Feature Request - Surface Layer

[sjefen]

Would it be possible to have an option in the surface layer that automaticly knows where there are object's in the scene interacting with it?
With this we could have a slider or something to adjust the visibility of the shader around those object's.

I was thinking if you have a snowy scene and with a small forest in it, there would be less, or no snow on the ground inside the forest. It would be cool to have an easy control of this.

- Terje

[neuspadrin]

Seems like it wouldn't be too hard to use a painted shader or even use the inverted population shader to avoid areas?  Where as this feature seems like it would be a little complex.

[Mr_Lamppost]

The creation of a mask would need to be implemented as part of the population shader.  Best guess: there were some experiments a good time ago which completely failed to duplicate the population object positioning using external functions.  There are factors in the placement method that we don't have access to.  Adding the option to generate a mask that could be conncted to the blend shader input of a surface layer would definitely be useful.

[Oshyan]

It's definitely a good idea. Maybe something that would be implemented as a more general and flexible independent node, like "proximity to object" or something, which could then be used in this way, as well as  complex function networks, etc. Proximity-based effects are definitely something we've thought about and would like to implement in the future (great for shore foam on water, for example).

- Oshyan

[Tangled-Universe]

It's definitely a good idea. Maybe something that would be implemented as a more general and flexible independent node, like "proximity to object" or something, which could then be used in this way, as well as  complex function networks, etc. Proximity-based effects are definitely something we've thought about and would like to implement in the future (great for shore foam on water, for example).

- Oshyan

Or for clouds climbing up a mountain...
Dozens of applications probably.
Good idea Sjefen!

Martin

[Mr_Lamppost]

Proximity shader.  Better still.

[Oshyan]

Exactly.

- Oshyan