Cineversity

Hello
I’m rendering a depth map to then use in a displacement deformer on a high density mesh.
I rendered the 3d face with a 3d gradient, bring it in photoshop, blur the edges, bring that image to the Displace deformer and apply it to my plane.
The problem I get is that the “edges” of the face feel very flat.  I’m trying to achieve an effect as if the face was progressively rising out of the plane, not such a hard cut between the flat plane and the edges of the face.
What would be a good way to do this?

Here are the files I’m using.

1/C4d file I use to render out the face
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gyeuasbg7kh6bek/StatueDepth.c4d?dl=0
2/Face render PSD with blurred mask
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rf6rnrkdzvk7ri1/StatueDepth_3.psd?dl=0
3/C4d file that I use to bring the image back in
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6820s8pfpvrvse5/FaceExtrusion_1.c4d?dl=0

Thanks!

Hi Alex,

Here is your file back, please reconnect your image file [not included]. Then press Play.

I used a Filter here and animated the “Low Cut”.

Currently I have no Arnold installed, so I can’t tell the equivalent for the set up there.

All the best

File:
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/2RbR0dGnUOGl5Ch28aGnanBVkd6jgGCiWj985kVmkRz?ref_=cd_ph_share_link_copy

Thanks Sassi

That definitely works better than animating the displacement depth. However I still see the edge of the “face” as being pretty hard…
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xnarCPMBZrg/WENed7fZrJI/AAAAAAABdaw/USXAZJJZApY/s0/2016-12-03_19h04_02.png

How can I make that a softer curve?

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the image, is the hard border not wanted during the transition or on the final position, perhaps both?

With the “depth map”, which I would suggest to have in 16bit, better in 32bit, you can create a mask for that border. Perhaps even with a Colorizer set to black and white. Eventually with a blurred version of it, for a smoother transition. If you think of the depth map as black and white gradient, you could set up the black point and the white point (as with a curve or levels) to a much smaller area. So the area between black and white becomes a traveling gradient. If set up carefully that would be as if the border/edge would be in the middle of that gradient. This gradient is then used to blend between the face and the surrounding “color level/displace level.

A simple sketch is attached below. The gradient represents the depth map. The blue line could be a a transition between a blurred version and the background. The yellow area represents the depth map with no blur. So you can adjust the width and the position of the “soft transition (blue). I suggest a blurred version for this, as the transition might look more natural it not only the position but also the detail amount changes.

Yes it is a little bit tricky to set up, but that is the fastest way I was able to find, I tested many with a new face I have had created. I do not suggest an After Effects based image sequence animation, as the file might be large, and the adjustability not that fast at all, once rendered…

All the best

Sketch file:
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/NMgXvnzcmzBgMaxbRNod5p2iowjsvSeBfrpRqkbPDNW?ref_=cd_ph_share_link_copy

As usual, a very smart solution!  If I can get this to work nicely, I will post here!

Very kind of you, Alex, thanks a lot.

I hope it works out nicely for you.

My best wishes for the project.