I got into an issue with maps on export which led me to this question, where are the texture maps actually stored? And how can one access the texture maps alone without the models? I have tried various methods of exporting the models with textures and am having all sorts of problems. So I started wondering about exporting just the texture maps by themselves. Thanks for your suggestions about this!
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This depends…
one can store any texture maps images whereever one want. It’s a good idea to use the same folder as the actual blend file or a subfolder named for example textures.
Especially when painting on an image with blender one should also save it (it is not done automatically) but then blender ask you to save when you want to exit blender or load a new file (so i never understood why people are “loosing” there paints when exiting… )
To take a whole folder most people archive them with some packager, but blender has this feature viaFile → external Data to store them in the blend file itslef. File size will be big and is a good idea to extract (unpack) them when the file has been transfered to some other computer/person… So one should pack them again if some changes occur and they should be transferd again. One might check if this is really needed.
Okidoki, I guess I wasn’t clear, I want to access the texture maps that come with the blender file, not where to store the maps myself. I would like to know how to access the texture maps themselves without the model, if that makes sense?
Thanks much!
Do you mean packed textures ? you can unpack them one by one or all at once with file → external data → unpack resources.
If you mean procedural textures in the shader editor (wave, noise etc) they are not saved anywhere, they are mathematical expressions that are calculated when you render them. They are not “bitmaps” they are procedural and have infinite resolution.
The procedural texture nodes contain mathematical formulas to create the textures when you hit render taking into account the resolution of the final output.
You can not export procedural textures directly, Blenders texture nodes are only understood by Blender.
To export a procedural textures you first have to Bake the maps into different image maps, (one for Base colour, one for Roughness, another for Normals etc) and use the image maps you have baked in the inputs of the principled shade sockets instead of the procedural nodes.
Once you have baked the textures to image maps you can save them in a texture folder and export the file with a pointer to that folder.
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Thanks, but I am not talking about prcedural textures. I am talking about the texture maps that come with models.
Thanks, I’ve been trying that but it does not always work. For instance when I open an FBX exported file and look at the textures shown with the model many of the listed textures are not included in the unpacked texture map resouces. So, I asked if thewre is a way to access the maps directly. But I guess the only way is with external data - unpack resources.
If you mean textures embedded in the file/model, to export to fbx with them embedded inside the fbx file you can set these options in the export dialog ( “path = copy” and also check the icon to embed textures)
Then Blender will embed them into the FBX file. (It will make the fbx file larger in size too).
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DNorman, Thanks, I have been doing that. My experience has been that it’s really a hit and miss with the texture maps. Most are included but a few are not.
I will keep plugging away at it though. Cheers!
Any image used in a blend file can be “used” via an image node or in any images using editor (UV Editing, Texture Paint) via the texture selection (top, middle mountain-sun-frame–icon)
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There are certain conditions where a texture / material will NOT export with an FBX file…( or other file formats as well) …
If there is any node connected between a texture image and the Principled BSDF it will not export, Normal Maps are the exception…the Texture Image has to be connected directly to the Principle BSDF, if that is impossible for some reason, two textures being mixed for example, then it would need to be Baked to an image texture… and then connected to the principle BSDF as a substitute.
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Yes also only certain inputs of the principled shader are taken into acount, there used to be a list in the manual but I can not find it for FBX in the latest version.
There is a list for gltf (I suspect FBX is similar)
The core material system in glTF supports a metal/rough PBR workflow with the following channels of information:
Base Color Metallic Roughness Baked Ambient Occlusion Normal Map (tangent space, +Y up) Emissive
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Yes, I think ( if I remember correctly ) this is just about the same…
For instance: If there is a setting on the Principled BSDF, no image to roughness, just the setting ( .5) then it will be included with the FBX export… but I don’t know about all the newer settings in the Current Principled BSDF, and whether they will transfer or not… It is assumed that most of that would be adjusted in the software that will be using the FBX ( or used to be )
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EDIT: I just did a search and according to the manual, FBX export with embed textures for Blender 4,3 is on the TODO list… So I guess Baking Image maps is currently the only way to go, and making sure to SAVE the MAPS to a folder containing the FBX!
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I much appreciate your posting! Thank you!
Thanks much!
Thanks for posting!
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Thanks for your post!
Thank you!
I can confirm that on my 4.3a you can embed at least Base colour, roughness and normal maps.
This is an imported fbx, Blender uses the alpha channel of the base colour for alpha (even if in this case there was no alpha) Blender duplicated the base colour image and plugged the alpha channel into alpha by default.
I suspect that the alpha map needs to be put in the alpha channel of the base colour image in general for embedded textures.
This is the shader setup Blender made when I imported the fbx.
So some channels do work. 
I doubt things like translucency, thin film, sheen etc will work, I do not think FBX will support those, you would have to unpack them into a texture folder and insert them manually in the destination software.
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