
Some more tip for Baking Gi is here (first text that has a gray background)
https://help.maxon.net/us/#5739

I have recorded a little clip for you:
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/z6L8loWSP8nF1fljjWhraZ8RM2JKQjhr7jtxZ5yHQdV
I typically use 32bit/channel/linear for any rendering, to have a pristine source file. This is undoubtedly over the top as a Unity delivery file. I like to keep the quality high inside the pipeline, for deliveries we can go always down.

For a whole scene, perhaps connect all objects, use the BodyPaint 3D Setup Wizard, use the Single Material option, and bake after this has been set up.

Please let me know if there is any question, I’m happy to look into it.

All the best

Thanks so much for the great and thorough response, Dr. Sassi!

One question: do I need to render the scene first, before baking?

Hi Tom,

The Baking Tag starts the rendering needed for the parts in question.

It is relatively similar to the main rendering, hence my link to the manual. IF you switch off Global Illumination in the Render-Settings, it will be excluded as well in the baking.
Perhaps, set up a little scene, like the one in my screen capture, to get more familiar with the options. Typically, this saves more time than to start instantly with a more complex scene.

Enjoy your weekend

Hi Dr, Sassi.

Thank you for the clear, concise guidance. I should be good to go.

This is for a VR project for PBS, and we really want it to pop.

Your help will get us there.

Have a good weekend.

You’re very welcome, Tom, thanks for the reply.

Based on your image, I’m not certain how much this applies. I do, however, work a lot with equirectangular images, if there is a questions, I’m happy to look into it.

I really love to share what I can and explore new questions as much as possible. I’m aware that some projects can’t be shared publically, and if so, I’m happy to set up an upload link.

To successfully bake the surface information requires some steps, even they might be answered in a minute, they are crucial.

Objects are small or large, closer to the camera or more in the distance, which allows for an estimate how much detail we can see with a viewing device (i.e., HMD, head-mounted-display, or just a screen).
The target is, to not be too low, and for real-time engines not too hight. The rule of thumb is, to be at least 1.5 times higher than the final visible pixels amount.

Since pretty much no pixel on an object surface is matching a pixel in the final image, this is the factor to keep the quality. Typically, a colorful grid is used, like a chess-board, but colorful. The most critical objects are the one that moves close to the camera. With this checkerboard texture, it is easy to spot, where we have too little or too much resolution. The key is here to know the viewing option and its resolution for the final decision.

A small example is here, render the scene to see the overwriting material.
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/lXpTNWlDivAwiy2fsGK38EO4dGWPUIu3Y3cTWF3ty64

In the case of all objects sharing one image file, the UV preparation is critical, as it is the organization or space inside that image. The checkerboard can show that quick and fast. In Cinema 4D we can even use the Overwriting Material option, without changing anything in the scene. (See render settings). With a higher resolution during production, a UV-Edit>Remap is possible to manage the ‘real-estate’ inside one texture.

Having said that, I would work as long as possible at least in 16bit/channel or higher, and convert before delivery down to the needed format. This allows as well to work in Photoshop on the textures, to allow for extra detail.

Similar to the texture is the mesh density, and with it, the idea of using a Normal Map, instead of a high-density mesh, to allow for an excellent real-time presentation.

Perhaps you have gone through all these points already, but I rather mention them, than not to, and cause more work on the end, redoing parts of the project.

Enjoy your project!