[messire]

Hi all,
Using SU2013 & MR3.0 ( need to install last update both for plug in and MR)

I am trying to make a material which is a micro perforated steel plate, that also has rounded bumps every 10cm or so.
I have succeeded making the micro-perforated using a clip and a bump and with trial and error finally got the scale right so it tiles nicely ( method tile XY + mirror X and mirror Y)

I have then made a displacement map, and after a few trial and error got the mxm material to get a good look to it, but unfortunately, when I apply this material in SU, the displacement is completly offscale and cannot get it to look right.
The sample is a 1X1X1m cube and I apply to it the MXM material ( loading it into SU MR manager).
Any hint on how to set the scale of the displacement map so it reproduces the mxm preview window?
The jpg displacement map is 591x591 pixels, and 10x10cm wide ( the idea would be that the bumps are each 10cm in reality)..

Thnx
Nils

[JDHill]

It looks like your cube is made up of just six simple planes; you will likely require quite a bit more subdivision than 3 in order to have enough triangles to obtain a displacement that looks how you are expecting it to look. The reason it looks better in the preview is that the sphere in the material preview has plenty of triangles; I might suggest switching over to the "floor" material preview scene to get a better idea of how your subdivision will act with lower-resolution geometry. Also, you may want to use Offset=0.0 if you wish black in your displacement map to represent no displacement and white, full displacement. Lastly, using the % displacement Height method may not be what you are after, since this makes the height of the displacement dependent upon the actual size of the objects to which it is applied; for this application, it seems to me that cm-based height would likely be more appropriate.

[messire]

Thnx JD,
I had no idea I could subdivide as far as 130 ( which is the right setting)!. Strangely enough it does not work with 129 or 131, but 130 has the right displacement...

I have also increased the map size so it gives more info and get smoother curve. Now the result is pretty convincing...
Funny to notice that you can get an inverted displacement ( hole instead of bump) on a reverted SU face!

Thnx! Long is the road!

[JDHill]

Just be careful with so high a subdivision setting, since if you applied the same material to geometry with more triangles, you could quite easily run out of memory, especially in FIRE in SketchUp.

[messire]

Thnx for the tip > will apply only on simple flat face: I'll keep in mind not to use it on already complex surfaces!