Smart Mask
Mask presets driven by baked mesh maps
Also known as: Smart masks · Substance Painter smart mask · Edge wear mask · Procedural mask
Definition
A smart mask is a saved mask setup in Substance Painter that builds a layer mask from a model's baked mesh maps, such as curvature, ambient occlusion and position. Applied to a layer, it produces effects like edge wear, dirt in crevices, dust on top surfaces or leaks, and the result adapts to each model's shape. A smart mask works on one layer's mask, whereas a smart material is a whole layer stack.
In production
Drag a smart mask from the shelf onto a layer, adjust its parameters and add filters such as Levels on top. It only looks right if the mesh maps are baked first, so bake curvature and AO and check them on their own. Smart masks are a base, not a finish: paint over the mask to remove wear where an object would be protected and to add it where it would be handled.
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Tools that use Smart Mask
See also
Smart Material
Procedural multi-layer material
Mesh Maps
Maps baked from the model that drive generators
Curvature Map
Edge highlight + cavity shadow data
Ambient Occlusion
Soft contact shadows
Baking
High-poly detail → low-poly texture
ID Map
Material region mask
World Space Normal Map
Normals baked in world coordinates
Position Map
Baked map of where each point sits on the model
Fill Layer
Layer that fills a texture set with channel values