Mesh Displacement Tool

[marcdevon]

Dear Group,

 

I need to ask if anyone knows of any modeling software or plugin to Max/Viz that can displace a mesh (not to be confused with MTD, which is performed during rendering) progressively. I use VIZ and I am familiar with it Displace modifier. Although it is somewhat useful, the mesh needs a lot of definition (i.e. a lot of triangles) for it to operate properly. What I would like is a tool that can displace a mesh (using the UV coordinates and a bitmap) progressively by automatically subdividing the mesh in areas where necessary as directed by a user defined resolution parameter. The reason why I seek this is because the rendering software that I use doesn't support displacement mapping. Although displacement mapping is not the most important thing in the world to me, there are times when I would like to slightly displace the mesh just to add a little depth thereby enhancing the overall realism. An example of this would be a chimney fabricated with cultured stone. An image mapped onto a box has a fake look to it. My idea is to slightly displace the mesh and combine it with a normal map to bring out a more natural appearance.

 

Thanks

 

Marcus

[William Alexander]

Max proper has the ability to animiate through the subdivision surface of a polygon mesh. Viz has limitied abilities in that area.

 

You could use a proxy approach, display and hide the appropriate subdivided mesh based on the level of detial needed. Visibility is animatable in Viz. Low subdivision geometry, med and high. Setting each one to display for a period of time while the others are not.

 

WDA

[Tim Saunders]

how important is it? enough to justify purchasing vray? vray's displacement modifier is so easy and works so good. you get great results, and the adjustments available are so nice. works great for stone, among thousands of other stuff. youcan specify your resolution, the depth of the displacement effect. you can use the texmap from the objects material, or have a map completely different from the one assigned to the object.