tech question on displacement and normal maps...

[leigh]

Displacement maps absolutely rely on the subdivision level of the model, since the more geometry there is, the finer it can displace it. A model with a low level of subdivision is not going to displace very well at all, especially if the details in the displacement map are quite small or fine.

I don't know a hell of a lot about normal mapping since that's more of a game thing and I don't work in games, but they're like bump maps in the sense that they create an illusion, instead of actually displacing the geometry itself, which is why they don't need high resolution geometry to work.

[Sastrei]

Just wanted to add that normal maps are used precisely for the reason of lowering the amount of required geometry. So basically what leigh said. :p

-Stefan-

[DarkEdge]

Great, thanks for the input.

[blank]

Of course you then throw the curve ball in as something like mental ray can do the subdividing of the model itself so even though you have a low poly model you can get some wierd results.

heres a very quick example of a mental ray displacement on a single plane with 2 triangles

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5518/andyit6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Also Here some good info on normal maps here which explains whats going on:
http://www.zbrush.info/docs/index.php/Understanding_Normal_Maps

[yann22]

Are normal maps still not widely used in film?

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