Stackable vray displacement modifier

[yeohyip]

How difficult would it be to make the vray displacement modifier stackable?

It'd be great to be able to control shift and amount, and use many displacement maps rather than just one. For example, a displacement map with big details and high amount to block out bigger shapes, and on top of that, a more detailed displacement map to carve out the finer details. With seperate shift amd amounts, we could displace big boulders and then cut detailed holes into it with another map.

I think it would be quite a powerful way to work, especially with VRay's fast displacements.

[Geddart]

Yessssssssssssssss! Definately.

I already asked Vlado about that.
BIG wish of me too although it seems to be difficult.
Hope we hear more of that.

In some cases you can use a mixmap or additive blending of two maps to get the result with one displacement modifier too. But in other cases, especially with different Mapping Channels, stuff becomes much more complicated.

[mike_kennedy]

this is easily accomplised using the Displacement modifier......and meshsmooth.....if all you are looking is large basic displacement this is not a problem, plus you can see it in the view port

[yeohyip]

The Displacement modifier is a good example of what I'm thinking of, however, detail and speed are important criteria. Imagine if you could just add one vray-displacement mod on top of another just like that. That would be awesome!

[percydaman]

This has been suggested before... It seemed vlado made some comment that it would probably bring your computer to its knees...

[Morbid Angel]

i think the way to go now is to drive the displacements from a shader...or you can mix the displacement maps....

[egz]

Yes, like Dimitri says, you can already do this by building the displacement in a shader. You can use blend materials, mix maps, composite maps etc to layer as much as you want.

[yeohyip]

Okay, maybe my choice of examples weren't too great. What I was more interested in is being able to change the amount and shift settings on seperate maps. Let me try to give better example...

Say we paint a displacement map for a head. Then we apply the displacement map and adjust the settings so it's perfect. When we proceed to the body, we may find that the maximum black with the displacement setting is not enough because the body is more massive, and would require deeper displacements. By being able to stack it, we can have one setting for the head, and one setting for the body (and whatever other parts of the mesh).

The workaround I use now is increasing the amount, and adjusting the levels of the head map for it's white to be mid-grey. But there is enough detail loss that I need different map versions depending on camera distance. The workflow is what's important.

Thanks to everyone's feedback, I now realize it's no small wish. I just thought I would throw it out there because it would open a whole new realm of possibilities. The modifier stack workflow is so powerful, imagine if the vray displacement mod worked well with it (not just stacking, but with sub-object selections, and soft selections).

BUT, It's not an important wishlist item ... just one with potential (or maybe I'm just delusional).

PS. If you know how to solve the above example, I will appreciate any tips very much!