odf opened this issue on Oct 27, 2008 · 13933 posts
kobaltkween posted Wed, 14 March 2012 at 5:39 PM
Displacement is bad for any detail that needs to affect other things or be adjustable. So detail on muscles is fine, but actual muscles doesn't work so well. Details in the hands are fine, but shaping elbows not so much. Ribs, which you can't do so much with on Antonia because the polys aren't there, really need to be in the mesh. If clothing should morph or sim to follow the body and if users should be able to dial this much of the adjustment and combine it with that much of another adjustment, it's no good. Displacement is only functionally good for something you either use or don't and doesn't need to affect anything but the mesh its made for.
That all said, I'm only talking about content you distribute or reuse. If you're just making an image for yourself, then it doesn't matter. The sky's the limit, and the only considerations are that you need 16 bit displacement for some extreme or detailed displacement, it only works with the normal, not a specific direction (you can't make something expand along one x but not y if the topology doesn't match your goal), and it doesn't allow you to make a separate mesh.