by Bomakai·Rendering
Images © Bomakai. Used for product review; image policy.
Light Bake stands out in the superhive library for pairing a lightmap baking system with an Eevee-based probes system in one modular workflow, built around exporting light data for real-time rendering engines.
Light Bake is a Blender solution for baking light destined for real-time rendering engines. It takes a modular approach and comprises two key tools: a lightmap baking system and a probes baking system, so it can be used for global illumination through a mix of indirect lightmaps and probes, or for direct lighting and color lightmaps in static scenes.
The lightmap system builds on existing Blender baking while handling most of the setup and export. A preset system lets you set up lightmaps, link objects to them, and bake them in packs, with individual packing per object and an option for an extra object per map. Supported baking types include Diffuse, Combined, and AO with sub-passes, and it addresses Blender's lightmap denoising legacy issue by introducing an extra compositing step.
The probes tool is based on Eevee's probe system and exports probes as external images, covering radiance and irradiance map packs plus a global fallback probe. Baked data can be exported as a separate JSON file or integrated into a glTF file, in OpenEXR or PNG formats, written automatically after each bake.
Light Bake is best for blender artists baking lightmaps and probes for use in real-time rendering engines.
Light Bake is completely free to download and use.
Light Bake does not currently offer a way to preview baked lightmaps or probes inside Blender, since its main goal is baking light for external real-time rendering engines. Baked content is saved to a cache folder and exported after each bake, so you review results in your target engine rather than in the Blender viewport. A Three.js integration is available on GitHub and has been used for preview, giving one route to see exported content in action outside Blender.
Light Bake exports baked data as a separate JSON file or integrated into a glTF file, with configuration similar to glTF export and data written automatically after each bake. Probes and lightmaps can be saved in two texture formats: OpenEXR for high dynamic range and PNG for low dynamic range. The exported content is based on modern baking standards, so it can be used in any engine that supports lightmaps or probes rather than one specific renderer.
Light Bake supports Diffuse, Combined, and AO baking types, with options for sub-passes. Its lightmap system builds on Blender's existing baking and manages most of the setup and export, while a preset system lets you link objects to lightmaps and bake them in packs. Lightmaps can be packed individually for each object, with an extra option for one additional object per map, and lightmap resolution and bake quality can be adjusted through the rendering and baking options.
Light Bake is not a substitute for baking plugins such as Simple Bake, as it does not support other bake modes. Its focus is baking light for real-time rendering engines through a lightmap baking system and an Eevee-based probes system. Bake actions run from the properties panel and the 3D View, rendered content is cached for gradual element-wise baking, and a quick render option helps with testing. If you need general-purpose baking beyond light, a dedicated baking add-on remains the better fit.
Light Bake is listed as free here in the catalog. For current licensing terms and any conditions on use, check the developer's page, since terms can change over time. Functionally, it provides a lightmap baking system and an Eevee-based probes baking system for Blender, exporting light data for real-time rendering engines in OpenEXR or PNG formats and as JSON or glTF. Documentation and downloads are available through the developer's page.
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