RepliBake 1.8.1 User Documentation

RepliBake helps Blender users create lower-poly targets and bake diffuse, roughness, and tangent-space normal maps from detailed source meshes. The add-on combines Blender's native QuadriFlow remesher, mesh diagnostics, target preparation, projection controls, and Cycles baking in the 3D View sidebar.

Requirements and installation

• Classic add-on package: Blender 3.0 or newer.

• Blender Extension package: Blender 4.2 or newer.

• Cycles must be available for baking.

• The source must be a mesh object with faces.

Install the appropriate ZIP directly without extracting it. For the classic package, use Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Install from Disk. For the Extension package, use Edit > Preferences > Get Extensions > menu > Install from Disk. In the 3D View, press N and open the RepliBake tab.

Quick workflow

Complete each operation before pressing the next button.

1. Set Source Object
2. Choose a Target Ratio
3. pressCheck Mesh
4. press Quick Retopologize
5. Confirm that the result is assigned as Low Poly Target.
6. Choose a texture name and resolution, then press Prepare Diffuse Target.
7. Press Bake Diffuse and wait for completion.
8. Press Bake Roughness and wait for completion.
9. Press Bake Normals and wait for completion.

QuadriFlow Quick Retopologize

Quick Retopology creates an evaluated temporary copy of the source. The original high-poly object is not replaced.

Target Ratio

Controls the approximate target face count relative to the evaluated source. QuadriFlow may round the output to create a coherent quad layout. RepliBake checks the actual output and rejects a reduction that returns as many or more faces than the input.

QuadriFlow options

• Use Mesh Symmetry: Helps centered symmetrical meshes. It is disabled automatically for off-center separated islands.

• Preserve Sharp: Attempts to retain sharp features. Disable it when difficult scans repeatedly fail.

• Preserve Mesh Boundary: Attempts to retain open borders. Complex damaged boundaries may work better with it disabled.

• Conform Result to Source: Projects the generated vertices back toward the evaluated source to reduce spikes and surface drift.

Automatic Mesh Handling

• Fix Issues: Enabled by default. On the temporary copy, it merges extremely close duplicate vertices, removes vertices and edges without faces, removes degenerate faces, and recalculates inconsistent connected normals. Repairs run only when the relevant issue is detected.

• Separate Islands: Enabled by default. Disconnected components are identified, processed one after another, and combined into one target object.

• Delete Tiny Islands: Disabled by default. When enabled with Separate Islands, classified tiny components are omitted from the generated target. When disabled, tiny components unsuitable for QuadriFlow are preserved unchanged.

Tiny-island classification uses vertex count, polygon count, relative surface area, and the requested per-island face budget. Review deletion carefully because small pieces may be intentional teeth, buttons, screws, jewelry, leaves, or accessories.

Island recovery in version 1.8.1

Meaningful islands are processed from largest to smallest. If an island fails or returns far above its assigned budget, RepliBake recreates it and tries once more with symmetry, sharp preservation, and boundary preservation disabled and a less aggressive budget.

If both attempts fail, the complete operation is cancelled and partial temporary results are removed. RepliBake does not copy a large failed island unchanged into a result that appears successfully reduced.

The progress bar updates between island operations. Blender may still appear busy while an individual native QuadriFlow call is running.

Mesh compatibility and cautions

RepliBake works best with reasonably clean, continuous meshes or clearly separated asset parts.

Usually suitable

• Sculpted props and characters used as baking sources

• Photogrammetry meshes with manageable density

• Separate rigid asset pieces

• Meshes containing minor loose geometry or duplicate vertices

• Meshes with a realistic reduction target

May require cleanup or separate processing

• Severe self-intersections

• Large internal faces or hidden shells

• Non-manifold regions

• Large holes and damaged boundaries

• Extremely thin or overlapping layers

• Clothing positioned close to a body

• Touching fingers, lips, eyelids, teeth, or mechanical pieces

• Hundreds or thousands of disconnected fragments

• Extreme polygon-size variation

• Extremely dense scans that exceed available memory

• Geometry Nodes output with unrealized or invalid geometry

• Curves, text, volumes, or metaballs not converted to mesh

Passing Check Mesh means no known fast diagnostic blocker was found. It does not guarantee that QuadriFlow's numerical solver can produce a result. Hidden intersections, thin double surfaces, internal shells, memory pressure, and incompatible preservation constraints may still cause failure.

Current scan repair limits

Version 1.8.1 can automatically correct moderate problems such as loose vertices, wire edges, near-duplicate vertices, degenerate faces, inconsistent connected normals, and disconnected islands.

It does not reconstruct severe self-intersections, determine which internal surfaces are intentional, close every hole, or safely merge thin layered surfaces. These operations require artist judgment or a more destructive remeshing method.

An adaptive Voxel Remesh recovery system is being explored as a future improvement. It is not included in version 1.8.1. Voxel recovery could improve success on difficult scans, but may close holes, merge nearby parts, remove thin features, or soften sharp detail. The untouched high-poly source would remain the final baking source.

Baking maps

Prepare Diffuse Target

Creates or reuses the diffuse destination image and prepares the target material nodes. It does not start a bake.

Bake Diffuse

Bakes source color and connects the result to a compatible Principled BSDF Base Color input when Connect Baked Maps is enabled.

Bake Roughness

Bakes the source Principled Roughness value through protected temporary material copies. Constant, image-driven, and procedural Principled roughness are supported. The result uses Non-Color data.

Mixed shaders or custom material networks may not provide one unambiguous roughness source and can require a dedicated bake material.

Bake Normals

Bakes tangent-space normal detail. The result uses Non-Color data and is connected through a Normal Map node when automatic connection is enabled.

Projection controls

• Margin: Extends pixels beyond UV boundaries to reduce seams.

• Max Ray Distance: Limits how far rays search for source geometry.

• Automatic Projection Cage: Creates a virtual outward projection offset without deforming the target.

• Cage Size: Defaults to 0.1. Reduce it when nearby surfaces bleed into the map.

• Temporary Normal-Bake Scale: Temporarily enlarges the target only during normal baking and restores its exact transform afterward.

• Normal Target Scale: Start at 1.01; try 1.02, 1.03, and then 1.05 only when necessary.

Keep the high- and low-poly meshes aligned. Do not permanently scale or move the target to create projection clearance.

Common errors and solutions

Reset RepliBake

Press Reset RepliBake at the bottom of the panel to clear selected source, target, bake-image fields, diagnostics, and custom settings. The reset restores installation defaults but does not delete Blender objects, meshes, materials, or images.

Issues RepliBake does not currently solve

Safe production checklist

1. Save the .blend before retopologizing a dense asset.

2. Confirm the correct High Poly Source.

3. Press Check Mesh and review warnings.

4. Inspect before enabling Delete Tiny Islands.

5. Keep the original detailed source untouched.

6. Confirm the generated face-count report before baking.

7. Keep source and target aligned.

8. Inspect UVs, seams, cavities, thin parts, and nearby surfaces.

9. Save external texture files when required and pack images for a self-contained project.

This documentation describes RepliBake 1.8.1. Final behavior can vary with Blender version, hardware, source complexity, and the native QuadriFlow solver.