Retopology & Baking
Shape in high poly. Prepare a lighter mesh.
Keep the freedom of high-poly modeling, then build a separate low-poly target. HardCuts combines retopology tools, UV unwrapping and normal/AO baking for the next stage of your asset workflow.
Try it in HardCuts
- High / low poly targets
- Retopology tools
- UV unwrap
- Normal & AO baking
Choose the right starting point
Open the Retopo workspace with a selected high-poly source. Start from an empty low-poly mesh for direct control, or export a generated quad mesh into the workspace as a starting point. The High Poly and Low Poly fields make the two roles explicit before you edit or bake.
Build and refine the surface
Create vertices and extrude quads from boundary edges. Bridge Grid connects two lines with a grid, while Edge Insert, Knife and Face Fill help develop the topology. Project vertices onto the high-poly source, adjust them with Move Brush and use face opacity to inspect the surface underneath.
Unwrap and transfer surface detail
Generate and pack the low-poly UV islands with Unwrap before baking. Tangent normal maps carry the source's surface-direction detail; ambient occlusion maps capture occlusion shading. Review projection settings, bake the supported maps and inspect thin parts, hard edges and nearby surfaces for artifacts.
Continue in Blender
After preparing the UV low-poly mesh and supported baked maps, use Send Blender in the Bake tab. This uses the configured HardCuts Bridge and requires a written tangent normal map. Keep the high-poly source, low-poly result and map files with your project so you can revise the asset later.
Good to know
Which map types are implemented?
The current implemented bake maps are tangent normal and ambient occlusion. Other map rows may be unavailable; this is not a claim of a complete PBR baking suite.
Do I need UVs before baking?
Yes. Baking is blocked when the low-poly mesh has no UVs. Use Unwrap and confirm that UVs are ready before starting the bake.
Does automatic quad generation finish the asset for me?
A generated quad mesh provides a starting point. Inspect and refine the topology and baked maps for your intended use, particularly around thin geometry, hard edges and closely spaced parts.