Hi,
I am playing with a mix maps using a mask. My question is can I have a displacement modifier applied to just one of the mix map materials? I have material 1 with a grass texture, material 2 has a dirt texture, and I am using smoke as my mask. I have a displacement map on the object, but it is applying the displacement to everything… is this possible ?
You’ll need to create a slightly different mix map for the displacement, just replace the texture you do not want to displace with solid black.
Will that work with 2D displacement or just 3D?
Both, but 2d can only use one mapping channel.
Yes the single map channel limitation has been a crux for me.
Hrmm.. I’m having a hell of a time trying to get this to work using 2D displacement. It’s not bad on a small scale, using 3D displacement, but using it on an entire site will be painful. I’m using a GradientEdge texture to mix the texture maps and to fade the displacement map to black on the grass.
mix
I like what you are doing. I would love to see your material setting for that. Can you share?
Yea, thats looking really nice.
I too would like to see your material setup. 
MIX maps
I just wanted to bump this up so it stays alive. Up here in upper Minnesota we have a mix between grass and sand. I need to learn how to have a mixed material of grass and sand, just displacing the grass. I have tried a lot, but can’t seem to get the look. Does anybody have any ideas?
This post so far has gotten be close, but nothing yet.
No problem. I normally create various masks in Photoshop; using the various terrain meshes or CAD file as a template. I came across the GradientEdge texture last week here and it certainly simplifies things; many great scripts/materials. I also noticed the ReplaceColor mask material, but I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet. Anyways, this was done on a simple plane with the path cut out with a shapemerge. Here are the material settings:
Mat 1: Grass to dirt
Mat 2: Dirt to concrete
Mat 3: Displacement Mat
I set the gradient on this map to 2’ so the dirt wouldn’t displace too much and the grass would displace more the farther from the path.
Mat 4: Vray Displacement
I’d love to get this working with 2D displacement, but I’m having a hard time getting around the one mapping channel limitation.
Edit: Sorry for the late response; I wasn’t around much over the weekend to check the forums.
Try vertex paint and paint a mask. The main limitation with it is the need for a dense mesh but it is a very intuitive way to work.
Here’s another on a small site just using a texture; a displacement mask created in Photoshop mapped/repeated along a lofted shoreline.
Yeah.. I’d love to be able to use vertex paint, but on a large site it’s just too much. If I need more variation with a mask I’ll paint it in Photoshop and save it out as a grayscale PNG; very small filesize.
Mix
I like, I like a lot. I am testing out now.
gradient
How are you assigning the gradient edge to the elements? I don’t see a way to use material id’s so I am assuming you are detaching one your merged shape.
Yeah. They were detached; not sure it’d recognize the open edges otherwise without having to select them. You could use a Multi/Sub mat but it would probably be more work than it was worth.
Mix
I am not getting the desired results. I put my gradient texture in the diffused slot of my vray material, which allowed me to apply it to the element. What controls the spread of the mix?
MIXED maps
The distance cranked up is working for me. This has possabilities, thanks for the help!
The Distance option. Beat me to it.
Heh. I’m glad that something I was playing with may help out someone else. If you manage to get it to work using 2D displacement, let me know!
Hey. I think I might have something working with 2D displacement; using another material from the previously referenced site - MapLayers. Something to play with anyways.
- It’s a single Plane object
- no UVW mapping coordinates
- 3 materials controlled through a VrayBlendMat, masks and tiling
- 2 displacement maps are controlled using MapLayers, masks, tiling and RGB values for the heights