3D Texturing Texture Baking & Rendering 3

Question 1

What is a world-space position map primarily used for in game engine shader workflows?

Accepted Answer

Allowing shaders to use 3D world position data for effects like gradient masks and VFX

Answer

Position maps encode each pixel's 3D world position in RGB channels, enabling shaders to drive effects based on height, location, or depth in world space.

Question 2

What does 'exploding' a mesh mean in the context of texture baking?

Accepted Answer

Separating mesh parts by moving them apart so they don't interfere during baking

Answer

Exploding separates overlapping mesh components so adjacent high-poly parts don't cast incorrect shadows or ray interference onto neighboring low-poly sections during baking.

Question 3

What is the most common power-of-two texture resolution used when baking game asset textures?

Accepted Answer

2048x2048

Answer

2048x2048 (2K) is the most widely adopted game texture resolution, balancing visual fidelity with memory budget for the majority of mid-to-hero asset types.

Question 4

What is a 'shadow terminator' artifact in the context of normal map baking?

Accepted Answer

A jagged or incorrect shadow boundary from geometric shading normal mismatch

Answer

Shadow terminator artifacts occur when the low-poly's shading normals don't match its actual geometric surface, creating visible incorrect shadow boundaries under lighting.

Question 5

What is the purpose of a bent normal map in a physically based shading workflow?

Accepted Answer

Encoding the average unoccluded ambient light direction per texel for accurate AO shading

Answer

Bent normal maps store the average direction of unoccluded ambient rays per texel, enabling more accurate environment light sampling and ambient occlusion effects.

3D Texturing Practice Test

3D Texturing Practice Test

3D Texturing Texture Baking & Rendering 3