Using foam maps to warp textures, and density maps

[Steve Green]

Hi,

I've been playing around with John Burnett's extremely useful warptexture map, to add a bit of animation to foam texture maps.

Basically what it does is distort a map through UVW/XYZ based on the RGB values of a second map.

So Red would distort in the X, Green in the Y, Blue in the Z.

What I thought would be useful is if the foam map could optionally generate a directional displacement map based on its movement.

For example, on the foam examples in the animations gallery, I used a photo texture to augment the Dreamscape foam. It would be nice to have some interaction between that bitmap and the dreamscape foam, so it would be displaced as the DS foam moved through it, and in the direction of that foam's movement.

At the moment, I am working on a structure rising from the water, and I have used a non-renderable object to create a circular wake radiating from the structure. I need to have a play about with the foam map to see if I can break it down so that the direction of the foam will displace the foam correctly.

But it would be nice if this kind of thing was made automatic. I'm not sure if Warptexture is going to get a recompile, so maybe some sort of super-warp-type map within Dreamscape would be a way to go.

A pretty specific wish, but I think it would tie the foam to the sea more.

It would also be nice if something could be done to push density maps in the direction of foam movement.

Taking a wake for example, I've found it difficult to get the density map to look 'right', since it isn't affected by the wake itself, it looks a bit pasted on.

Cheers,

Steve

[sitnisati]

Idea sounds intersting.
What if we'd have a texture coordinate linked to a piece of foam, so when foam moves, texture coordinate will also move.
Not sure how would it look like, but I think this is something what you've been asked for ?

Thanks

Kresimir

[Steve Green]

Hi there,

yeah, that's pretty much it.

It's really trying to find a way of making the foam maps have more effect on the material or density map than it does currently.

I think without the density maps, the foam maps can look a bit flat, so I was trying to think of a way which would make them have more of a connection together.

I think it's something I could mock up with standard max geometry to see what it might look like.

Cheers,

Steve