How to Bake Lighting with Blender for Three.js
Overview
You’ve made a nice scene in Blender, the render looks amazing… but when you bring it into Three.js, it feels flat and underwhelming. That’s because real-time engines can’t handle lighting the same way Blender does.
The fix? Baking.
In this video, I’ll show you what baking is, why it’s important, and how you can use it to get Blender-quality results in your Three.js projects.
The importance of Baking
Real-time rendering engines like Three.js can’t process complex lighting the same way Blender’s Cycles does. For performance reasons, Three.js needs to take shortcuts—leading to results that look flat or unrealistic.
Imagine:
You’re building a 3D portfolio website and want it to look as polished as your Blender render.
You’re creating an interactive 3D product configurator but notice the materials and lighting look dull.
You need smooth performance in the browser but don’t want to sacrifice visual quality.
This is where baking comes in. By “baking” lighting and shadows into textures, you can capture the richness of your Blender render and bring it into Three.js—without overloading the browser.
In short: baking lets you keep the look of Cycles, while keeping the performance of Three.js.
Resources/Tech Stack
Experience the project in action
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