Mudbox displacement maps in T2

TheBadger · July 17, 2013, 04:09:57 PM

Me too

but it will work.

Im looking forward to doing stuff like this:
http://gitacademy.tripod.com/GodsInTraining/NumenorStatues.jpg
http://24.media.tumblr.com/09a8af783d7a411e33d5eca2ebc50673/tumblr_mhbn5mp67V1s3bfv5o1_1280.jpg
http://cdn.desktopwallpapers4.me/media/wp_1366x768/2/11631.jpg
http://www.fuzzywaffle.com/data/508/Fantasy_Dark_Castle_Tower.jpg

efflux · July 17, 2013, 04:30:09 PM

This can be done with Xnormal from any 3D program as far as I can see. Xnormal can create a vector displacment from base mesh to sculpt mesh.

In theory it's possible with Blender but I haven't solved that yet. I'm giving up on it because Blender Windows is a disaster area and I'm tired rebooting from Linux to Windows just to get the decent Blender version. This is amazing because a majority of people are using Blender Windows. I can't currently export from Blender Windows without crashes. Maybe Xnormal will work under Linux wine but I can't be bothered trying.

mhaze · July 17, 2013, 04:41:04 PM

Occurred to me that I don't need to use a simple plain as abase mesh - just haven't got round to it. Tomorrow

efflux · July 17, 2013, 04:45:25 PM

I'm downloading a newer Windows Blender version to give this another try. I'm not going to use xnormal for this but I'm just seeing if it works.

efflux · July 17, 2013, 05:09:15 PM

I can't get this to work. Wow, I'm out of this OS for sure. Spinning blue circles, Ctrl ALt Del. Blender is terrible. Anything resembling a big mesh is disaster. Doing a UV unwrap takes about 20 times longer. I can feel the Windows road rage coming on. Fortunately Terragen is pretty stable. I just upgraded Modo for Linux version and there no comparison. the Windows version is crash city.

Maybe someone else can try this with Xnormal.

mhaze · July 18, 2013, 06:48:47 AM

I created an arch as a base mesh in silo - imported into zbrush and added detail. Imported into TG and it does not work! I guess the displacement needs the base mesh to work on and goes crazy if you try to apply it to a plane. Not surprising really but worth knowing. Maybe we'll be able to import a mesh and use vector displacement on it in the future.

TheBadger · July 18, 2013, 09:44:30 AM

I am not so sure. There should not be any difference. Can you identify a definable difference? THis is strange!

j meyer · July 18, 2013, 11:23:10 AM

Ulco - thanks for explaining,a light source would have been my next guess.

Michael - You don't leave out any chance to produce more confusion,don't you?

Quote from: Tangled-Universe on July 17, 2013, 02:37:51 PM
Quote from: Dune on July 17, 2013, 02:21:44 PM
I was just about to say; they MUST meet somewhere. But it's nicely disguised. I know this can 'easily' be done with outside made maps, but I wish it were possible from within TG.
...

As far as I can remember Old Blaggard already did that some years ago.(in TG)

Tangled-Universe · July 18, 2013, 12:11:02 PM

The technique Old_blaggard used is based on displacing a section of terrain upwards and then bending it in steps downwards to shape an arc.
In the end it's still a pinched piece touching the terrain where the arch meets the terrain.
It's inherently not possible to get it "true" 3D.

j meyer · July 18, 2013, 12:20:58 PM

Martin- Didn't we talk just about that?

efflux · July 18, 2013, 01:49:30 PM

This thread is a good advert for Mudbox and not so good for everything else. I still haven't managed to achieve it. 3D Coat will be able to do it but I haven't figured out how. Why is this so difficult? I don't think Modo can do it at all.

j meyer · July 18, 2013, 01:59:30 PM

And now for something completely dif...no wait it's not completely different,but it's not
directly related to my last post.

Something you actually can do to help you sculpting is to alter your base mesh a bit.
Like this for example
[attachimg=1]

In ZB
[attachimg=2]

as you can see the mesh is not stretched as much as it would had I sculpted from a
normal plane.

and in TG with a little PF displacement applied
[attachimg=3]

It's just a test,so excuse the low quality.

Hope I could contribute to the general confusion

.

j meyer · July 18, 2013, 02:01:00 PM

efflux - read what paq wrote in the beginning.

mhaze · July 18, 2013, 02:09:03 PM

Nice trick will have to remember that one.

Dune · July 18, 2013, 02:09:25 PM

That's a very nice example, Jochen. But I don't know why the base mesh should be altered. I do encounter some problems though, using mudbox. I sometimes have to subtly adjust the ZYX variation in the VD node to get the exact sculpt. And the base is always a bit dipped as soon as it's displaced in TG.
I now use the 'world' space to save the exr in. That right?
If you multiply the XYZ too much in TG the mesh gets displaced too much, there's a balance between the size of the square image and the displacement.