Heightfield Shader - Displacement Tab

Heightfield Shader - Displacement Tab

Description:
The Displacement tab controls how the values from the node connected to the Heightfield parameter are turned into displacement.

Settings:

• Height multiplier: This parameter multiplies the heights from the heightfield. The default value of 1 will leave the heights unchanged. A value of 2 will double the heights. A value of 0.5 will make them half as high.
• Flatten surface first: If this is checked the planet surface underneath the heightfield is flattened before the heightfield displacement is applied.
• Interpolation method: This controls how the heightfield values are interpolated inbetween actual height values. The Catmull-Rom method is the default and is the best all round method. The following images show the effect of the different interpolation methods on a heightfield. Fractal detail was turned off for these images to show the heightfield more clearly. Click on any of the images to see larger versions.

Stepped	Linear
Cubic	Catmull-Rom
Over Smooth

Back to: Heightfield Shader

A single object or device in the node network which generates or modifies data and may accept input data or create output data or both, depending on its function. Nodes usually have their own settings which control the data they create or how they modify data passing through them. Nodes are connected together in a network to perform work in a network-based user interface. In Terragen 2 nodes are connected together to describe a scene.

A parameter is an individual setting in a node parameter view which controls some aspect of the node.

Literally, to change the position of something. In graphics terminology to displace a surface is to modify its geometric (3D) structure using reference data of some kind. For example, a grayscale image might be taken as input, with black areas indicating no displacement of the surface, and white indicating maximum displacement. In Terragen 2 displacement is used to create all terrain by taking heightfield or procedural data as input and using it to displace the normally flat sphere of the planet.

A heightmap or heightfield is an array of height values, usually in a grid which describe the height at specific points in a defined area. Heightfields are used to represent real-world and virtual terrain in a specific, easily converted format. Most heightfields can be represented as simple image data in grayscale, with black being minimum height and white being maximum height.