Detail Rock Test #2

[moodflow]

Here is another shot at high rock detail.  I think this one turned out much better.

[moodflow]

Here is a shot of the node network:

[Tangled-Universe]

Oh yeah! I really like these
Great work! Which/what kind of displacement image did you use?

[Seth]

marvelous ! this one is great ! very good job man !

[moodflow]

Oh yeah! I really like these
Great work! Which/what kind of displacement image did you use?

Its a 2000x2000 image I painted in photoshop in about 5 minutes.  Its then tiled.  Each instance of it is scaled down in size, as well as displacement lowered, so there is less and less affect.  The displacement is cumulative.

[dhavalmistry]

oh man...I love these....

[rcallicotte]

FINE work, moodflow.  I'll be back to learn from you after I figure out what DH has been doing.   

[old_blaggard]

These stones are really nice - I want them in my scenes .

[Sethren]

Nice stones there.   

[marcob]

I think it is excellent! One question how can I get the displacement cumulative???

[moodflow]

I think it is excellent! One question how can I get the displacement cumulative???

Its done by stacking 'surface layers'.  See the screenshot of the nodes I posted above.

1.  Create a source:  an image map shader or power fractal shader.

2.  Create a surface layer below it.

3.  Plug this source into the surface layer's displacement input.  Use the surface layer itself to 'set' the displacement scale.  Keep the displacement set to "1" in the source for all cases, as the surface layer will simply multiply what it recieves.   Be sure to scale the size and displacement properly and verify via test renders until its dialed in.

4.  Now for the stacking:  Create a new surface layer below this one.  Plug the first surface layer into this new layer's child input.

5.  Now, repeat the process as stated above.  Plug any source into this new surface layer's displacement input.   Scale the source appropriately, and dial it in via test renders.  This new surface layer will have a source into its displacement input AND into its child. 

6.  Repeat this down the list for as many as you need.  I'd recommend lowering the scale and displacement of the power fractals/image map shaders for each level below.   Keep in mind, this displacement is stacked and can add up quickly.  In my example, I made the last few levels' displacement very small.

Note:  Technically, you could start out with "just" a source and plug it into the surface layer's child input (and use the displacement in the source's settings).

[overlordchuck]

Guess what...you should share the file!

[rcallicotte]

Yeah, but then we might not really learn anything and what good is that?

Guess what...you should share the file!

[moodflow]

Guess what...you should share the file!

I will, but I am still working on it.  I'd like to have it dialed in first.  ;-)

If you look closely at the rock, you can see that the largest vertical surfaces do not have detail, ie are smooth.  I believe this is due to not having a "compute normal" node, so all displacements afterwards are cueing off the original rock surface and not each layer above.  Technically, I should compute normal after each displacement, but when I tried that, the render times stacked up exponentially.  Maybe Oshyan or Matt could give more information on how this all works.

I am going to do some more tests and see what happens.  I'll post the results of course.

[rcallicotte]

@moodflow - I have followed your diagram to the T, except for the unknown values, of course.  Nevetheless, I'm pretty happy with the general results.  But, what I obviously am having trouble with (it seems) are the levels of displacement.  If you agree that is what you think this problem might be from the picture (see the left side pincushion), I'm all ears.

Anyone else is welcome to comment.  I want to figure this out.