With the release of the long anticipated avatar evolution update right around the corner, many are considering introducing the PBR workflow to their projects. The introduction of a PBR workflow to the Roblox development scene will undoubtedly cause many changes for the better in the Roblox community.
I wanted to create this to share with you some export settings that I have created in order to achieve the best results when importing my creations to the Roblox Avatar Evolution studio build. There are some important features which have been shown not to be included in the build. There are two in specific that I will be showcasing how to fix/configure in this tutorial. I will be adding to this tutorial when I find more presets that could be useful
1. Ambient Occlusion
I will be showing you how to combine your ambient occlusion and color maps.
Ambient occlusion has been shown not to be included in the upcoming Avatar Evolution studio build, which is an important part of texture design as it highlights cavities and other areas on the mesh.
Press Ctrl+shift+E to export your textures in your scene. This will bring you to the export menu. Then, click on the “Configuration” tab.
Once you are here, look to your left and you will see a long list of presets. Right click on “PBR MetalRough” and duplicate it. Name this duplicate “Roblox Export” or whatever you’d like.
Now, delete all maps that you don’t need for Roblox. This includes Emissive and Height maps.
Next, go to BaseColor and delete the “A” which is a channel for opacity maps by clicking on it and pressing “Clear Channel”
Now, if you look to your bottom left, you will see a setting called “mixed AO” click and drag that to where the opacity map setting used to be. It will then prompt you to pick between grey channel or A channel. Pick Grey Channel
Congratulations! You have now set up your BaseColor to include AO!
2. DirectX to OpenGL Normal Map Conversion
Roblox PBR works the best if you use the OpenGL format of normal map rather than the DirectX alternative. You can toggle this by clearing the RGB on the “Normal” configuration
Then, drag the NormalOpenGL option from the bottom left to replace it. When prompted, click the “RGB Channels” Option
Congrats, you have now set up your normal map exporting for OpenGL!
I hope you have found this tutorial helpful. I know that it can be difficult to find information about PBR and Roblox on the internet, so I wanted to share with you my techniques for achieving the best results!
I will be adding more to this if I find any more useful settings that suite Roblox.