First Mask
By the end of this page you'll know the complete workflow from Load to assigning to a shader. These five steps are the same regardless of which tab you use.
Complete workflow
Select object → Load (preview auto-starts) → Choose material slot → Adjust in scene view → Bake or Final Bake → Assign to shader
0. Window Layout
The four rows above the scroll area stay in the same place on every tab.
| Row | Content |
|---|---|
| Header | On the right: Docs (online guide for current tab) · ? (built-in help) · Language · Version v0.1.1 (click for patch notes) |
| Action bar | Load · Preview · Edit Mesh Only · Undo · Redo · Final Bake · Save · Save As |
| Tabs | Six tabs |
| Target row · Layer row | Load status + layers stacked in this slot |
A small ? button next to each card title shows one-line help on hover and opens that feature's documentation page on click.
1. Select object and Load
The Target row (Target · Load · Refresh · Preview) is pinned right below the tab bar, outside the scroll area so it's always in the same place. Refresh re-reads only the currently loaded mesh, independent of Hierarchy selection.
Select the object you'll work on (usually hair or body) from the Hierarchy and click Load in the window. You can select multiple objects at once. Load starts preview right there — you don't need to click Preview separately. With Edit Mesh Only on, only loaded targets stay visible in the scene, blocking nothing (non-destructive, turn it off to restore).
After Load, if Hierarchy selection changes, a hint "Selection changed — reload" appears in the scene view. If Preview isn't active, it auto-reloads. Refresh re-reads only the currently loaded mesh regardless of Hierarchy selection.
2. Choose material slot
If the mesh has multiple material slots, below the target list appear base map thumbnails per slot. You must pick one slot to work on; only that submesh is baked, painted, and previewed.
| Item | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Visible tabs | MatCap Gloss/AO · Gradient · Bridge + Region Mask · Paint |
| Output filename | <mesh>_<material> |
| When slots exceed submeshes | Extra slots (lilToon/Poiyomi outline slots, etc.) are mapped to the last submesh |
The picker only appears if slots ≥ 2. With one slot, it's auto-selected.
3. Preview and Layer row
Results appear in real-time on the mesh in the scene view. Right below the Target row, a Layer row shows this tab's result as one chip.
- When you switch tabs, earlier tab results stay overlayed on the scene. Each tab's result sits in a layer stack (one per renderer · material slot), and what you see is that composite.
- Preview / Stop now show / hide that tab's layer. The layer stays, so turning it back on brings it back unchanged.
- Preview doesn't touch the original material. It applies a copy, and Stop restores it instantly.
- Closing the window also restores it. Recompile and Play mode transitions also restore it.
- When Preview is off, scene view handles (sphere, gradient endpoints) appear dimmed and can't be edited.
4. Adjust in scene view
Depending on the tab, you drag handles, click strands, or paint with a brush. Click-select tabs (Bridge + Region Mask, Slot Split) all follow the same rules.
| Operation | Result |
|---|---|
Ctrl + click | Add / remove strand |
Ctrl + drag | Toggle strands like painting |
Ctrl+Shift + drag | Box add-select |
Ctrl+Shift+Alt + drag | Box deselect |
| Plain click | Select scene objects normally |
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y | Undo / Redo |
Full list → Hotkeys
5. Bake or Final Bake
| Button | Bakes | Filename |
|---|---|---|
| Bake in the tab | Only that tab's layer | Per-tab rules (e.g., manual pick is _Isolation) |
| Final Bake below the layer row | All checked layers composited | <mesh>_<material>_Final.png (and _FinalColor.png if color layers are present) |
Final Bake saves exactly what you see in the scene view — preview and Final Bake use the same composite formula.
- Save location is previewed in the label above the button.
- If a same-named file exists, you're asked Overwrite / New Name / Cancel. No accidental overwrites.
- Saved files appear in the Recent Bakes list at the tab bottom; ping or open folder directly.
6. Assign to shader
Baking and assignment are separate. Four steps finish it.
- Bake a mask from another tab.
- Select the saved texture → Inspector → Uncheck sRGB (Color Texture) → Apply.
- Open the material inspector and drag the texture into the matching property slot.
- If that slot has channel selection (R/G/B/A), match it to the channel used when baking the mask. Without Combiner packing, it's usually R.
Slot names and inspector paths by shader → lilToon · Poiyomi · MingToon · NiloToon
In the Bridge + Region Mask tab, if you enable Auto-assign after bake, it plugs directly into the NiloToon stacking layer slot as you save. Combiner's Pack + Reassign also rewrites texture, channel, enable toggle, and keywords directly. Both are optional and undo with one Ctrl+Z.
Not sure which tab to start with?
| Want to | Tab |
|---|---|
| Add gloss to hair | MatCap Gloss |
| Darken only concave areas (AO) | MatCap Gloss — AO/Cavity mode |
| Root→tip color dye | Gradient |
| Only a few strands different color | Bridge + Region Mask |
| Specific area with different shader | Slot Split |
| Merge split slots back together | Slot Split — Merge mode |
| Too many textures | Combiner |
| Any other arbitrary shape | Paint |
| Combine multiple tab results into one? | Layer Stack and Final Bake |