I am ambivalent about this claim. The argument has its valid points. On the other hand, from a technical point of view, neither is correct if you use real global illumination (sampled at a high level) as a reference.A darkening effect in corners and cavities occurs in reality even when the scene is illuminated with direct…
Few things I'd like to add. Epic themselves generally suggest using AO textures for small cavities and letting SSAO/SSGI/Lumen/DFAO do their jobs. AO being baked into textures isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can simulate dirt and grime even if you're getting AO elsewhere. Often times with textures you got albedo and…
Generally, the approach with AO will depend on how good the lighting systems are in your engine or target renderer. * AO should be typically applied with a secondary texture and not baked into albedo (or other maps). This allows the engine to multiply the AO on ambient or indirect lighting pass only. AO should not multiply…