It is possible, yes. Actualy in my example in that old thread baking process get hipoly information beyond uv shells, so it real geometry data, instead of tricky padding that just "hide those artefacts". Eeew ..
@Noors , @marenin : these examples (with the padded tube) look great ! And while that does look much more involved than a 2D post process, well, if it works reliably and saves time and headaches then it is worth it :) Just to make sure : was that tubular mesh sporting hard edges in the middle of the cylinders, and/or a…