Vray Grass: VrayDisplacementMod vs Material

[JohnW3D]

Hi guys,

 

I am using Vray 2.0 in 3ds max 2010. Whenever I see someone doing grass, they seem to apply the VrayDisplacementMod modifier to a piece of geometry. This is fine, but it does not seem to give you nearly the same kind of flexibility in certain ways (at least in terms of where the grass appears) as having your Displacement tied to a material (with a map in the displacement slot).

 

I want to be able to scatter displacement grass in many very specific areas of a large low res piece of terrain, by painting a specific mask to show this material through in certain areas in a nice natural way. It seems the only way of achieving this with the modifier is making a duplicate mesh and chopping it up so only pieces that I want the displaced grass on remain (since it is a low res mesh, this chopping up results in lots of straight edges and weird unnatural angles).

 

Is the displacement modifier far superior for displacement in comparison to using the material version? if not, why does anyone use it? if so, how do people deal with the situation above?

 

Cheers

John

Edited May 16, 2011 by JohnW3D

[Ricardo Eloy]

Actually... It's just the same, I believe. It's only a matter of taste (the only difference is that you're not tied to a specific material).

[notamondayfan]

You can still use the VrayDisplacementMod and a mask.

 

All you do is create a mix map, use your mask as the mix amount, then in one slot leave it black, and in the other slot use the grass map. Use different UVW map IDs to control the grass from the mask.

 

The main advantages for the modifier over the material is that you have much more control over quality and speed, and plus with a modifier, your displacement will show in ambient occlusion passes.

 

Dean

[JohnW3D]

Fantastic, I hadn't thought of using a mix map with the modifier. This is the ideal solution, many thanks!