Can't get texture deformer to work with simplex noise

[numan85]

I am testing various procedural textures on a plane  to see how texture deformer woks and I can get noise, fractal, ocean to work but not simplex noise.

No matter what parameter I change (point space, direction etc) I don't see any change.

What am I doing wrong?

[damaggio]

It works fine here, just increase the strength.

[numan85]

I increased it to 200 but makes no difference. Can you send me a file that works so I can see your settings?

[alec.andersenLP8AU]

Hello @numan85,

I can understand why you may not see any changes with simplex noise.

When simplex noise is created as a deformer, the texture deformer point space is automatically changed to "local".

The other settings you were experimenting with were likely still classified under "UV" point spaces.

I'd suggest experimenting more with the texture deformer attributes, such as Direction and Vector Space, You will see the changes I think you are looking for. 🙂

[numan85]

Hi @alec.andersenLP8AU ,

I can't seem to get it to work which is frustrating for a seemingly simple task. It doesn't help that there is no official maya doc on this node .

There are 40k faces on the plane and from the look of if the procedural is generating enough contrast that with sufficient strength I should be able to see some results on the viewport. 

But I am not. I am sure i am doing something stupid so please take a look at the example file and the screencast that shows it working with other noise node but not with simplex noise.

Thanks in advance!

[numan85]

HI @alec.andersenLP8AU ,

I can't seem to get it to work so I am sure I am doing something silly. Please take a look at the screencast and the attached sample file.

On my end, I have played with strength, polygon resolution, coordinate space but no luck. It is frustrating that I can't get this simple task to work and it doesn't  help that there is no official doc on the simplex noise node. Like I mentioned I was able to use noise, fractal, ocean, brownian etc to work but not simplex...

Thanks in advance!

[alec.andersenLP8AU]

Hi @numan85,

This is largely because Simplex Noise does not support UV Space, meaning you will not see a similar deformer structure, as with normal noise and other textures. I've attached an image showing that simplex certainly does do something, but to be honest it's not something I'd recommend for your purposes, and you will not see a similar effect.

Can I ask what your goal is with simplex noise, compared to the standard noise option? Perhaps we can figure out a modifier to assist you! 

EDIT: I should mention in the image that this sphere has no other modifications done to it.

[numan85]

Hi @alec.andersenLP8AU ,

I am trying to apply cellular noise a surface and have it restrict to an area by using deformer paint tool. And then finally bake the geometry.

I have uploaded a screencast that shows doing something similar in Cinema 4d and then trying it with the parameters in your screenshot in Maya 2019.2.

As you can see I have had no luck on a simple problem like this in Maya...

How would you approach this problem in Maya? 

[alec.andersenLP8AU]

Hi @numan85,

A standard noise structure would definitely get you these results. However, if you need cellular noise, I'd suggest creating a cellular noise texture and supplying that directly once you have the parameters set up. Remember that any image file can be used as a UV space; a handy tool!  I'm sure there are other methods as well!

[numan85]

Yeah I ended up going the substance designer route to generate cell noise and import into Maya.

I am just surprised that simplex noise doesn't work even when using non uv space. What is the point of this node if it can't work on a trivial example. Is this a legacy node or something? 

[alec.andersenLP8AU]

Hello @numan85,

I certainly understand that the node may not seem as useful. I'd suggest posting on the idea forums if you're interested! In general nodes that do not support UV deforming will have this limitation.

[mspeer]

Hi!

Simplex Noise is a very special node as it does not suffer from UV repetition patterns, regardless of scale.

It's not a common texture node like most other nodes and because of this it has some limitations.