Hi, all -
I've been messing around with using true displacement vs. bump-mapping on trees, shrubs, etc. I'm starting to get results I'm happy with and thought I'd show off these test images. Default terrain, etc., just a shot of an English oak. Compare the profile edges of the trunk in the foreground. (The one in the background is bump-mapped in both images.) It's subtle, but your eye notices the lack of smooth edges - really adds a touch of photo-realism. Or I think so, anyway. (I think I saw a post using this technique years ago, but this was my first shot at it.)
The trick is splitting the foliage away from the wood you want to displace. It seems opacity-mapped leaves don't like being rendered with displacement mapping enabled on the object. Done properly, both the wood object and the leaves object have exactly the same origin point, so you put the wood where you want it, copy it's coordinates into the leaves object, and they'll align properly.
So check out the images. I'll be posting a set of models here as freebies in a while - kind of busy at the moment, but I wanted to show these off. I'm pretty happy with the effect.
