Is there a way to hook up some nodes to convert the Cloud fractal shader v3 output to something the Heightfield generate node will export from the Use Shader tab?
Basically I want to get a bitmap from a Density Fractal. Is that possible? If I can do this I could edit these grayscale bitmaps in Photoshop for various uses like masks/alpha etc...
Thanks Much!
Derek
Quote from: D.A. Bentley on September 19, 2018, 08:48:50 PM
Is there a way to hook up some nodes to convert the Cloud fractal shader v3 output to something the Heightfield generate node will export from the Use Shader tab?
Basically I want to get a bitmap from a Density Fractal. Is that possible? If I can do this I could edit these grayscale bitmaps in Photoshop for various uses like masks/alpha etc...
Thanks Much!
Derek
I'm not sure what exactly you're trying to do, but it sounds like you want to export the noise of a PF? a Cloud fractal is just a modified PF, by the way.
If you're trying to get noise as a bitmap you'll probably want to look into orthographic view and applying noise as a colour shader to flat terrain.
That's basically what I wanted to do, but I was hoping to find a way to export it through the Heightfield Generate node's Shader tab as an EXR so I could go above and beyond screen resolution. Any ideas?
I guess I would need to somehow convert the density fractal into a displacement map since the heightfield generate node is expecting displacement data. I'm just not sure what nodes to use to do that.
Quote from: D.A. Bentley on September 20, 2018, 12:48:16 AM
That's basically what I wanted to do, but I was hoping to find a way to export it through the Heightfield Generate node's Shader tab as an EXR so I could go above and beyond screen resolution. Any ideas?
I guess I would need to somehow convert the density fractal into a displacement map since the heightfield generate node is expecting displacement data. I'm just not sure what nodes to use to do that.
Displacement data from shaders should just be noise data, IE, a PF, or Cloud fractal, shouldn't it not? I'd imagine justn pipe the cloud fractal into a displacement shader, adjust displacement multiplier and than that into the shader input of a generate.
It will still be only a Y displacement map, so you can't have the (3D) blobs that constitute clouds as a map. Basically converting the PF into a terrain is indeed the way, if that's what you want. If either black and white are unclamped (in cloud density fractal they are), and you displace accordingly, you can turn off all lights, set an altitude over which a greyscale will fade from black into white and plug your displacement to scalar into luminosity input. Then the blackest areas will be the 'minus blacks' and the whitest areas will be the whites above 1. Just play with the fuzzy zone and altitudes, so the mid area is mid grey (whatever that is). If you save an ortho render as 16 bit (I don't know if it's possible to save as 32bit), you'll have your map with quite a depth range.
But I doubt if this is the best way to handle this, and if it's any use.
Quote from: Dune on September 20, 2018, 01:49:33 AM
It will still be only a Y displacement map, so you can't have the (3D) blobs that constitute clouds as a map.
Wonder if using the Vector Displacement shader instead of Displacement would read said (3D) blobs in the noise.
You still only get a flat map, not a vector displacement map. Then you'd somehow have to translate all directions into the RGB's for a 32bit Vdisp map. I've tried such quite a while ago, but it was no succes, I believe. And working in a 32bit vdisp map in Photshop is difficult.
Quote from: Dune on September 20, 2018, 01:55:54 AM
You still only get a flat map, not a vector displacement map. Then you'd somehow have to translate all directions into the RGB's for a 32bit Vdisp map. I've tried such quite a while ago, but it was no succes, I believe. And working in a 32bit vdisp map in Photshop is difficult.
It seems even a vdisp doesn't read any 3D data within the noise to begin with, a vector map from it's displacement is in 2D (grayscale) unlike other displacement. At least from a cloud density.
Yeah, I guess it's pretty impossible ::)
Thanks guys! I only need a 2D Map, so this will work great!
Derek
Can't you just feed the shader into the Shader input of a Heightifield Generate? Keep in mind it'd be a top-down, i.e. Y projection, and you'd need to match the size *and* position if the Heightfield Generate to the area of cloud you're exporting. Other than that it should work fine though.
- Oshyan
Quote from: Oshyan on September 23, 2018, 06:49:00 PM
Can't you just feed the shader into the Shader input of a Heightifield Generate? Keep in mind it'd be a top-down, i.e. Y projection, and you'd need to match the size *and* position if the Heightfield Generate to the area of cloud you're exporting. Other than that it should work fine though.
- Oshyan
Apparently the heightfield generate uses displacement data, not noise. The cloud fractal will do nothing, but it through a disp shader will. You could just use a PF with displacement, but that displacement doesn't conform exactly to the noise (extra bits and bolts in the geometry).
Oh yes, that's true WAS. Still a fairly simple workflow though, I think.
- Oshyan