Displacement map effect
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Symptom
After applying a Displacement Map effect to a Polygon Mesh Cube, the cube's six sides are disconnected from each other as illustrated below:
Cause
This behavior is normal: the cube's faces do not have enough surface resolution, since the Geometry Approximation step settings are at a minimal value by default.
A displacement's calculation based on these low values will result in the it being applied to each face separately, thus giving the impression that the faces are disconnected.
Solution
- To solve this issue, the surface resolution of the cube must be increased.
- Here a few easy steps to follow:
- Open the Geometry Approximation Property Page for the Cube
- A dialogue pop-up box titled Confirm Make Local will appear:
"You are about to edit shared property(ies). Do you want to make a local copy first?"
Select Yes.
- Access the Displacement tab. You will see either the Parametric or the Length / Distance / Angle Displacement Method selected. For more information on these Displacement Methods, see the reference to the Rendering guide below.
- Parametric Displacement Method: augment the Subdivision section's Step value
- Length / Distance / Angle Method: augment the Min & Max Recursive Steps in the Subdivision Limit section
A higher value will increase the surface's resolution and will give more precise results, especially with surfaces such as Cubes.
Values were hiked to 6.0 in the example illustrated below:
Missing image
Disp_good.jpg
Image:disp_good.jpg
References
Knowledge Base articles:
How To Apply a Displacement Map
Printed Documents:
Shaders, Lights & Cameras Guide Advanced Materials & Textures chapter: Creating a Displacement Map
</FONT>Modeling & Deformations Guide Polygons & Polygon Meshes chapter: Geometric Approximation on Polygon Meshes
Rendering Guide Rendering Options chapter: Setting an Object’s Surface Approximation
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Applies To: XSI 1.0 on NT,Win2K,Irix
Posted: 11/22/2000
