Point Cache Bake Tool
The Point Cache Bake Tool is a utility that enables you to bake Point Caches to use in visual effects that rely on complex geometry. The tool takes an input Mesh or Texture2D and generates a Point Cache asset representation of it which you can use in a visual effect.
For information on what Point Caches are and what you can use them for, see Point Caches in the Visual Effect Graph.
The Point Cache Bake Tool uses a window interface that specifies the input Mesh/Texture2D as well as various properties that control the output Point Cache. To open the Point Cache Bake Tool window, click Window > Visual Effects > Utilities > Point CacheBake Tool.
Working with the Point Cache Bake Tool window
The Point Cache Bake Tool has two bake modes:
- Mesh: Bakes a Point Cache from an input Mesh asset.
- Texture: Bakes a Point Cache from an input Texture2D asset.
Depending on which mode you select, the window displays different properties to control the baking process. After you specify the input Mesh/Texture2D and set up the properties, click Save to pCache file… to bake the Point Cache and save the result to a Point Cache asset.
Properties
Common
These properties appear in the Inspector regardless of the Bake Mode you select.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Bake Mode | Specifies the type of input to bake a Point Cache from. The options are: • Mesh: Bakes a Point Cache from an input Mesh asset. • Texture: Bakes a Point Cache from an input Texture2D asset. |
| Seed | The random seed to use for Point Cache generation. |
| File Format | Specifies the format to encode the Point Cache with. The options are: • Ascii: Uses Ascii encoding. • Binary: Uses binary encoding. |
Mesh Baking
This section only appears if you set Bake Mode to Mesh.
Point Cache Bake Tool's Mesh Baking section in the Inspector.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Mesh | The Mesh to produce a Point Cache representation of. |
| Distribution | Specifies the point scattering technique the Point Cache Bake Tool uses to sample the input Mesh. The options are: • Sequential: Creates a point at each triangle/vertex sequentially. • Random: Creates a point at each triangle/vertex randomly. If Bake Mode is set to Triangle, this option does not take the area of the triangle into account. • Random Uniform Area: Creates a point at each triangle randomly. This option takes the area of the triangle into account. |
| Bake Mode | Specifies how to bake the Mesh. The options are: • Vertex: Bakes the Mesh on a per-vertex basis. • Triangle: Bakes the Mesh on a per-triangle basis. This property only appears if you set Distribution to Sequential or Random. If you set Distribution to Random Uniform Area, this property disappears and uses Triangle implicitly. |
| Export Normals | Indicates whether to export vertex normal data to the Point Cache. |
| Export Colors | Indicates whether to export vertex color data to the Point Cache. |
| Exports UVs | Indicates whether to export vertex UV data to the Point Cache. |
| Point Count | The number of points to create for the Point Cache. |
| Seed | See Common. |
| File Format | See Common. |
Mesh Statistics
This section of the window only appears if you assign a Mesh asset to the Mesh property. It contains information about the input Mesh.
| Statistic | Description |
|---|---|
| Vertices | The number of vertices the input Mesh contains. |
| Triangles | The number of triangles the input Mesh contains. |
| Sub Meshes | The number of sub-meshes the input Mesh contains. |
Texture Baking
This section only appears if you set Bake Mode to Texture.
Point Cache Bake Tool's Texture Baking section in the Inspector.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Texture | The Texture2D to produce a Point Cache representation of. |
| Decimation Threshold | Specifies the method that selects which of the Texture2D's pixels to ignore during the baking process. The options are: • None: Does not ignore any pixels. • Alpha: Uses the alpha channel. • Luminance: Uses the luminance of the combined RGB channels. • R: Uses the red channel. • G: Uses the green channel. • B: Uses the blue channel. |
| Threshold | The threshold that determines which pixels to ignore during the baking process. The Point Cache Bake Tool ignores pixels with a value lower than this. This property only appears if you set Decimation Threshold to a value other than None. |
| Randomize Pixels Order | Indicates whether to randomize points instead of sorting them by pixel row/column. |
| Seed | See Common. This property only appears if you enable Randomize Pixels Order. |
| Export Colors | Indicates whether to export the Texture's color data to the Point Cache. |
| File Format | See Common. |
Texture Statistics
This section of the window only appears if you assign a Texture2D asset to the Texture property. It contains information about the input Texture.
| Statistic | Description |
|---|---|
| Width | The width of the input Texture2D in pixels. |
| Height | The height of the input Texture2D in pixels. |
| Pixels Count | The total number of pixels the input Texture2D contains. This is equal to the width of the Texture2D multiplied by the height of the Texture2D. |