Hey guys, i need your help with this one, for some reason when i export my displacement map at sub level 1 using multi displacement 2, they come out flat. This has me pretty confused as i have exported displacement maps sucessfully before.
As you can see by the image, i adjusted the levels in order to show you that the uv’s and texture indeed exist, but is ridiculously flat…
any ideas??
thanks in advance.
I think i’ve tried almost all combinations in order to get more detail and range into my displacement map, alas no, zbrush just shrugs its shoulders and looks at me with a blank expression…
its funny how these problems never occur when you do your test on a primative prior to sculpting as a means of preventing such a situation…
any help would be much appreciated!
Your model doesn’t have very strong displacements to begin with, and so the map will naturally appear pretty flat.
A common mistake is to believe that the entire color range of your texture HAS to be used in order to get good displacements. The fact is that the opposite is true. ZBrush calculates the color range that will accurately reproduce the displacements. It then writes that exact level of detail to the map. To use the entire color range available would actually require that the system artificially inflate the values and then interpolate between them. That introduces room for error and artifacting, so ZBrush doesn’t do it.
Remember: The human eye cannot distinguish 16-bits or more of color. The computer has no such limitations, however, and so can see details in the map that you cannot make out visually, and then render those details out accurately to reproduce the original model.
When you apply your map in your rendering engine, it should render perfectly just as it is. Assuming, of course, that you restored your base mesh prior to calculating the displacement map…
I see, it all makes sense now!
thanks for the reply.