Converting High-Poly Imports to Stamps

[Anonymous]

Hi,

i'm wondering if it is possible to import high detailed models in mudbox and convert them tnto stamps, so to create displacement maps for my architectural models.

I need stamps with undercuts, is that possible ?

What is the whole process ?

Like here :

My aim is to keep the working 3D scene very lean and rather make use of displacement instead, to prevent straining the system with too high poly count during scene design, animation design etc.  ... any opinions on this ?

I know that at render time the system is being challenged with the displacement rendering. Will have to see how much DP my sytem allows me to render at a time.

Regards,

Frank

[FalconCrest]

Sorry I don't understand ?

[Anonymous]

its about generating the necessary changes on a plane through an imported onbject.

[FalconCrest]

You have a picture, which you posted in one of your earlier messages, you want a part of the picture to be a VDM so you can sculpt it onto a torus / ring ?

[Anonymous]

i actually want to create a plane (A), then to import a polymesh object (B) and have it amend the plane A to have the shape of B. This result i here call C. C basically is the amended plane A, it is not a separate object. When I have C, i want to generate a VDM of it, so i can use it in Maxwell Render, to have a plane being rendered as C.

[FalconCrest]

You want to create a plane, import your mesh and bake the mesh onto the plane, correct ?

[Anonymous]

yup

[FalconCrest]

What is the image or part of the image, you want baked onto the plane for a VDM map ?

[Anonymous]

its not an image i want to bake in the plane. Its the imported polymesh object (B) that i want to bake in the plane (A).

[FalconCrest]

You can't, you'd have to sculpt what you want onto a plane. The geometry on the plane is different compared to the geometry you want to bake, therefore the only solution is to sculpt what you want from the geometry onto the plane, then bake the plane as a VDM and you can use on anything.

[Anonymous]

In 3DS its possible to use the projection modifier on a plane and setup this modifier to "embrace" any given other object. That then can Render to Texture a VDM which can be imported (with that plane) to Mudbox and represent the case, that an object has been VDM imported to a plane and can be further refined in Mudbox etc. 

I've tried it and it works, but it only so far worked for me as DP (displacement map) but not VDM (vectore displacement map which allows for holes / cavities / undercuts). The VDM that is being generated in 3DS still is just a grayscale ramp.

Who can help in this and has experience on generating VDM in 3DS ?

[FalconCrest]

This tool you refer to "embrace" it's only in 3D Studio Max, correct, and the tools name is "embrace" ?

[Anonymous]

i think its called "projection" and the embracing is a value that needs to be adjusted manually. Everything inside it will be subject to the Render to Texture function.

[Anonymous]

would be great if someone has some experience in Render To Texture and can tell how to succeed in creating a VDM for a plane object with it, from a given tea pot object for example.

[FalconCrest]

I'd like to see this in action, could you make a video with something simple ?

[Anonymous]

here is the video i followed from :

[FalconCrest]

That is projecting an object to a plane to create a normal map, not to create a VDM map. There may be other software to do what you want!

[Anonymous]

look here, you can add a hight map, that is to create the hight info.

[FalconCrest]

Height map is nearly identical to Normal Map, the difference is when viewing a normal on an angle you still see the depth, compared to a height map which you see is flat.

[Anonymous]

see, here i'm using height maps, which i created with grade mapping, as displacement map

[FalconCrest]

Then use sculpt using displacement maps in Mudbox !