Blender to Substance 3D Painter: High/Low Poly Baking & ID Maps

Step 1 Prepare the High Poly and Low Poly

In Blender, prepare two versions of your model:

• High Poly: detailed version used for baking.
• Low Poly: optimized version that will be textured and exported.

Make sure both models have the same position, rotation and scale.

The Low Poly model must have its UVs unwrapped.

Step 2 Create the ID Map

If you followed my previous tutorial, you should already have your ID Map created in Blender.

For this workflow, export it as a PNG, for example:

Model_ID.png

Keep this file ready. We will import it into Substance 3D Painter after baking the Mesh Maps.

Tip: Make sure the ID Map uses clearly separated colors for each material group.

Step 3 Export the Models

Export the High Poly and Low Poly separately:

Model_HIGH.fbx
Model_LOW.fbx

Keep both models aligned exactly.

Step 4 Create the Substance 3D Painter Project

Open Substance 3D Painter and create a new project using:

Model_LOW.fbx

For a 2K workflow, set the texture resolution to:

4096 × 4096

Then go to:

Texture Set Settings → Bake Mesh Maps

Step 5 Bake the High Poly

Under High Definition Meshes, load:

Model_HIGH.fbx

Select the Mesh Maps you need, such as:

• Normal
• Ambient Occlusion
• Curvature
• World Space Normal
• Position
• Thickness

Set the bake resolution to 4096 and click:

Bake Selected Textures

Important

Do not bake the ID Map.

We already created it in Blender and will import it separately.

Step 6 Import the ID Map

After the bake is finished:

File → Import Resources

Import:

Model_ID.png

Then go to:

Texture Set Settings → Mesh Maps → ID

Assign your imported ID Map.

Your Mesh Maps should now look like:

Normal             → Baked
Ambient Occlusion  → Baked
Curvature          → Baked
World Space Normal → Baked
Position           → Baked
ID                 → Model_ID.png

Step 7 Use the ID Map for Materials

Create a Fill Layer and add a Black Mask.

Right-click the mask and choose:

Add Color Selection

Click one of the colors from your ID Map.

For example:

Red → Body

Substance Painter will automatically select every part using that ID.

You can now quickly create separate materials for the body, glass, tires, wheels, interior, carbon fiber, and other parts.

Step 8 Export Your Textures

Once your materials are finished, go to:

File → Export Textures

Depending on your workflow, you can export:

• Base Color
• Metallic
• Roughness
• Normal
• Ambient Occlusion

Final Workflow

High Poly → Low Poly → UVs → ID Map → Bake → Import ID → Color Selection → Materials → Export

This workflow is ideal for vehicles, hard-surface assets and game-ready models.