Bake a Mesh Pivot

Write the current pivot offset permanently into the static mesh asset. After baking, every instance of that mesh — in every level — uses the updated origin. This is the standard way to fix a mesh whose pivot is in the wrong place.

Baking modifies the source asset

Baking edits the static mesh asset on disk. The operation cannot be undone with Ctrl+Z. Save your project before baking, or use Duplicate and Bake to create a copy first.

Bake the pivot

1. Select the static mesh actor whose pivot you have already adjusted (using a preset or manual offset).
2. In the Bake Pivot area of the Pivot Tool panel, click Bake.

The mesh asset is updated. A notification confirms how many meshes were baked. The actor's pivot offset resets to zero because the mesh origin now matches the position you set.

When multiple actors are selected, each unique static mesh is baked once. If two actors reference the same mesh, that mesh is baked on the first actor and the second actor's offset is reset automatically.

Duplicate and bake

To preserve the original mesh and create a new asset with the updated pivot, click Duplicate and Bake. A new static mesh asset is created alongside the original, and the selected actor switches to reference the duplicate.

Use this when other actors or levels still depend on the original mesh origin.

Bake options

Freeze Rotation

Enable Freeze Rotation to bake the actor's current rotation into the mesh vertices while resetting the actor's rotation to zero. The mesh geometry stays in the same world orientation, but the actor's rotation reads (0, 0, 0) after the bake.

This is useful when you have rotated an actor in the level and want the mesh's "forward" direction to match the current placement.

Freeze Scale

Enable Freeze Scale to bake the actor's current scale into the mesh vertices while resetting the actor's scale to (1, 1, 1). The mesh maintains its current world size, but the scale values normalize.

Keep Actors In Place

When enabled, the bake operation keeps every actor in the level that references the same static mesh at its current world position. Without this option, other actors referencing the same mesh may shift because the mesh origin has changed.

Enable this whenever multiple instances of the same mesh exist in your levels.

Bake by actor

Use Bake by Actor to realign a mesh's pivot to match another actor's transform. This requires at least two actors to be selected — the last selected actor provides the reference transform.

1. Select the static mesh actors you want to bake.
2. Hold Ctrl and click the reference actor last (it becomes the last selected).
3. Enable Bake by Actor in the Bake Pivot options.
4. Choose what to match:
   • Match Location — moves the mesh pivot to the reference actor's world position.
   • Match Rotation — rotates the mesh vertices to align with the reference actor's rotation.
5. Click Bake.

The selected meshes are baked with their pivots matching the reference actor's transform.

Combine with Duplicate and Bake

Enable Bake by Actor together with Duplicate and Bake to create new mesh variants whose origins sit at specific reference points — useful for modular building kits where pieces need a shared snapping origin.

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Next: Align Actors — line up actors along any axis using their bounding-box bounds.