[dr . bang]

i've always want to know how people make textures, and i hear the word "displacement map" alot when it comes to making texture. So what is it this "displacement map"?

[surferboi]

Displacement mapping changes the surface of your geometry. When viewed in silhouette, you can see the displacement of your surface.

A displacement map is similar to a bump map--the surface to which it is mapped is displaced along the normals. The displacement height is the alpha value of the texture map by default. If you turn on Alpha is Luminance for the texture, the displacement height results are based on the intensity of the pixels in the texture map.

The difference is that displacement mapping changes the surface by moving its vertices while bump mapping only changes the surface's normals. When you displacement map a texture, the map actually affects the geometry of the object. With displacement maps, the silhouette of the surface is consistent with the rest of the surface, unlike bump maps. You can also get shadows and reflections of the displacement on objects.

[Blitz]

It is allot like a bump map. A bump map gives the illusion of a bumpy texture but it does not actually physically change the geometry. A displacement map actually changes the geometry based off the white and black arias of the map.

Unless I am confused with another type of map.

Blitz

[[Shizo]]

Can you find pictures of examples of displacement maps? :)

------------------
Nothing really matters to me

[SuPeR_DrAwEr]

ITS A MAGICAL MAP USED TO TRAVEL THE UNIVERSE!!!!!!!


------------------
IM RULER OF UNIVERSE!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!

[AKIRA_x]

quote:

---

Originally posted by [Shizo]:
Can you find pictures of examples of displacement maps?

---

Go se Disneys Dinosaurs. They used displacement maps to create some of the shells and horns on the dinos. BUT do not confuse it with the bumpmap.

A diplacement map viewd in Photoshop is just a black and white drawing.

AKIRA



------------------
Whos ya dady!!

[[Shizo]]

hmm

[amnesia]

What is meant by 2d effect is that it's a little like the emboss filter in photoshop, only it takes the correct light sources into account.

Just thought I'd add my little bit.

[[Shizo]]

Well there is some trick in 3dmax to make terrains. You make 2d plane and load bitmap into it (i forget how thye called, maybe disp. map) and it works just like on the picture! Bump map i only know in games about.. It doesn't use any layers to know what shape to render, but it uses the color values of texture itself. For example top part of texture was dark and bottom was lighter. Bump mapping would make the bottom part look closer to you

------------------
Nothing really matters to me

[Loukus]

Say wasn't this technique pioneered by the millers (makers of myst)?


JL

[Frost]

Displacement maps are the vertex equivalents of heightmaps, based on voxel maps (3 dimensional texture maps like the sprite animations in Blade Runner by Westwood for example). Voxel landscapes (Vista Pro, etc.) and heightmaps have been around for a LONG time.