Could you tell us in more details why do you think the there is an issue with the highlights when using Triplanar texture and what exactly do you expect as an result.
Please note the that the VRayTriplanarTex works by projecting one or more textures along the object-space axes of the object.
As you can see from the graph, both are using the same texture map…the only difference is the triplanar node and a bit of scaling added to the second render.
The way that the scratches are being lit should be more or less the same in both images, but they are not.
In the left UV mapped method, the scratches are being lit in a circular pattern around the highlight; this is correct.
In the right triplanar mapped method, the scratches are lit in a star-like pattern radiating out from the center of the highlight; random scratches would not look like this.
Thanks for the details. I think I got what you are saying but it would be best if you could send us your scene in order to reproduce the same results here.
Attached is a Maya 2018 file of the above example.
If my idea is correct, then to fix this means triplanar would somehow need to reference surface normals for projection direction for a more cube-like projection. triplanar_scratches.zip (2.46 MB)
I can still reproduce this problem right now. I made a video showing the problem. In the case i am not doing something wrong in the shader setup in maya, this seems to be a bug with VrayTriplanar.
Here is the Video showing the problem:
This feature is working completely fine in the 3DsMax Version of the Vray Plugin with the following nodegraph:
Can we get a definitive yes or no whether normal maps and vray tri-planar are working correctly? Ive had some conversations that suggest it is not working properly. It renders, but once you dig a bit deeper, the normals are doing weird things.
Hi Chaos,
i also would be interested to have a definate answer on why this does not work from the vray devs. Come on guys lets finally put this disucssion to bed.
thanks
matt
Triplanar maps should work with normal maps, yes. Make sure you set the size/scale parameter correctly.
On meshes without any UV sets, normal maps can show seams, since we need proper UVs to build continuous tangent space matrices.
If that’s your case, using bump might be less problematic on these meshes.
Do you think this is expected behavour for vraytriplanar and a normalmap on a simple cube, There are 6 lights one on each face, for me the normal map is only working correclty on face 1 and 6.
I have also attached the scene and textrure for you convienence, please load it in maya 2020 latest vray and let me know if this is expected behaviour or a bug or not the intended use of triplaner and normal maps. (if the latter maybe can all have a definate answer from you that it doesnt work and do not use it for normal maps)