how to use normal maps? and possible to create displace maps?

General Discussion
1

hi to all.

first, sorry for my terrible english. :frowning:

my first question is - how to use normal maps? it will be cool to create any tutorial about how to use normal maps from wm in 3dsmax.

and another one - it will be cool to create such feature as displace map generator. i mean if you have 4096x4096 lanscape, you can export 512x512 mesh (obj) landscape, and 4096x4096 displace map, so you can get little details when render via mental ray, vray or another powerful renderer

2

Normal maps: I suggest asking in a forum for 3dsmax. In general, you should be able to load it just like any other texture and then tell 3dsmax that it should be used as a normal map. (I do not have 3dsmax)

Displacement maps: You could render your terrain in 512² and in 4096². Afterwards, you’d subtract the 512²-version from the 4096-version and you get the difference that has to be added as a displacement maps.
A problem might be that most renderers probably displace along the normal of the 512-mesh. I don’t know how bad this can get.

3

Below are screencaps of how I’ve exported World Machine normal maps for use in 3ds Max.

  1. I got strange results when I tried to use the “Flip X” option in WM, so I just kept using the “Flip Red (X)” option in 3ds Max instead.

  2. Note that World Machine exports maps straight to various image formats without correcting for the different row/column ordering of particular formats, so the images might appear flipped. Be ready to flip the UVW mapping coordinates in 3ds Max for the terrain mesh or the map to fix it.

4

so your saying you get problems with the flipper filter just with the normal map or with everything…cause the heightmap output from the flipper seems fine to me…you can also use something like crazybump to export different types of normal maps…meaning being able to open a premade normal map and then flips change the type of normal map it outputs such a normal map for a game engine that uses a different color channel…or you can do it the old school way in photoshop playing with the channels

5

i see you use 3DsMax…
i made a Heightmap generator wich will create you a displaced heightmap with sppecified renderItterations.
this results in a lowpoly mesh that “unfolds” into highPoly at rendertime.

TerrainRes:2k x 2k

i will post a demoversion for you guys as soon as it’s fully finished.

6

well, really, before writing my first post i’l try to subtract these maps as you suggest :slight_smile: so nothing good because, as you noted, displace algorithm adds height in every polygon’s normal direction, not just add height to whole mesh… and there is must be very complex calculations to get right and accurate displace map :frowning:
this is really problem :frowning:

whoa! looks like this really what i (and many others wm users) need!!!
but i dont well understand how it works? it creates mesh and displacemap yes?

btw, here is a good free .obj importer to 3dsmax, which import object correctly and much faster and stable than standard max importer :slight_smile:
hope this be a useful tool: http://www.guruware.at/

7

it simply creates you a terrain for rendering in max from scratch
the terrain render up there got 2500 polys. yes 2,5k
but its being itterated at rendertime to give a high detail. at redertime it has about 40k. polys
this way you allways got a god resemblence of you terrain in the viewport and low polycount… wich allows for more other stuff like plants and whatnot :wink:

8

i hope this will be faster than displaced plane which tesselated when render.

And I hope that the author of the WM reads this forum and make displace feature.

i mean, if you have 4096x4096 lanscape, you can export 512x512 mesh (obj) landscape, and 4096x4096 displace map for details, for fast rendering by mental ray or vray