Problem-Texture Quality with AO Baking.

Support Materials and Textures
1

I’m making models for Train Simulator 2017. I recently discovered about baking shadows onto the models. So I binge watched many baking video tutorials. After all that I learned, I still have a problem with texture resolution. Here is a bridge model before the AO baking process. Note the quality of the textures.

before AO.jpg1920×1080 73.1 KB

Here is the same bridge after the AO baking process. The shadows are there but the texture resolution dropped like a rock. I even used a 2048 by 2048 texture base for the baking process.

after AO.jpg1920×1080 52.4 KB

My question is…Is there anyway to keep the original texture quality through the AO baking process?

2

Nobody can offer a option?

3

Did the mapping get messed up in the UV? What was the resolution of your texture maps?

4

In the example I posted above, all three textures used on the model were originally 512 by 512. After the AO mapping process, the texture I used was 1024 by 1024. I realize that when combining all the textures and all the faces onto one map, the textures resolution is going to go down. I’m looking for a way to add the AO mapping and keep the textures original resolution.