So, I keep hearing about displacementsmaps, but been unable to figure out what they do... anyone?

I'll try this one...

Displacement maps in Poser 5 or 6 are something that happens at render time. They tell the renderer that the mesh "sticks out" or "goes in" at a particular place, depending on the greyscale value of the map. Using them, you can get lots of fine detail without having to use a heavy mesh that would bog down your computer.

They're different from bump maps, in that bumps only produce a pattern of highlight and shadow as if the surface was deformed; but when viewed in the right way, it can be obvious that it's still smooth. Bumps are a sort of half way house to displacement maps.

It's worth mentioning that some applications (such as UVMapper Pro) have a displacement mapping feature that works on the actual mesh (i.e. without the renderer). That's useful for adding detail, but you do need enough polygons to accurately realise the map.

Examples, anyone?

Message edited on: 05/19/2005 06:20

Aha - and yes, if anyone has a couple of pictures, that would be great! -Like on with bumpmaps, and one with the displacementsmaps. Thanks for the reply, Bob.

okay - hmmmm ... how do I apply a displacementmap?

Wow - now that is really impressive! But couldn't that have been done by using a bumpmap?

A bump map isn't the same thing. Bump maps create an optical illusion of bumps or pits, but if you look carefully (especially at the edge of a model) you can see that the geometry is still smooth. Displacement maps alter the actual geometry, which gives greater realism and better shadowing.

As spedler said, Dis maps actually alter the mesh. So if you have a shadow falling somewhere in the scene the bumps/ridges etc will show, with bumps while the model itself will look alright the shadow will not show the effects of the bump map.Check the DAZ studio forum over at DAZ. Do a search for Displacement maps and youll see a couple really interesting threads on them. One by Questor and at least one by Stonemason.

Okay. Thanks guys!

Attached Link: http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=187263

Attached Link: http://206.145.80.239/zbc/showthread.php?t=22300

http://206.145.80.239/zbc/showthread.php?t=22300 only 340 polygons too...lol

Message edited on: 05/19/2005 13:26

@stonemason Can you show us the actual map that you used to do that? I understand if you can't but I'd love to see an actual side by side comparison between a displacement map, a bump map, and a texture. Could you use a bump map graphic as a displacement map? I'm thinking that to create one, you could start with the texture, greyscale it, eliminate everything that wasn't some form of difference in height from the surface, and then compress the range of the greys, perhaps centered around 50% grey.

I think that I read somewhere that P6 can use animated textures, it that's correct then maybe it can use animated displacememt maps. Dogwaffle is geared toward animation, perhaps it, or something like, might be of use?

Here's an example of bump mapping vs. displacement:

http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=1020351

And the finished image:

http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=574672

I think that I read somewhere that P6 can use animated textures ....

You read correctly. Materials can be animated procedurally, or with Movie nodes (.avi or QuickTime, depending upon platform). Poser once supported animated GIFs, but they took that feature out.

So essentially you have three options, bump, normal and displacement maps. Each has their strong points and weak points, and depending on what you want to do, determines which one you will use.

And those options are not mutually exclusive. I often use displacement mapping on a simple square for large scale deformations, and bump mapping for finer details. Combined with reflection and refraction nodes it's possible to make some pretty realistic water out of a simple plane.

Quite Impressive. This is one of those things I've heard of for years but never tried in a 3D program. I haven't had much success with it the few times I've tried displacement in After Effects, either.

oh and while we're talking about displacement how about a big shout to CL..WE Need 16Bit support in displacement!! ;) Bobasaur..I didn't make any bump maps to go with the above model so have none to show sorry, Stefan

stefan, and while we are busy shouting, we need displacement maps in Vue, or a render farm in Poser, because without either of these, we can't use displacement in animations, unless we have 60 years to make the movie.

Useing The Overlords: Unimesh textures By OrcaDesignStudios

Used the same maps and I tried to simulate the same settings except where the nodes are pluged in.

both make shadows and highlights on the skin, Displacement makes ridges and lumps.

Message edited on: 05/19/2005 22:31

Is there a good step-by-step tutorial anywhere for working with imported models in ZBrush and adding displacement to them?

Deecey your best place to start would be ZCentral http://206.145.80.239/zbc/index.php there's alot of tips & tutorials available there. I have a video tut for generating a map in Zbrush & setting it up in DAZ Studio, http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/polycount3d/Tutorials.htm Helgard..I've found it to be fairly quick at rendering in Poser..even quicker in Studio(& Studio supports 16bit too) :)