Cineversity

Is there a way to bake a displacement map in order to speed up render times?

Scene File:
http://joelhebert.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/displacement-Joel-Hebert-2.zip

Thanks
Joel H.

Hey Joel H.

The texture in your scene indicates a repetitive pattern. You might build one hole* and merge it to the smallest possible unit, then repeat it, e.g., in MoGraph. 

*Have one polygon with a hole and one without (both same size, same origin) then use MoGraph with a MG selection to get things sorted out. So far I know my series about mass-production of holes will be public (finally) in summer. Well, I guess you need it now.

Displacement maps, for SPD I highly recumbent to use 16bit/c formats. Eight bit/c are mostly just a waste of time.

You asked for baking a displacement map. I guess you have in mind to bake the resulting mesh. I can’t recall if that is possible in any way. What C4D offers as Baking a Displacement map is more based on a high resolution object where the resulting displacement map allows a low resolution texture via SPD to “recreate” this high res. object but with the advantage to produce only polygons where you really need it. This seems to be not the case here, at least if I understand your project correctly. A reason why I started out to suggest the “model” option. Stable, clean and optimized. (More information about Displacement baking: Manual>Bake Texture)

All the best

Sassi

P.S. here is an example. Only the holes. If you found the right amount etc, make it editable and merge (optimize) the grid to one object. Select the outline edges and extrude a “frame” without holes in the way you need it. Done :o)

The options with this method are endless, especially with variations of the hole diameter (MoGraph Blend! and Falloff!)

This method looks great Dr. Sassi,

Although, two issues. 1. It’s kinda crooked towards the right side and 2.I have to get it to scale to the exact size of my displacement version so it’ll fit properly into the rest of the overall model being animated. I messed with the settings but wasn’t quite able to get it exactly how I wanted.

See screen shot
http://joelhebert.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Screen-shot-2012-04-09-at-3.08.05-PM.png

Thanks

Joel H.

Hey Joel H.,

I checked your screen shot, but it might communicate only after a briefing about your target.

This is of course only one (well in post one I described another method) way to go.

If you can’t model it, I guess in this case the displacement won’t help either.

The Cheese-Grader should be build along your flat texture, then transformed into your shape.

If the stretch around the bending or curve is a problem, check the bounding box, or try to pre-stretch or squeeze the model with an FFD cage. In that way the Spline Wrap sit below (!) the FFD (oterhwise the object is pulled away from the FFD. Try it with a plane or a cube to see “its mechanic”.

All the best

Sassi

Cool. Ill try these suggestions out. Thanks again
Joel H.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8306001/joel_h_disp/01.PNG

As an alternate to the modeling you could still optimize the mesh a lot.
Here you have these really irregular polygons that you are then trying to compensate for by using really high subdivision levels in your displacement settings. This means alot of time lost to prep work…remember each subdivision does not double the poly count, it quadruples it! so 1 polygon == 4 polygons after 1 subdivision.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8306001/joel_h_disp/02.PNG

now here I have adjusted the spline and the extrude nurbs so that I am left with very uniform divisions.
Then in the material I only add a couple steps of subdivision.

The results for me are as such:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8306001/joel_h_disp/displacement Joel Hebert 2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8306001/joel_h_disp/displacement Joel Hebert 3.jpg

now, another option is to use the alpha map to generate a normal map for the dents, this would be fastest…but you lose quality up close as the effect can break apart.

Patrick,
Cool stuff. What steps did you take to
“adjust the spline and the extrude nurbs so that I am left with very uniform divisions”
Thanks

Joel H.

Spline type: Uniform
Intermediate points: Adjust to taste.

The Extrude Nurbs subdivisions should then be adjusted until you get squares rather than rectangles.

The scene file is on my laptop ATM, but I think I had set the splines intermediate points to around 70.

oh ok. I see. Thanks
Joel H.

Happy to help