[ Substance 3D Painter ] How to add AO (Ambient Occlusion) to painted normals using a Hard surface material

You can add AO (Ambient Occlusion) to normals painted using a Hard surface material.
To add AO, you need to add an AO channel and an AO filter.By adding AO, you can add depth to your Hard surface.

In this article, I would like to confirm how to set AO to the following Hard surface materials.
・How to add AO channels
・How to add an AO filter

For more information on how to use Hard surface materials, please see this page.

How to add AO channels

First, we need to add an AO channel from the [ Texture Set Settings ].

1. Select the texture set to which you want to add the AO channel.
2. Click the [ + ] button from Channels in [ Texture Set Settings ], then add [ Ambient occlusion ].
   
   
   Then proceed with the steps below.

How to add an AO filter

1. Select the layer you want to create an AO on, then
   Click the [ Add effect ] icon and select [ Add filte ].
   
2. Click the [ Filter ] button and select [ MatFx HBAO ].
   
3. Change the [ Channel Source ] of the parameter to [ Normal ], then adjust the parameter.
   

You can easily adjust parameters by switching to the AO channel with the [ C ] key and checking the status.
Press the [ M ] key to return to the original state.

Summary

We've seen how to add AO (Ambient Occlusion) to painted normals using a Hard Surface material.
By setting the [ Channel Source ] of the MatFx HBAO parameter to [ Normal ], you can add AO to the Normal Hard surface.

On the next page, we will check how to set up the shader for semi-transparent materials!
Next page Let’s go!