Do users like or dislike Displacement Maps

chris1972_1b0574948c

I'm preparing a village scene to become a new vendor/pa. Do current users/buyers of product mind Pa's using displacement maps? I have a stone wall mesh with 2900 polygons that would use the displacement map. Otherwise I could use a ZBrush decimated mesh with around 30,000 polygons with normal map. Which is generaly preferred?

Richard Haseltine

For iray the problem with displacement maps is that they need vertices - actual or SubD - which can make them burdensome - and don't show until rendertime. Normal maps just change the way the surface takes light, and so don't require extra gemeotry, but they also don't chnage the silhouette. The answer will depend on users and scene, though the vertex count for detailed mesh is likely to eb the same eithe way (assuming the walls are not part of a model that has smooth areas not needing displacement, but which would still be dividied by SubD).

Gordig

I do my rendering outside of DS, so displacement maps are great. 

Gordig

Also, a recent thread on this topic: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/661886/temple-of-tranquility-a-request-to-stonemason#latest

WendyLuvsCatz

I use displacement maps in Octane render where they work very well without adding much VRAM

Padone

As Richard said, displacement doesn't show in the viewport and only appears in rendering, that's a great way to optimize the viewport especially for animation. Also, external rendering engines may use adaptive subdivision making displacement maps much more efficient than iray.