convert displacement to facets

Donleavy

Hello

Does anyone know if it's somehow possible to convert an object with displacement to an editible object?

 

Br, Dl

DesertDude

I just did a quick test exporting as an OBJ from Carrara, then importing the saved OBJ file. I tested using a vertex sphere, gave it some density, and applied a fractal noise displacement in the shader room. Strangely, when I imported the saved OBJ, all the facets were unwelded, so I just selected all polygons and ran the Weld command (Model>Weld) in the vertex room. Also had to smooth edges, and had to untriangulate the polygons to get back my original sphere geometry.

cdordoni

DesertDude said:

I just did a quick test exporting as an OBJ from Carrara, then importing the saved OBJ file. I tested using a vertex sphere, gave it some density, and applied a fractal noise displacement in the shader room. Strangely, when I imported the saved OBJ, all the facets were unwelded, so I just selected all polygons and ran the Weld command (Model>Weld) in the vertex room. Also had to smooth edges, and had to untriangulate the polygons to get back my original sphere geometry.

That is what I have had to do in the past. It can be a lot of extra time if your models has lots of polys.

AnythingGrooves adds a function "convert deformed object to mesh". Unfortunately it does not work with Cararra's built in displacement.

dot_bat

try converting to a primitive in carrara first. converting to primitive applies the displacement to the object then save as obj or vertex obj

 

DesertDude

dot_bat said:

try converting to a primitive in carrara first. converting to primitive applies the displacement to the object then save as obj or vertex obj

 

Nice tip, thanks!

3DAGE

Does anyone know if it's somehow possible to convert an object with displacement to an editible object?

Possible ..but generally not a good idea,. 

Saving /exporting the Displacement map,. and adding details to that image is a better way to work,. since it keeps the base models polygon resolution Low, and uses sub-division smoothing to create the virtual geometry needed for the displacement details at render time.

Converting that displaced geometry,.  into real mesh,. can result in an object which is difficult to work with,. or even load into some programs.

To increase the real geometry of your mesh,. you should use the "convert" option in the sub division Smoothing section of the Vertex modeller,

this is essentially what allows displacement to work,. .. you can add a couple of levels of Smooth to your model,. then convert that to real geometry.

add smooth again if you want to...

Converting the sub-Division,. creates a much higher resolution base model,. ..so you can add more modelling details to that,. then you could add displacement to that higher detailed mesh to get the details you want.

Also look at using Normal maps to create more detail

Hope it helps

DesertDude

3DAGE said:

 

To increase the real geometry of your mesh,. you should use the "convert" option in the sub division Smoothing section of the Vertex modeller,

this is essentially what allows displacement to work,. .. you can add a couple of levels of Smooth to your model,. then convert that to real geometry.

add smooth again if you want to...

Thanks 3DAGE, that's very helpful - another great tip! That Convert button sitting right before my eyes all these years...

In the past if I had needed a denser mesh, aside from using the sliders, I would reluctantly use  Subdivide or Tesselate from the Model menu, where Subdivide seems to triangulate the polygons and Tesselate (Mid-Edge to Center)  gives weird results. I like to keep things all tidy and quads, guess I am fussy and stubborn, so this will help a lot.